<p>OK, guys. I don't know whether or not you have seen my "venting" thread (do search cuz im not quite sure where it's located). Anyways, it seems to be a success and the people who use it seem to enjoy it. So, I have decided to start another thread (on the Ivy, top college, and college admission forums) to help soothe the emotions of the over-stressed CC'ers. Simply put, anyone on these forums who has gotten into any ivy league schools (or something comparable) and tell of any competitions they DID NOT win, any tests they DID NOT ace, etc. Bascially, show the frazzled CC'ers that you are human, that you are not god. Thanks to all who respond!</p>
<p>P.S. I am one of these CC'ers who could use this.</p>
<p>I lost a speech contest to a boy whose speech was about why the world was a better place because of the existence of the organization judging the competition. It made me sad. Also got a 2 on the AP Physics test. My teacher was extremely upset with me for it because I'd aced his class and there really wasn't any excuse for it. And I couldn't sing to save my life. I've tried. It's not pretty. ;)</p>
<p>I ONLY got into USC and waitlisted at Cornell and Stanford. I don't know what happened.</p>
<p>No honestly, I'm trilled with that. Not bad for only a 1960 SAT, no foreign language classes, and no AP tests taken by time of application (only took one later)</p>
<p>Uhh... I've technically lost most of the contests I've been in (it really depends on how we define "lost). I tried, but never made it to ISEF. Out of the 30+ scholarships I applied to this year, I only got about 5. My robotics team never won a regional or championship... The list goes ON and ON. My biggest disappointment: I didn't get chosen to be bathroom pass monitor in 2nd grade because I had bad handwriting...</p>
<p>I won "Best of Show" and a first place at county science fair, did all the paperwork for ISEF, and didn't get to go because I didn't place high enough at state science fair. I did the most horribly of my AP Bio class on the Bio Olympiad. Let's see...mediocre SAT scores (the ACT helped me though) and 3's on 1/2 of the AP exams that are most relevant to what I want to do in college. I once failed an essay because I completely misread the prompt, and my English teacher discussed my failure with a guy I really disliked in front of the other class. Yep, the list goes on. Everything was a learning experience though. I guess my biggest disappointment is feeling disappointed by so much. Things could always be worse than they are...</p>
<ol>
<li><p>got a 610 the first time I took the SAT II: Writing.</p></li>
<li><p>got 4's on AP Chemistry and AP Computer Science AB because I slacked off AND didn't cram.</p></li>
<li><p>barely missed going to ISEF because I didn't know we would have to give an oral presentation in the state finals (had to wing it).</p></li>
<li><p>missed the Siemens Westinghouse deadline.</p></li>
<li><p>didn't get a scholarship I applied for that would have given me free tuition at ANY university in my state.</p></li>
<li><p>procrastinated on college applications to the point where I wrote many of my essays hastily the night before (even the night of, in one case) they were due. This is possibly why I was waitlisted by 3 schools.</p></li>
<li><p>totally ruined my senior track season by being ridiculously busy.</p></li>
<li><p>went to the wrong room for one part of a state math competition. I had won that part in a previous year.</p></li>
<li><p>asked "Do they have double majoring at Stanford?" to the Stanford admissions guy who deals with applicants from my high school. I was waitlisted.</p></li>
<li><p>sent an email to the University of Chicago admission office asking a question about the MIT admissions process.</p></li>
<li><p>was disqualified at a state solo competition (that I had a good chance of being top 3 in) for not having 3 original copies of my music for the judges (I had one original and a photocopy).</p></li>
<li><p>missed an entry form deadline for an applied math project competition.</p></li>
<li><p>forgot my myMIT password and locked myself out (for having 5 failed login attemps) TWICE. I had to ask the admissions people to reset it both times. They sounded a little annoyed.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Despite all that, I still got into the following 7 schools:</p>
<p>MIT
Columbia (likely letter)
Carnegie Mellon
Cornell
University of Chicago
Johns Hopkins
University of Washington (Honors Program)</p>
<p>So don't worry too much about making mistakes. Just try your best to learn from them and move on. Colleges don't want to admit machines. They like to admit real (but still quite talented and arduous) people who are resilient and not deterred by failure.</p>
<p>In case you're curious, I decided to go to MIT. I was waitlisted by Caltech, Stanford, and Princeton. I was rejected by Yale (why did I apply there?).</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Only got the SILVER medal in pole vaulting in the 2004 Olympics. And that was only cause my foot slipped.</p></li>
<li><p>Used the Lord's name in vain when having dinner with the Pope.</p></li>
<li><p>Didn't get the paperwork in on time for my Nobel Prize so they gave it to someone else :(</p></li>
<li><p>Totally burned the jello for the world hunger benefits banquet I organized for members of Congress and their families. And the president made a joke about it too on NATIONAL TELEVISION! It was so embarrassing.</p></li>
<li><p>Spelled my own name wrong when signing an autograph for Chuck Norris. I had to CROSS IT OUT and start over. Can you imagine?</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Even a total screwball like me ended up getting into 5 colleges (ivys thankyouverymuch), waitlisted at 4 and rejected by MIT (asian male, anyone? lol). I like to think I was so successful in college admissions because of how I bounced back from these and other failures that could end any lesser man's will to live. I think it really showed my resilience well. In case you're curious, I decided to go to Mars. I was also accepted into the Fantastic Four and Dartmouth, among others.</p>
<p>You know, my last post was actually an honest attempt to show people that there is A LOT of room for mistakes in college admissions and that you don't have to be anywhere near perfect to get into good schools. Why did you feel the need to mock me?</p>
<p>I have a problem with this thread because we really don't know what the context is. The OP expressed sentiment that he/she wanted to see some less-than-perfect people, but they never told us what they wanted to see. For example: Are you looking for 790 vs. 800, or 600 vs. 800?</p>
<p>nephilim, why take pebbles' parody personally? I thought it was pretty funny, myself. :)</p>
<p>Also, I suspect she feels the need to mock you because a lot of what you put is about how awesome you are, and oh yeah there were a few things you didn't do perfectly along the way. Every year the MIT app has some question on it asking about a failure in your life. If you talk about how you went to the wrong room for a math competition that you won the previous year...well, I would probably laugh if I were them. Nothing against you, and not saying that it wasn't a disappointing experience for you, but it's not really the sort of failure they're looking for.</p>
<p>Well the last time I checked, CC is not an MIT application.</p>
<p>I wasn't trying to show that people who aren't smart get into good colleges. I was trying to show that people who ARE smart but make dumb mistakes get into good colleges. Isn't that what this thread is about?</p>
<p>well, the point of the thread was really to admit to failures. your failures were like this:</p>
<p>"i misspoke in telling someone i scored a 98 on my exam when i actually scored a 99"</p>
<p>(pebbles' parody was much better, of course).</p>
<p>the point, as i (and, it seems, others) see it is to admit naked failure, not small errors with justifications and eclipsing virtues piled on.</p>
<p>sooo parody because you don't get the point of the game and because you haven't extracted its benefits. come! more failures! better failures. NO PANSY EXCUSES.</p>