Give Up Now?

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

I was just rejected from MIT (completely expected), Northwestern (minor surprise), and UCLA (surprised), and waitlisted at UChicago.

The rest of my schools are also very selective - Ivies, Stanford (lol), Rice etc. (I am into a couple safeties already - Northeastern and UCSD) - and I’ve kind of lost hope.

Basics (figured someone would ask anyway)
GPA - 3.9 / 4.35
ACT - 35
SAT II - 800, 740, 750
IB Diploma
Varsity Athlete (20hrs/week 44wks/yr)
Internship at local university (published)
relatively limited service
other clubs and minor IB stuff

Just wondering what anyone else thinks.

2

Your ECs are solid but not noteworthy (probably the reasonfor the rejections)

With your stats, I wouldn’t worry too much because I think at least one reach will accept you still

3

UChicago is basically a rejection. They waitlist everybody.

4

What I myself think is that worrying about future decisions isn’t going to do you any good. Start investigating the schools you’re already accepted to, and find good things about them, so that any other acceptances you get are just icing on the cake.

5

Northeastern and UCSD are still excellent schools. You should be optimistic since you have been accepted to them and have options to fall back on. The best thing you can do now is to be patient: you only have less than 2 weeks to go. Who knows, you might get a surprise, especially since you have applied to so many schools. That said, don’t be put down by rejections – Ivies and the like are incredibly selective, so it is very likely that more will reject you than not. I wish you the best of luck :slight_smile:

6

Funny, I’ve been following a lot of UC decision threads and there are thousands of people who would kill to get into even just one UC. You ask if you should give up, and say you’ve about lost hope. You have much to be hopeful for. Don’t fall for the pressure to define yourself - and judge all your hard work - by how many and which schools you get into. Don’t lose sight of the fact that this is about where you will spend the next few years, and where you will get educated. Spending four or so years at either Northeastern or UCSD will be fantastic, and what kind of education you get is largely up to how you apply yourself, and to what extent you get involved. Seems you should have lots of hope.

7

UCSD is a top school in many fields: Life sciences , economics and international affairs; political science, amongst them. It is top drawer stuff. San Diego/La Jolla is pure paradise. You are very lucky.

8

Yes, but not thousands with OP’s stats. We tend to frame our fortunes based on our immediate peer groups, and those groups are self-selecting for talents, interests, and priorities. This can be a cruel time of year for those who believe in merit. One would have to be very naive not to notice.
Having said that, OP’s intelligence and drive will work just as well at UCSD as at Stanford or UChicago—this will become obvious over time. And there’s still hope for Rice, etc. It’s possible to be both extremely disappointed in the short term and positive about the big picture.

9

If OP is interested in any of the fields I listed at UCSD fortes, she cannot do much better than go to UCSD in those fields. Rice is a science and pre-med school with a very “geeky” vibe.

10

I suggest you don’t give up.

You’ve already been accepted into two schools, so not all hope is lost. There are also still many other schools, so you still have a chance if you don’t know if you want to attend Northeastern or UCSD (or simply just don’t want to). And if you still really want to go to one of the schools you were rejected by, try figuring out what were the exact flaws you had that caused the rejection, take a gap year to fix those flaws, and reapply if you’d like.

You likely still have a chance, so just don’t give up! Stay determined!

11

Why would you assume OP is female? Especially as OP gave Life Advice not to be Asian male elsewhere.

12

waitlisted at Rice; giving up now

13

You were lucky to be accepted at Northeastern. Their adcoms are usually good at detecting applicants who consider the school to be a safety.

14

Maybe they are also good at detecting that overqualified Asians may need to rely on their safety due to anti-Asian bias at selective schools.

15

@keiekei PREACH
Seriously though.

16

@b4sicallyid0work I think it’s just tough out there, too many applicants, not enough spots. You are obviously a great student and you have two very solid acceptances already! There is a reason you were attracted to those schools - remember what they are and get excited about them again! Of course, rejection is disappointing; but mourn it briefly; brush it off and move on! Your college experience will be what you make of it - it’s up to you to change how you view things - you can start by feeling the love of the schools that want you! These same schools rejected thousands and thousands of other hopefuls, so be thankful for what you’ve been offered. And as someone said, if another acceptance comes along in the next week or so, it’s just icing on the cake!