<p>Question speaks for itself.</p>
<p>Im just wondering....</p>
<p>I remember there was a woman on here named Andi whose son got rejected/waitlisted everywhere and didn’t get in anywhere off the waitlist. He took a gap year.</p>
<p>this almost happened to me. </p>
<p>i was accepted only by my last three choices (out of 13 schools).
you bet i’m transferring.</p>
<p>anyways poor kid (andi’s); i understand though. what emotional damage that must have done. i was in a rut for the entire senior year and it sucks to know it’s extending out to my freshman year of college.</p>
<p>EDIT fwiw, this was the same deal for my twin except he got into his last choice, gwu, which was my first choice. he had a far worse gpa than i did so i’m more than confused, but whatever.</p>
<p>There are several threads about kids who didn’t get into any colleges or any colleges but safeties that they hated - does that count?</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-admissions/903068-pls-help-question.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-admissions/903068-pls-help-question.html</a></p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-admissions/901891-any-competetive-colleges-still-accepting-applications-late-applications.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-admissions/901891-any-competetive-colleges-still-accepting-applications-late-applications.html</a></p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/902051-taking-gap-year-disappointing-admission-results.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/902051-taking-gap-year-disappointing-admission-results.html</a></p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/high-school-life/904592-i-lied-all-my-friends-i-got-into-yale.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/high-school-life/904592-i-lied-all-my-friends-i-got-into-yale.html</a></p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/192395-no-acceptances-one-kids-story-year-later.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/192395-no-acceptances-one-kids-story-year-later.html</a></p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/678183-heartbroken.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/678183-heartbroken.html</a></p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-admissions/484336-anyone-like-me-got-rejected-all-their-schools.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-admissions/484336-anyone-like-me-got-rejected-all-their-schools.html</a></p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-search-selection/917968-only-got-into-safeties-hate-all-them.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-search-selection/917968-only-got-into-safeties-hate-all-them.html</a></p>
<p>As a former counselor, I have seen many not get into any of the colleges they applied to. Most often they went in with the attitude that they would take a gap year if this happened, but in most cases it was pretty traumatic. As colleges become harder to get into and more unpredictable, this is increasingly common. Many CC posts provide an excellent example of how unrealistic many are.</p>
<p>Wow!! so many people! Im so scared!! I dont wanna get rejected by all of my choices, though I have 2 back ups, what if?!</p>
<p>Thanks everyone</p>
<p>If you limit yourself to only a few “top” schools, there is always a chance of disappointment. Find a few safety schools and you WILL get an education.</p>
<p>The first, and possibly the best, thing I learned on CC is LOVE THY SAFETY. Spend as much time, if not more, researching that safety. If the world comes crashing down, are you going to be happy at that school? Is it really an academic and financial safety? Go visit the campus. Make sure that you are going to be okay. So many kids just pick somewhere random because they think it will never happen. They will say ‘If I thought I was actually GOING here I would have spent more time looking.’. They don’t hate going to a safety, they hate the safety they choose. There is a huge difference.</p>
<p>It is the one and only thing I insisted on adding to my sons list. I didn’t think it was too much to ask as he only had two schools to begin with. Both are instate. One is a solid match (he’s actually way over their stats), the other is a low reach. The safety is oos but they love him, and he is loving the attention. They have early, non-binding admissions that he’ll have in hand by 10/15. A bit of breathing room for his Sr year. He has a specific major so putting some decent thought into a safety was important.</p>
<p>Thanks to all the CC folks that have pointed this out so many times. Hopefully he will be accepted in state. If not, we know he’s going somewhere he’s pretty happy about.</p>
<p>
[Quote=Andi, post #3, from <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/192395-no-acceptances-one-kids-story-year-later.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/192395-no-acceptances-one-kids-story-year-later.html</a> : Put ample time into every question and let his personality show through more.
[/quote]
ding ding ding ding. After reading Andi’s story, I was reminded that high statted, highly accomplished kids make up the MAJORITY of applicants to HYPSM and a few other. What separates the 8%-15% who get in from those who don’t is … ding ding ding ding… PERSONALITY as it emerges from the essays and other portions of the application.</p>
<p>
[Quote=Andi, post #1, from <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/192395-no-acceptances-one-kids-story-year-later.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/192395-no-acceptances-one-kids-story-year-later.html</a> : I had a couple of CC readers read his essay. They commented that it was well written but perhaps too academic and not revealing enough about his personality.
[/quote]
ding ding ding ding 2 – the original pre-gap-year essay did not reveal the special qualitys of Andison.</p>
<p>Moral of the story: Adcoms at HYPSM and a few others expect a majority of 2200+, 4.0 unweighted, leadership/research/performance ECs from their applicants. What they are then looking for, GIVEN that, is a sense of the personality, the quirkiness, the social attractiveness of an applicant such that that applicant becomes a living, breathing, idiosyncratic PERSON that the adcom would want to meet.</p>
<p>^^^ very well put.</p>
<p>Yes-I know of someone who didn’t get into anywhere (originally) and then worked it out very very late in the spring…It can happen.</p>
<p>I would think taking a gap year is a mistake. Going to college is not about the college alone, but about what you learn and what career path you take. There are many good state universities, and I would think about finishing a degree there and applying to grad schools at the ivies and equivalents.</p>
<p>Oh lord. Getting rejected from every single college is my WORST NIGHTMARE as of now… and notification happens right around my birthday. I have 2 safeties, though I’m not sure I would want to go to those schools even if I did get accepted.</p>
<p>yeah, rejection from all 7 of my colleges is perhaps my BIGGEST FEAR right now… </p>
<p>HENCE MY USERNAME</p>
<p>
xdance – that is not acceptable! You must find at least one safety that you would be HAPPY to attend. Keep looking. Don’t just assume you will never actually NEED your Safety. I’ll bet 20% of kids who are applying to top 15 schools end up needing their safety. The top 15 (or top 8 LACs) are very much like a lottery. There is much randomness in the system.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>xdance,
I strongly urge you to look into a different safety then. No, you don’t want to think about it, however if the stars don’t align for you in one of the most competitive application seasons, then you want to grieve and move on to a school you will be happy attending. It will not be your dream school, but it will have positive aspects that you need in a school, be that location, size, etc. You do have the option to choose a safety that has aspects that are important to you. You simply need to take your eye off your dream school(s) long enough to evaluate them and choose.</p>
<p>NOTE: crossed posts with DunninLA, same thoughts…I just take longer to say it, as usual.</p>
<p>UC colleges helped me through that with ELC 
but that would be scary</p>
<p>There are always those kids who end up with no options (probably more than you’d assume), but there are also kids who don’t spread a wide enough net to ensure good options. People in my school have a habit of applying to our state uni (Carolina), Duke, Harvard, and then some lesser state schools. It seems silly for people who aren’t HYP-worthy to cast a net that expands beyond those top 3 (though it’s equally silly not to have legitimate safeties as well).</p>
<p>Happened to a colleague of mine. I was kind of worried when I heard that he ‘only’ applied to top competitive schools, didn’t really have any safeties or low matches. He had great test scores, GPA, president of the math club. Not sure what his essay was like? He ended up enrolling in a state school this year…so bottom line is no-one is a shoo-in and be realistic there is a ton of competition out there.</p>
<p>What students, and their parents, are also failing to realize is that at most schools the only weight being a legacy has is giving your application an additional read. If you are on the wait list, you may get off as opposed to a student who is not. Legacy status does not have the same pull it used to in the ultra competitive environment.
If you, or your student, are applying to a school where this is a factor, ask admissions specifically what legacy does to increase your chances. More than likely they will be able to give you a very specific answer similar to the example above. This will help you keep your choices in perspective if you were counting on that as a factor with more weight.</p>