So it seems you applied to a lot of reaches, but St. Olaf should have been a match. Of course a match is never a sure bet. It’s hard to say without knowing exactly what schools you applied to, but you probably needed more safety and match schools. A good number might be 2 safeties, 3-4 matches, 1-3 reaches, with the emphasis on the match and safety schools. It seems that you have good stats and decent ECs, so I think the recs and essay were the problem.
I suspect your parents are going to need some kind of money to afford your education, unless you are perhaps an only child. You applied to very good LACs. Can I suggest Whitman? It is a match for you, not a safety. They are still accepting apps. It’s a great school with an excellent reputation. Some of the colleges you applied to were very similar to Whitman in vibe. I have honestly never heard a single negative thing about the school. It is in Walla Walla. It regularly appears in top 20 Princeton Review lists for Happiest students. I have no idea if any FA is still avaiable, but if they are a little under enrolled this year, there might be. There are other great schools on the NACAC list, so please act quickly. Beloit, De Pauw, Willamette, and Butler are all decent schools with openings, and many others.
I think you will need a new essay, or you need to improve the one you submitted. PM it to me, I will have a look. Or strongly consider the gap year. You can get a lot accomplished and try again, but it’s going to be a little tough with recommendations.
Meanwhile, you should start counseling. It’s going to be a tough transition to college and if you couldn’t handle going to high school, I am wondering how you will handle moving away from home. You have to manage the anxiety and not let it manage you.
I am looking on Whitman’s website right now, and it says the RD deadline was January 15. How am I still able to apply? I had not heard of Whitman before, but from the little I’ve looked at so far I think I would be interested in applying. Like I said in my original post, I was planning on taking a gap year anyway and just deferring my enrollment somewhere, because I need to find an anxiety med that works for me, figure out some coping mechanisms that work/go to therapy, and take some other steps so I can handle college.
Also, I am going to write a whole new essay instead of improving my last one, but thank you for offering to read my original essay.
What did you explain about your mental health issues? How are you planning on coping with uni if school wasn’t an option? What would your referrals have written about you?
Seems like it would have been better to apply to low match or safety schools that are smaller, like University of Minnesota - Morris or Truman State.
If you intend to reapply as a frosh next year, it is best to take no college courses after high school graduation during the gap year. Otherwise, you may want to commit to the transfer pathway and start off at community college with a full course load to prepare for transfer. Taking a small number of college courses after high school graduation would give you the worst of both – disqualification as a frosh at many colleges, but not making much progress on the transfer pathway.
@newnightmare , you need to look at the listing on NACAC. It probably gives more info. I would call or email the admissions department too. The NACAC list is like a clearing house of colleges that are looking for more applicants beyond the regular deadlines because they haven’t filled their class for a variety of reasons. I think a link was on page 1 of your post. The list was released a month ago. It is possible they have filled the class by now. I don’t know how the list itself works as far as applying. @MYOS1634 , any other insight on this?
“As for my financial situation, my parents make something like $150,000 a year, and I have around $50,000 dollars in college saving from my (very generous) grandparents.”
This puts you in a rather common “squeeze”, where you have enough money to minimize or eliminate need based aid, but not enough to really be able to afford $70,000 per year for four years.
As such, and given that your great grades and test scores make merit scholarship a real possibility, I would be very cautious about taking college credits that would change your eligibility for aid.
I was always planning on taking a gap year to give me time to figure out how to deal with going to college. I’m not sure what you mean by “what would your referrals have written about you?”
I live in a college town with 3 or 4 colleges, but as far as I know all of them are no longer accepting applications. Also, I only want to take college courses this fall if it will help my applications for next year; but I see many people saying this may not be a good option.
"what would your referrals have written about you?
Just that, do you know what they would have written? Who did you pick to write references? You didn’t have physical teachers, right? Also have you actually looked at your transcript? Is everything OK on that? Are you considered homeschooled?
HI @newnightmare …first of all, hugs to you. I know you’re probably kicking yourself right now but what can you do? We’ve all been there…sometimes we take detours. Here’s the good part: You’re really smart. You have good ideas for a gap year. And you have a plethora of good schools to choose from for fall of 2018…some of which will give you merit aid. I’d really work out my gap year and at same time solidify your list of schools and start in on them in the fall. You’re going to end up in a good place.
I communicated with my teachers only through email and skype (IM not video chat). I chose my bio teacher, who taught me both in 10th grade Honors Bio and then senior year AP Bio, and my Latin teacher (who had also taught me in another required course called Reaching Your Academic Potential). I think my bio teacher would have nice things to -say about me. She has told me a few times that I do very thorough, well-thought-out work and that she thinks I’m very intelligent and have the writing of “well-seasoned college student.” We live in the same town, so I also met her once when she proctored a state-wide test. I didn’t know my Latin teacher much, but she knew about my passion for Latin and Classics and I did excellently in her class. My counselor rec probably would not have been great, because I hardly talked to him, and the few times I did he didn’t really know how to offer me help, or anything.
Would you rather take a gap year or apply for Fall 2017 wherever there’s space?
In your case, a gap year sounds like a good choice in my opinion, but you shouldn’t take college classes (“community education” classes such as First Aid, some languages, etc., are okay since they don’t carry credit).
I think I would prefer to take a gap year and just reapply for fall 2018, and I believe this would be best for me. I’m mainly just worried about the recommendation problem that would come along with that.
@newnightmare , if you want people to see your posts, put @ in front of the name. Just so you know.
I actually think Whitman is a perfect school for you, never mind being on the NACAC list this year. It’s full of smart, friendly, laid back kids and great profs. It has a great atmosphere and the students seem very happy. You seem like you will do well in a close-knit environment of caring and motivated people.Now, I am basing this off my own research and from what I have seen others say about the college over the last three years. My D was accepted last year with a nice scholarship. So if you actually are interested in Whitman and are looking for merit aid, it may well be better to apply again next year, unless there is still FA available, or unless you want to get going and don’t need FA.
If you take a gap year, do something meaningful that will enrich your application. Getting a job is a good thing. Continue with your volunteer work and pursue some other interests.
I do think you need to get some new recommendations from people who actually know you in person. Is there a pastor, volunteer manager, music instructor, or similar who would be willing to write a rec for you? If you take a gap year and reapply, please ask people here to review your essay before you submit it. And also ask people here to help firm up your list so that it is balanced. Feel free to pm me for any advice.
Thank you for the advice. Still trying to figure this site out, I guess.
I will definitely look more into Whitman for next year. I will be getting a job this summer, for sure. I’ll probably start looking and applying for jobs within the next couple weeks. I’ll also be continuing with music lessons and tutoring, and I will possibly look into some new volunteer opportunities as well. As for the recommendations, I may be able to ask my orchestra teacher (I took orchestra at my local HS this year and freshman year), whom I really love. Do you think I would be able to also ask the counselor at the HS I take orchestra at? I had her as my counselor in 9th grade (I only did online school 10-12) and have remained in contact with her quite a bit throughout the past three years. She also had my older sister and now has my younger one, so she kind of knows my family. But I know for most schools I will also need recs from teachers from two academic subjects, so I don’t know if I should just ask the same ones I asked initially or ask other teachers…
@newmighmare, I lived in for Seattle for many years. I’m very familiar with Whitman. It’s a fantastic, beautiful, college. Goggle Whitman’s Facebook. There’s a excellent video about the college.
Here’s the good part: You’re really smart. You have good ideas for a gap year. And you have a plethora of good schools to choose from for fall of 2018…some of which will give you merit aid. I’d really work out my gap year and at same time solidify your list of schools and start in on them in the fall. You’re going to end up in a good place.