<p>I thought it was a sort of personal validation that i got into Princeton - perhaps a seal of endorsement by a selective college for my accomplishments. But more and more people seem to be surprised by the news of my acceptance. You should see the genuine surprise on their faces and their reactions! Some self-doubt is now starting to overcome me - do my actions, behaviour, demeanor or words fail to live up to my Princeton acceptance? Do I command as much respect among my peers as I think I do?</p>
<p>The thing is, the better the person knows me at the point of hearing the news, the less surprised he or she usually is. I actually consider myself a very intellectual and mature person at heart - just that I tend to strip those traits down and act all facetious and mischievous around new people so as to not put them off. Now, the reactions of these very same new people suggest to me that I may be overdoing the playful act. I should tone it down.</p>
<p>Anyway, enough of my personal rant. How do you feel when people are surprised at your acceptance to top schools?</p>
<p>this thread makes me laugh; when my D showed up in some of her AP classes this year, there were many in her classes who were shocked that she was there; when she was accepted at a couple of top schools, they were floored.....not a big deal, but it really validated how she viewed herself (but obviously others did not).....after that, she really felt like she could choose where she wanted to go based on factors other than "prestige".......</p>
<p>it might be a powerplay w/other students. "If I didn't get into a good school, why should she?"</p>
<p>i've found that hs students in honor classes are incredibly snobby over anyone who doesn't fit their "honor stereotype". Two of my close friends take mostly all honors (80-90% each year), and yet people ask whenever they walk in-how did they get here? even if this is THEIR only honors class.</p>
<p>This reminds me of something not exactly related, but similar. In college my gifted daughter, who comes off as mature but practical and down to earth rather than intellectual, really shocked another girl who was bragging on and on about her gifted classes in high school. My daughter finally just commented, "Oh, I wrote a little book in my Saturday gifted class in grade school". The shock on the other girl's face was classic. I guess she thought she had my little smartie pegged correctly--as a practical average-Joe. Perhaps (we can only hope) the girl took the hint and quit the bragging to others. You never know who you are bragging to.</p>
<p>In college, you won't have to go thru your silliness to put others at ease, although you were kind to do so in high school. You will meet your real peers there and can act natural.</p>
<p>The surprise might be related not to you but to the fact that admission to Princeton is random and extremly competitive. You hear stories about all those 2400 kids who were rejected from all Ivies and it makes you wonder.</p>
<p>I'm gonna echo brysia. Quite frankly, with the extremely low acceptance rate, it's a shock when anyone gets into Princeton. The odds are clearly stacked against you. Unless they say something to attempt to diminish your accomplishments ("oh, are you a legacy?" "oh, are you a URM?"), I wouldn't read too much into it.</p>
<p>I agree with some of what has been said.
It's not so much that they are surprised at you, or doubt that you are qualified, it's that they are surprised by the school you'll be attending: the "WOW, [school]?!"</p>
<p>
[quote]
The thing is, the better the person knows me at the point of hearing the news, the less surprised he or she usually is. I actually consider myself a very intellectual and mature person at heart - just that I tend to strip those traits down and act all facetious and mischievous around new people so as to not put them off. Now, the reactions of these very same new people suggest to me that I may be overdoing the playful act. I should tone it down.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>haha same situation, man. just last night at prom, one of my friend's dates was this guy i hadn't seen since i was 10 years old, and this is how the conversation went:</p>
<p>guy: "hey jimmy, so where are you going to school?"
me: "i'm going to notre dame"
guy: "oh...for what?"
my friend: "academics"
guy: "wow...that'll be awesome...wow...i can't believe that...notre dame..."
me: (aside to my friend) "everyone who doesn't know me well totally thinks i'm a stoner/party guy"</p>
<p>There is a lesson for most of here, OP.
As much as we all complain about college admissions, the folks making the picks are apt to have a better idea of your true capabilities and accomplishments than friends, fellow students and teachers. I'm guessing not many of your teachers went to Princeton.
Kudos to you! I'm sure your acceptance is well deserved.</p>
<p>My school is a public school in a “hickish” area and I have teachers who went to Harvard, MIT, UPenn, Cornell, and tons of other great schools. I’m at a school with only 600 kids, too, and not a huge faculty, so it’s not like these well-educated teachers are 1 in a 100. Don’t underestimate teachers in general. My teachers, even the ones that didn’t go to top schools, and maybe went to a place like UVM or Elizabethtown, (still good schools), are some of the smartest, most insightful people I know.</p>
<p>Just because you don’t go into a field where you are going to make a ton of money, doesn’t mean you weren’t educated enough and smart enough to do just that. Teachers are usually people who love learning, love helping others, and just love academics. If you think about it, the things that generally draw people to teaching and some of the best and most common attributes in very intelligent and well-learned people. :)</p>
<p>Not everyone is surprised. Teachers are usually full of compliments but there are some who decide to take a negative view of you getting into a good college. I had a teacher who thought I was pretty dumb because I wasn’t very attentive in his class though it was because I thought it was easy. He was surprised at the colleges I got into. </p>
<p>I swear Princeton admissions uses a dartboard but congrats.</p>