I am afraid of not getting accepted into college

Chance Me / Match Me!
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Hi, I’m Jesse and I am having a crisis at the moment. I have applied to college this year and I am very afraid I have aimed too high. I am anxious that I won’t get into any of the schools I have applied to. It is currently March 19th and these are the decisions I have thus far received:

MIT: Deferred then rejected
Georgia Tech: Waitlisted
Johns Hopkins: Rejected

The schools I am waiting on are Carnegie Mellon, Vanderbilt, Duke, Harvard, and Princeton.

I just need some unbiased advice whether I am doomed or not. My resume is below. The formatting is a bit off since I can’t put PDFs in this post. I didn’t submit my SAT score.

Academic Performance
13 AP exams before senior year
12 scores of 5, 1 score of 4 (AP Music Theory)
4 exams were independently studied since they are not offered at High School: AP Physics C Mechanics, AP Physics C E&M, AP Calculus BC
Associate’s Degree in computer science engineering from Community College before graduation of high school → currently a 4.0 GPA
Johns Hopkins Center for Talented Youth courses
Multivariable Calculus → Received an A
Linear Algebra → In progress
Differential Equations → In progress
Valedictorian in class of around 150
Scores of 800 on SAT Subject Tests: Biology M, Chemistry, Math II

Honors and Distinctions
HMEA First Chair First Alto Saxophone 2017, 2018, 2019
SCMEA First Chair First Alto Saxophone 2017, 2018
NYSBDA All-State Ensemble Alto Saxophone 2020
Principal’s Award named in my honor at Elementary School
National AP Scholar 2020
Advanced Regents Diploma with Honors 2020
Symphonic Band Best Student Award 2018, 2019, 2020
CSIP 100 Point Club 2018, 2019
National Merit Commended Student Award 2020
“Superior” Rating on NYSSMA Alto Saxophone Solo Evaluation 2017, 2018, 2019
“Superior” Rating for Music In the Parks Jazz Competition 2018, 2019
Principal’s List 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020
First Degree Shodan (black belt) in Kempo Karate 2013

Clubs and Activities
Jazz Band 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020
First Chair First Alto Sax 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020
Music Honor Society (TriM) 2019, 2020
Treasurer 2019
President 2020
Instrumental Music Club 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020
Secretary 2019
President 2020
Pep Band 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020
Principal Alto Sax 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020
Robotics 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020
Head of Programming 2018, 2019
President 2020
Student Government 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020
Treasurer
Student Council President 2019, 2020
Math Honor Society 2018, 2019, 2020
Vice President 2019
Spanish Honor Society 2018, 2019, 2020
Treasurer 2019
Science Honor Society 2018, 2019, 2020
President 2020
English Honor Society 2019, 2020
National Honor Society 2019, 2020
Secretary 2020
Youth and Government 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020
Rho Kappa Social Studies Honor Society 2019, 2020
Dockers’ Waterside 2020
Busser, Food Truck Worker, Lunch Server
St. John the Evangelist Thrift Shop 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020
Lacrosse 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020
JV Team Captain 2018
Johns Hopkins Biomedical Engineering Innovation 2020
Summer League Lacrosse 2017, 2018, 2019
Arduino Camp 2018
DNA Science Camp at Brown University 2018
Mathworks Modeling Challenge 2020, 2021

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did you apply to any safeties or any schools other than the one you listed?

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You should see if there are any schools with rolling admissions and add some safety schools to your list.

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No. I thought 8 very good schools was enough to be accepted by at least one. I think that was a poor assumption.

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all of those schools are extremely selective even for the most qualified applicants. you should have picked some safeties just in case.

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What was your SAT score? Or did you apply test optional?

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Do you have any financial restrictions at all? Are your parents fine with paying $80,000 per year for four years?

I will admit that given how many APs you have plus the associate’s degree it might not take you four years to graduate university.

You are clearly a very strong student. You have a good chance to get accepted to one of the schools that you have not yet heard back from.

However, I do not see any safety on your list. I am not sure if I even see a match.

You might still get accepted to one or even several schools on your list. However, you might want to ask your guidance counselor if there are any safeties that you can still apply to. You probably should call admissions at an in-state public university, tell them you messed up, and see if they will still accept an application.

The worst that could happen is that you might need to take a gap year. That is really not all that bad. Life is not a race, and given the AP credits you are likely to have you still might graduate university at the same time as others who were in your high school class.

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Look for some universities with rolling admissions that you may see yourself at and send an application in. Penn State and University of Pittsburgh come to mind.

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You are obviously a phenomenal student and very accomplished, but you don’t have any safeties on your list. Didn’t your guidance counselor suggest that to you? This year in particular the competition for selective schools is through the roof. You should follow the advice given above and see if you can still add a safety school.

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You are obviously a phenomenal student and very accomplished, but you don’t have any safeties on your list. Didn’t your guidance counselor suggest that to you? This year in particular the competition for selective schools is through the roof.

This is exactly how I was going to respond. @Thorsmom66 is absolutely correct. Our HS staff counselors advised each student applying to the top schools to apply to the local/regional university for our high stats students. The staff told the students that the numbers of students, applying domestically and from abroad, were in the 100K+ range and that each student could choose to be “smart” and add a safety, or choose to be “arrogant” and risk being shut out. Hopefully, you’ll hear back from a school with an admission. Otherwise if you really want a top school, you may need to take a gap year.

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well the eight colleges that you applied to all have an acceptance rate under 20% while you have a great profile, college admissions are so unpredictable so it’s important you are including some safeties

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Wow, outstanding references… but you never really know what the colleges are looking for.

You didn’t write anything about your financial situation… even though they don’t like to admit it, colleges also look at that, especially now.

You got a few excellent advice already in the postings, the gap year idea is really good, if that can be an option.

BUT… it’s no reason to panic yet. You got wait listed for GeorgTech, and there are many more in the loop!

And there are actually quite a few good colleges with rolling admissions. If you desperately want to start studying, apply there, you probably will get a good scholarship on top, and maybe try to transfer later.

Good Luck!

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FYI…don’t mention your high school by name on this blog. You might want to go in and edit that out :slight_smile:

To answer your question, I really don’t know what to tell you. All I can say is that it’s spilled milk at this point. If you get into Duke or Vanderbilt, you still need to decide if it’s affordable or if it’s even the right school for you, or if they even let you into the CS program.

Good news, I’m a programmer by profession. I can tell you with 100% certainty that prestige is far from being a requirement to having a prosperous career in tech. CS is ridiculously employable and absurdly diverse. After about 3 years experience, employers don’t even ask where you went to school. Choose a school that minimizes debt and stick to it, even if you have to start at a community college (no shame in that). School friends don’t have to know. Most employers recruit locally and regionally because it’s cost effective. I promise, there are plenty of jobs for college graduates. In fact, you could fairly easily get one right now with your current credentials.

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I agree with the folks on this thread and recommend you apply to some safety schools. You have excellent credentials but so many other students do as well in the class of 2025.

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You are not doomed! There will be a lot of movement off waitlists this year. Many people applied to a crazy amount of colleges. You still have a shot at GT. The ones you are waiting for is like a lottery this year. You could get lucky. I would do what others have suggested and apply to other schools still accepting applications. Last year there were hundreds of colleges still looking to fill seats and I bet there will be even more this year. Hang in there! You are an excellent student! It will work out.

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I am surprised that your guidance counselor wouldn’t have suggested applying to some less elite schools. With your qualifications, you might still earn a substantial scholarship, leaving you with very little financial burden.

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If you were to assume you have a 10% (independent) chance of acceptance for each of your six extant applications, then your chance of acceptance at at least one college would be 47%. However, your chances of acceptance at colleges at which you have crossed a clear threshold (such as at, possibly, Vanderbilt) may be significantly higher than 10%, which would place the odds in your favor overall.

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Except that college admissions results are not independent events.

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They’re not fully dependent events, either, as you know. And I’m not sure what you are offering the OP with that statement, other than a bit of general cynicism.

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Jess, I’m scared to think what is required to get in a top school. Those credentials are phenomenal.

The others are correct - you ALWAYS need a safety.

I don’t know who is still accepting applications but U of Arizona is very solid and you will get $35K off of $37K and you can do the Honors College. Or ASU who has the Barrett Honors College - not sure if you can still get in there. Someone mentioned Pitt and Penn State - both great - Pitt especially in the sciences.

It’s an easy application - and you get a decision back in two weeks.

There’s many “Ivy Level” students at all the main colleges - going for alternative reasons such as location or finances.

You will find challenging classes and high level students.

I’m sure there are others still accepting applications - but at this point, you need to get in somewhere - as a safety in case the remainder turn you down.

The schools on your list probably skew toward ED - so that makes RD harder.

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