I am really annoyed at the moment because I finished all my applications back in November, I was in such a rush to finish everything that I didn’t do great research… and now that I’ve visited some of my top choices, I realize I don’t even like the colleges in my top five… anyone else feeling this way? I am already thinking of transferring. Right now, my biggest hope is getting into Boston University but my chances are slim. I just wish I applied to more reaches with more diversity and more city areas. I only have two colleges in cities but I need to be in a city, I really didn’t think about it.
@CalinAmry - well, that stinks. I totally understand because my D is the same way - when we visited schools we selected varying “profiles” of college sizes and locations and she came away with the same conclusion - she needed to be in a city.
So you have a couple of options to move forward. Hope that your city schools come through (BU is a great one), look for city schools that are still accepting applications (probably won’t be reaches, though), plan on reapplying next year to schools that fit you better or make do with your “best fit” from this year’s batch. Maybe a non-city school is close to a city with good public transportation and that will be good enough.
I just checked and (one example) Temple’s application deadline is March 1 - Temple was one of my D’s choices. She was admitted to their Honors College and we loved it when we visited. There might be other urban schools like Temple where you can put in last-minute apps. Get on it, though! If you want to expand your school list for this year, you’re rapidly running out of time.
@CaMom13 I actually applied to Temple and got accepted but I didn’t know that was a city school. It’s not high up my list because it was a bit of a safety for me and I wanted something harder to get into.
Did you get admitted into the Honors College? We attended their admitted students day and we were totally wow’d by the program. Temple is very much a city school! The immediately surrounding area is N. Philly which is mostly poor and not super interesting but it’s a 2 stop subway ride to the center of Philly, which is a GREAT city with great music/theatre/food and nightlife scenes.
I know everyone always wants to most difficult schools they can get into and there’s some good reason for that but honestly - you can challenge yourself at a school like Temple or you can do the bare minimum at UCB. College is what you make of it.
What other schools did you apply to? Maybe more of them are in a city environment than you think.
The school that as the highest scores or is the most difficult to get admitted to is not necessarily the best for a specific student. Basing your judgements of a school on how difficult it is to gain admission is usually a mistake.
I applied to UMass, UConn, Syracuse, BU, Stony Brook, Penn State, Suny at Buffalo, plus more, but these are the only ones I somewhat like. I don’t have any interest in going to Temple, even in the honors program. I just worry about prestige a lot.
I have mixed feelings about that @lostaccount - if the desire is to be with students who are as smart and as motivated and well-prepared as you are, then I think that’s a valid goal. If it’s just bragging rights then yes, it’s a mistake.
Nowhere is it written that you must start college this fall. If you dislike your current list so much that you are thinking about transferring out before you have even been accepted, step back from the whole process. Consider how you could use a gap year. What kind of job or volunteer activity would you want? Would you have the money and flexibility to travel? Do you have a foreign language that could be strengthened by an exchange year? Even if you would decide against a gap year, the thought process of evaluating it will help you clarify your goals.
As written above, wanting something “harder to get into” doesn’t always result in a superior educational experience. Not to mention of course that many students aren’t admitted to any of the “harder to get into” places on their list.
Just take some pressure off yourself. Second guessing is human nature. Take some time to reflect on what you want. And here’s some really good news.
After April admissions decisions the national association of college admissions counselors compiles a list, updated almost daily. Guess what the list is?
Tremendous and varied schools that for some reason miscalculated their enrollment and briefly reopen to applications. These are some really great schools.
You have to pay a deposit somewhere as a back up. But only the deposit is lost if you change your mind.
And lastly, you can always take a gap year. Do something meaningful, retake the sat or act if you like. And reapply for next year with a better perspective.
However, I am being really honest here. I think that within your current schools you already have a winner. One day of visiting doesn’t give you any real data. Just a first impression.
Well, yes, but this differs from factors that may contribute to name recognition, if not necessarily prestige, such as graduate school rankings, prominent athletic teams, sheer size and perhaps relatively ephemeral trends.
Temple is a great school. It’s definitely more “well-known” than Stony Brook. I went to La Salle University, which is a private school in Olney (Uptown Philly). Now THAT was a bad area.
Temple is on Broad Street (Philly’s Main Street). It has a bunch of restaurants & even a movie theater. While the surrounding area isn’t great, it doesn’t have feel fenced off from a bad area the way La Salle does. You can easily avoid it, while La Salle requires walking to a sketchy part of Broad Street to acess the subway.
I honestly can’t take a gap year because my parents won’t let me. But if I were to, I would go to Spain because I am trying to be fluent in Spanish. Do you guys think big names matter? I just know they have an advantage. I want to go to a big city school that’s not NYC (that’s where I live) with big diversity and has a decent name. But most of these schools are super isolated.
Name recognition actually doesn’t mean difficulty in admission either. Lot of super well-known schools (U of AL, for example) have very high name recognition and aren’t hard to get into. But on average a student’s “safeties/likelies” are determined to be “likely” admits because the student is well above the average in grades and scores for the university’s admitted students.
So many students are obsessed with only going to “top” ranked colleges and I totally agree that this is an unecessary and harmful mindset. You can find your tribe and challenge yourself at many schools and the rankings do not show quality of undergraduate teaching or mentorship or all kinds of things that contribute to a great college experience. But let’s not throw out the baby with the bathwater - schools that are more difficult to get into admit students who are on average more academically competitive than schools that are easier to get into. So there is some justification for students wanting to be admitted to more competitive schools.
There are smart and motivated students at every college. There can be reasons to attend a particular prestigious school over any other school, but finding smart and motivated students is not one of them.
College is what you make of it. When you have matured more you will know more goes into college work and success than prestige and more goes into a happy life than where you went to school
“Hey! I have a 1250 SAT and 3.65 GPA”
These are your stats? What reaches do you think you missed?
If you have a 1250 and a 3.6 I’d say you already have some reaches on your list.
How much financial aid do you need? If it is a lot, then that might mean you have no choice but to take a gap year and apply to places that are going to be affordable. If it is just some, then you need to bear in mind that often freshmen get better aid packages than transfers. If your parents are prepared to be full pay wherever you go, then you have a lot more options.
Have you specifically discussed a gap year with your parents? If so, what is their precise argument against a gap year?
I understand what you are saying, but at the same time sulking won’t fix the problem. Once all of your decisions are in you can make a decision…either choose one ( you may be surprised and actually love it) or take a gap year and reapply. Hopefully you will get accepted (and can afford) BU.
FYI you will find smart and driven students at all of these schools, including Temple…did you make honors? You can challenge yourself at every school on your list.
You are asking if big names matter, but you are comparing schools whose applicants will overlap.You are comparing BU with schools such as Temple, Syracuse, Buffalo, etc. Your success in college will depend on you, and not on whether BU or Temple is written on the diploma. It will be up to you to take advantage of what your school offers, build a resume etc.
My thought is that you are equating success with attending BU over and above Syracuse, UConn etc…but that’s not how life works.