@scribbler2022 Williams and Kenyon are the right kind of schools to have tried for. Schools that provide lots of financial aid unfortunately also tend to have very low acceptance rates. When you can’t afford the schools in the great middle of the college marketplace (the ones with higher acceptance rates but not enough aid to be affordable for low income families), that’s how you can end up at safety schools like yours.
It doesn’t mean you did anything wrong. Sometimes the stars just don’t line up for someone. But I can understand how when someone gets the fly-out program to Williams, other schools just aren’t going to seem as nice. Because they arent’ as nice. But, again, college is better than high school, and there are always opportunities for kids who are working to make the most of wherever they end up.
update on this: i paid the housing deposit for my safety school on April 29th and had a mental breakdown and ended up sobbing and arguing with my mom and cried myself to sleep. this past saturday i heard back from Williams and was rejected. this morning i heard back from Kenyon’s and was rejected. i now have absolutely no clue what to do with my life and i want to die.
Take a gap year.
With super high financial need you’d have needed to apply to lots of “meet need” colleges, not just two.
People from this website will be able to help you establish a better list and improve your essay.
Secure your letters of recommendation now, look up the MIT’s advice about writing letters to highly selective colleges and provide it to your teachers.
Work and volunteer during your gap year. Find a therapist/counselor to help you through this.
Please go immediately see a person that you feel safe with, your mom, your brother, a friend, a neighbour, a teacher, a doctor, anyone. Don’t be alone right now. Your life isn’t over. You have excellent qualifications and you will find a college that fits you better than the commuter school in your hometown. It may happen in time for this fall or it may happen for next year. It’s okay to take a year off and work and reapply. People here will help you. Just so any safe until you feel ready to go back to work.
Are you okay this morning? Please let us know. So much help is available here and you can work out a new plan. A gap year would be a fresh start.
You have great stats, and you have many expert posters here to guide you in your gap year.
Grieve for a day or two, and then jump back in on this thread. Or start a new thread with a Gap year title.
Normally the advice to “I hate my safety” is to accept it, think positively, and jump in and join clubs and find ways to like it. But you have a unique situation, and there are lots of people here ready to walk you through a gap year. Reapplying to a better set of schools that can meet your financial need will change your life.
Don’t suffer in silence. Ask for help in processing your sadness. You have reason to be sad. You did all the right things, but did not get the result you wanted.
But the great news is that you have s second chance! There are huge rules to learn and obey in Gap Year, and there are things you can do today to be sure you have all your teacher recommendations set.
Protect your Frehman Starus at all costs. Freshmen get all the money. Transfers get little to nothing.
Plan to work and save money over your Gap year. Continue your passions in some way if possible.
You can do this. We can help.
At 18 yo you don’t have to know what you want to do with your life, and even if you did, statistics say it would change a few times anyway. Rejection is really hard. Everyone says not to take it personally, but its hard not to.
I think you have received some good advice. Take the gap year to increase your number of applications, do something interesting to add to your application/finances, and give yourself a break. You are doing the best you can. There is no race to the finish line - take your time and do it right.
Please keep us posted.