You were surprised that Catholic colleges are Catholic? You applied to three of them.
I think you are fixated on prestige. Honestly, with your stats, you did a good job of choosing match schools for the STATS. You know now that you would prefer a smaller LAC type school in a city. You can choose your closest option and deposit with the University of Tampa and look for the list of schools that still have openings- usually it is published around May 4th, go for a visit to U Tampa, or you can take a GAP year and investigate smaller schools and reapply. Also take some time to read the list of schools that students with higher STATS were rejected from.
You still may be able to apply to some additional schools even though it is late. Do some more research(quickly), call the ones you like and determine if they are still accepting applications. Some schools may not have enough accepted students and some waitlisted may have moved on…
I knew they had a religion associated with them, I just didn’t know to what extent. I wasn’t expecting the cross to be on every building at Villanova nor did I know that you had to take a class on religion to graduate
FWIW I don’t think either Fordham or Villanova are super religious. No required mass attendance. You might have a couple theology class requirements but they aren’t trying to convert you. And i imagine you wouldn’t be the only atheist. Georgetown is a Catholic university as well. The education at all of these schools is excellent. You could also choose one and try it out. It might be better than you anticipate and if not you can transfer.
Barnard, Skidmore. Both schools I had the stats for, and would’ve at least had a shot of for admissions
You hate 8 different schools that you applied to and were accepted to? I suggest you choose the one you hate the least and go.
I agree that your choices are in line with your stats. Mt Holyoke and Ithaca are worlds apart from the others.
You are very unlikely to get into somewhere you might regard as better by reapplying in a year.
Go and don’t look back.
If you are looking for a small school then take a gap year and reapply. Make sure you have a list of safety and match schools and that the schools are affordable.
Barnard would’ve been the perfect school for me, so I’m looking into transferring
Barnard had just under a 14% acceptance rate for the class of 2022. Your test scores are just above the 25%. This school is a reach.
The transfer acceptance rate is 22%.
I would choose one of the smaller schools on your list, such as Ithaca, or take a gap year and reapply.
Your reasoning seems off. You seem to be more concerned about “appearances” of prestige compared to your peers vs which school will help you achieve your long term academic/career goals. Those are more important than ranking.
Have you looked into the course offerings? When you say you might switch to something physics related, what are you imagining? Have you researched the different schools’ physics depts, UG research opportunities, physics clubs/student groups?
FWIW, I have kids with incredibly strong academic profiles attend schools not even ranked close to the top 100. They have gone on to have excellent UG experiences, careers, and grad school acceptances. Ranking is probably the least important reason for selecting a school.
It’s mainly my comfort at these colleges that I’m questioning. I’m pretty shy, so the individualized attention I’d get at a LAC like Barnard is missing from these schools. I’m upset knowing that I could’ve applied to Barnard and Skidmore with at least a shot at admissions, but didn’t. I’d now be wasting money for a year else where or doing nothing for a year while my former classmates are away at college. My parents aren’t rich enough to afford a large travel abroad experience so I could “find myself” over the gap year.
if you take a gap year you will be working, not doing nothing. You can find yourself while working.
Even schools with large classes have small recitation sections for the courses. The recitation courses usually only have about 20 students in them. Academic clubs tend to be very small. Most Us have tutoring centers if you need assistance, but forming study groups with kids in your classes is way to make friends and get support.
Shy kids can find peer groups on large campuses. My current college student never even stepped inside of a classroom prior to her freshman yr of college (we homeschool). She is an introvert attending a school with 35,000 students.
It sounds like you have made up your mind to be unhappy and miserable.
If you’re going to take a gap year, you need to do something that distinguishes you from other students who do so. Colleges won’t like it if you take a gap year merely so you can apply to better schools. You’ll want to engage in community service of some type, publish some writing, etc.
What is wrong with Ithaca College? It sounds like a good fit for you.
When I was touring the campuses I just knew they weren’t for me. What they were offering just didn’t appeal to me. I’m being honest with myself about my feelings about these schools before my family dishes out thousands. Just because I don’t like the schools, doesn’t make me miserable
Fordham is Jesuit, which is a very liberal and accepting culture and philosophy. Yes, there is a religious presence there, as in a chapel (and most likely, a place of worship for many other faiths too, and yes, I realize you are atheist…you will not be pressured into religion there). Also the Fordham student body, I believe, would be socially/culturally diverse, not all Catholic at all. You would have a requirement of some theology courses, often ethics or philosophy courses can fit that requirement. I don’t think that a year at any of these colleges would be a waste…you would have a year of credits, and if you try, you might actually find that you fit there better than you are thinking. Something made you choose these colleges in the first place!
Please do not think that these schools are safeties. I know physics majors at some of these schools…who had higher stats coming out of HS…and they find the work to be very challenging.
Take a gap year and work/volunteer while you find a more acceptable list of schools. Just make sure you are doing this for the right reasons.
They’re strong in their drama department, but I’m unsure about Physics. They were also a safety college for me. I would be paying more for a safety than I would pay at a more challenging school. And I know that sounds harsh, but I worked really hard in high school and I’d like a school that reflects my hard work. People from my high school with lower stats (1170 SAT) were accepted as well.