<p>@Senior
Although I agree that this is overly-dramatized, it seems to me that 1. you are assuming the people reading your comment are going to get rejected, and 2. you have no right to speak on the subject if you got in. You are currently attending an “elite” university, so are you recommending that we read some article that you, and chances are, most of us don’t agree with? Congrats for getting into Stanford buddy, but I think you need to get some “perspective.”</p>
<p>wow just trying to help.
-Sorry for making it seem like I meant everyone posting was going to get rejected. I should have said “if you get rejected.” That is what I intended.<br>
-you don’t know my story. I got deferred EA, pretty much gave up hope on Stanford, and looked at other schools. I got rejected at two other top schools and waitlisted at three schools not very well regarded for admissions difficulty. I also got into a couple schools that would work out very well for me, even if they weren’t so glamorous in their name recognition or well-regarded academically. So, even had I been rejected, I gained a new perspective that I’d be fine no matter where I ended up, and that I’m really lucky just to get to where I was that day. It could be a whole lot worse. When I got into Stanford it was nice, but I didn’t need it.<br>
-I do agree with a lot of the article’s points. So does my roommate. Just because we are at an elite college does not mean we do not see the many flaws. </p>
<p>I’m not trying to patronize you guys. I was in your position, and I had very similar feelings at one point. It’s not worth it. You just gotta trust me on that.</p>
<p>ironic story. last year, the admissions email actually came out a day early for me. i opened it expecting it to be a warning letter of the actual admissions letter. but the acceptance caught me by surprise, and i def did not sleep that night.</p>
<p>to all of you who applied to Stanford: i want to say that i was in your exact position last year. and i was scared witless… but the beautiful thing about Stanford is that the admissions officers actually intricately read your essays and try to figure out who you are. they want people who have the potential to do extraordinary things here: people with passion. and trust me, i know, because i spoke to my own admissions officer (and gave her eternal thanks). so, if you spent your entire essay bragging about the same academic success that shows up on your transcript, sorry… but if you were honest with yourself, and demonstrated your greatest passions through your essays, then you have a firm chance of getting in. dont kill yourself with statistics. relax. and though now i am a proud cardinal, remember that in the great scheme of things, four years is a very small period of your life. good luck. i look forward to meeting some of you next year.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>That might be what they want (or just what they say they want- it’s really impossible to tell). One problem is that the admissions committee does poorly in this regard. I thought people here would be very passionate about learning, bettering the world, whatever. But I’ve come across many people who, for example, don’t do assigned reading and justify it because they still get a good grade. Or who just don’t work at all and don’t attend lecture and are okay with learning next to nothing. There’s also the people who think that, just because they’re at Stanford, that they have to adopt some entrepreneurial spirit and join BASES. Or the people who tailor their classes, grades, and activities to what the grad schools or the I-bank expects. I definitely didn’t expect it at this place, at least to the extent that it is at.</p>
<p>Senior, being passionate and working hard in classes are not the same thing. One can be passionate about what they do outside of class, and still do only just enough to get by in their classes - all it means is that they need to pick better classes (or that they were pushed into a class b/c it was a core requirement and actually see no value in taking the class, ahemhistory). I’m tired of people assuming that those who don’t work hard in school are lazy or otherwise inferior. If you can find a way to be lazy and still do well, then I say go right ahead - it saves time for more important things, like being “passionate about learning” and “bettering the world, whatever.”
Of course, this is coming from the extremely biased viewpoint of someone who has a profanityload of history homework that she doesn’t want to do and doesn’t see the point in doing right now. I need better history teachers, mine are failing at making me believe this stuff is important hahah.
I do see your point in “it’s not worth it” though, and I (and probably everyone else too) know in my brain that it really isn’t worth it to stress out about this, I just can’t help it. It’s like, the logical part of me knows that I shouldn’t read CC posts because they just make me feel bad about myself, but I do anyway haha!</p>
<p>Cardinal, thanks for that post 
It only half makes me feel better though, I was really unsure about whether or not my essay was too braggy when I submitted it. It’s really hard not to be braggy when you’re trying to give examples to back up what you say about your personality, though.</p>
<p>the way im looking at this is, i had a blast filling out my app and doin my essays, and i really put my heart into them. It was fun. Now though things are out of my hands and its hard to just say that ok, well im not going to worry about it, cuz when its gettin close like this u know its on your mind lol. But i mean i don’t really think you can really be expecting acceptance you know? you really won’t know till we get our emails. But it def. would be sweet to get in best of luck to everyone who applied!</p>
<p>Thanks for the post, ibleedcardinal. I just hope that my passion came across strongly enough in my essay…I guess I’ll see in a week.</p>
<p>no need to harp on senior here
thanks, senior and ibleedcardinal, for your two cents. it’s nice to get some perspective right now when i’m crazy with anticipation</p>
<p>this thread is a lot more hostile than the SCEAers thread.
You guys really should listen to the people who were in our shoes last year, thanks for the advice senior and ibleed.
And everyone tells you that admissions is not as big of a deal as you think for a reason, IT’S TRUE. If you are a quality student and have a true passion for learning you should be able to do that where ever you go. That being said Stanford is still my number one choice, but I will not be devastated if I get rejected. I will be upset, get over it, and move on.</p>
<p>mfederman, who do you think you are? Bringing logic and insight into this discussion? How dare you? :)</p>
<p>Oh, I really didn’t mean to be hostile… I didn’t mean for it to be an attack on Senior, it was supposed to be a defense of lazy people x)</p>
<p>If only I had some of that logic, it would make my life so much easier. As I said, it’s one thing to know that people are right and a completely separate thing to actually believe it, if that makes any sense at all :)</p>