<p>Okay, so I probably made a bad decision by applying only to Cornell, Columbia, Harvard, Yale, Penn, and Suny-Bing. I got rejected at 3 of the ivy's and waitlisted at Columbia and Cornell. My situation is I REALLY do not want to go to Bing despite people who are insistent that its a "good" school. Even though I feel that I should have chosen a better safety school I felt that my stats SAT 2160 SAT II 770 740 700 Gpa 98/100 Top 2% of graduating class would be enough to get me into one of the schools. Right now I'm considering trying to apply late to SUNY- Stony Brook or even taking a gap year. I'm really in a bind and this situation is not pleasant. Any advice?</p>
<p>Hi! Have you looked at the NACAC list of schools still accepting applications? You do have very fine stats, to be sure, and if you could find gap year activities which you found fulfilling and interesting, it might be a good plan. </p>
<p>The NACAC list is here: <a href="http://www.nacacnet.org/MemberPortal/ForStudents/2006SpaceAvailabilityResults.htm%5B/url%5D">http://www.nacacnet.org/MemberPortal/ForStudents/2006SpaceAvailabilityResults.htm</a></p>
<p>Aren't you only 16? Take a gap year, raise your SATs and apply again.</p>
<p>17 years old</p>
<p>with your stats you shouldn't even consider attending a suny. you can do quite a bit better than that.</p>
<p>Stich -
what majors are you interested in?</p>
<p>economics, and I'm currently enrolled in the School of Management(business) at Bing. Going to a different school at Bing would mean forfeiting one of the few scholarships they actually gave me.</p>
<p>One of the nicest, intelligent young men we have had at our school for a teaching year abroad was a Bingham graduate in physics. He went back to the states for graduate studies. It left me with such a good impression of that school. Stich, if it were me, I'd go on to school and knock their socks off. And if it isn't for you, transfer.</p>
<p>I am sorry that your results were not happier - sometimes the numbers just don't come up the way you would like. Your wl results at Columbia and Cornell indicate that you weren't off by that much. </p>
<p>Giving your best shot at Bing for a year, and transferring if you are not happy by spring (and you may be!) is, I think, the safest route to take. When and if you reapply, I am sure you will add schools that accept a reasonable number of applicants. One thing to remember about public universities is that there will be plenty of smart kids there - high prestige private schools are the exception, not the rule. </p>
<p>The school that I noticed on the NACAC list (colleges that still have places) is Rochester Institute of Technolgy. Now, I know, its not Columbia. However, it is a good school - the sal from my son's hs is there and enjoying it. It wouldn't hurt to take a look at their website - <a href="http://www.rit.edu%5B/url%5D">www.rit.edu</a></p>
<p>Bing > RIT</p>
<p>I would take a gap year and reapply.</p>
<p>I think that it would be a good idea to take a gap year and to do something productive in your gap year such as research, working a job (any job can be impressive) or doing community service like Americorps.</p>
<p>Then apply to a wider range of colleges including some real match schools and some safeties that you'd truly enjoy attending.</p>
<p>When it comes to colleges like Ivies it often is easier to get in as a freshman (and you know how hard it is to acccomplish that!) than as a transfer.</p>
<p>Dont forget to send Cornell and Columbia really nice waitlist letters saying that you would love to attend their university!</p>
<p>You might be best off taking a gap year and reapplying. Use the year wisely, and fashion your list of schools to include some that are still very fine, but a notch below the ivies. For economics, you might try Claremont McKenna, Chicago, Northwestern, Rochester, Williams, Swarthmore, Bowdoin, Wesleyan, Hamilton, Middlebury, Colgate. Claremont McKenna supposedly has the best LAC econ dept.</p>
<p>And you might want to have a trusted older person look at your application package/essays. Maybe there was something in them that would have rubbed someone the wrong way.</p>
<p>Transferring from Binghamton to Cornell is pretty easy if you have good grades at Binghamton. I know a number of students who did that and did not even have straight As at Bing. Go to Binghamton for a year and then transfer to Cornell. This route probably gives you a much surer shot at getting to Cornell than a gap year ever could.</p>
<p>The parents advising a gap year may be unaware of this rather straightforward path to Cornell.</p>
<p>Stitch, you have many options open to you, including the one to walk through the door that SUNY Bing has offered. You may indeed benefit from a gap year but you may also benefit greatly from time spent at Bing. The CC adage "love thy safety" certainly applies here. Rejection stings but it is not by any means a reflection of who you are or what your academic potential might be. Just because many people do not recognize the SUNY system in terms of Ivy prestige does not mean that you cannot come out at the end of four years, or even after a year or two, (e.g. transfer) with a top notch education. If a gap year is not feasible, I would seriously consider the advice that Overseas has given to you. In that same vein, please take a look at the parent thread on 'SUNY and its campuses" - and don't forget, especially since there seems to be merit scholarships involved, attending a SUNY can certainly open impressive and extremely prestigious academic doors in the future. As Overseas rightly points out "knock their socks off" now and if you still want to, go Ivy in the future.</p>
<p>I agree with Cloverdale...I know someone in exactly your situation, and transferred after a year to Cornell. He had an ok time at Binghamton, and made the best of it.</p>
<p>I wouldnt take a gap year unless there is really something out there you want to do. SUNY Bing will have a lot of smart kids so you will have a nice peer group.</p>
<p>Stitch, </p>
<p>What if you called Cornell and said you wouldn't mind starting in the winter semester, instead of the fall? I have heard that Cornell has allowed some students to do this in the past.</p>
<p>For what it's worth, I agree 100 percent with plum1. And micromom's suggestion is also worth trying.</p>
<p>As a grad of Binghamton (and married to a grad), I too think you should give the school a chance and keep the transfer option open. At Binghamton, you will find many high achieving students who chose it for financial reasons. You will also find many opportunities extracurricularly. It also has much more of a campus life than Stonybrook, which is known to be more of a commuter school (and also is not, I believe, regarded as highly). I have two friends right now with kids at Binghamton, both extremely satisfied. And if you are not, but do well academically, you definitely will have good transfer options available to you.</p>