<p>I dont know why I keep lingering on those uncourteous rejection letters
saying "we regret to inform." It is so disheartening to think back all of my
effort and time to apply to those schools this year. One of my friend
(she has lower SAT scores, lower GPA, fewer APs with lower score, no
extracurricular actitivites, no volunteer, no working experience) got into USC.
No offense. </p>
<p>Despite all my outstanding and remarkable high school life, I feel like all
my abilities and accomplishments are neglected as if they are like trash.
The admissions process is full of unfair evaluation, and I'm ashamed I never knew until being personally affected.</p>
<p>Someone has said the following: </p>
<p>"I never got into a dream school. I never should have worked so hard. I never should have even tried to be optimistic. I'll never know what it feels like to be wanted back, to be in an environment of similarly minded people. I'm going to my state school full of drunk partiers and people who don't even bother working hard, and I feel so mediocre because of it."</p>
<p>Im totally with him, and all of you who feel the same way as I do.</p>
<p>I think I deserve at least an explanation from them why I was not good enough to get in,
thinking of all of my effort on applying to them.</p>
<p>I am sorry about this bad day (or week) that you had. But, as a wise rabbi once said to me: we look at the few bad things that happen to us and focus on those, failing to see all the magnificent things we take for granted. When you woke up this morning, was your heart working? Your kidneys? Your liver? Did you have someone to wake up to and say “hi”? Was there a roof over your head? Did you wake up in a bed? I have polycystic kidney disease, so I have definitely learned to appreciate waking up without finding my whole body out of its basic homeostatic function. </p>
<p>Now, it is time to go celebrate and toast to the blessings you have been given. Go take a hike. Go fishing. Go party. Go on a date. Whatever. Just enjoy life. LIFE IS NOT ABOUT WHAT MEDIOCRE, UNINTELLIGENT ADMISSIONS OFFICIALS THINK. :)</p>
<p>Many state schools offer top programs and are tier 1. Just look at the flipping UC-system, which includes the STATE SCHOOLS of UCLA and UC Berkeley! There are so many wonderful and intelligent people who go to state schools. Also, many offer honors programs and distinctions for the top students.</p>
<p>If it bus you so much, you can always do very well and apply as a transfer: the game is not done, yet.</p>
<p>Hey, thank you. It does make me feel better than before.
I know I am reading many ppl with much better stats mourning due to stupid rejections by those schools and I think I got fewer to whine about.</p>
<p>I am trying to think positively for my better future.
I am waitlisted for Columbia, McGill and Washington University in St.Louis.
(AKA soft denial…)
I always have known that life is unfair and tough as everyone knows but
it is still discouraging, frustrating, disappointing and disheartening after being peronally
affected…</p>
<p>Good luck (I say luck purposely) You are obviously an excellent student and waitlisted students still have a decent chance. If it makes you feel any better, I already got rejected by WU in St. Louis, Cornell, Columbia, blah blah haha. I would like to say I care, but I got over it after a friend dragged me to a jacuzzi with her haha. Wherever you end up going, do well. I understand how you feel, this is the toughest year to be an applicant! Keep your head up.</p>
<p>Think about all the people who go to lower-tier schools and end up getting into better grad/professional schools than their ivy-league counterparts because they got higher GPAs and could stand out more! And think about all the people who graduated from lower-tier schools and ended up more successful than their counterparts. </p>
<p>Also, many of the admissions officers I’ve met–even some at very, very prestigious schools–are actually not that intelligent. They’re only human. One presentation I attended at an Ivy was given by an admissions officer who looked/talked sort of like Snookie, and one admissions officer I talked to from a top 10 university didn’t even know what the school’s supplement questions were and told me the wrong deadline for early action! But that’s beside the point, because not even the smartest people on earth could make the process completely fair.</p>
<p>I felt the exact same way when I saw my 5 ivy rejections this morning. I sat through class all day, telling myself and the people around me that I was fine when I really wasn’t. At one stage, I started blaming myself: why didn’t I put more effort on my essays? Why didn’t I enter more competitions? Why didn’t I ask teacher B instead of teacher A to write my recommendations? The questions continued until I finally broke down when I got home…
I expected those rejections and I knew I will be upset at them, but I really didn’t expect to cry over them. When I realized I was actually crying, a little voice inside me began to tell me how silly I was, and I somehow started laughing at myself. </p>
<p>What happened has already happened; I cannot change my past actions. I have gained a lot during this college admission process. For example, through writing my essays I now
have a clearer idea of who I am and what I’m passionate about. </p>
<p>This is really cliche and I have heard it repeated on CC many many times, but what college you get into doesn’t change who you are. I’m sure that when we look back at this a year later, we will all be very happy at whichever college we end up in.</p>
<p>*One of my friend
(she has lower SAT scores, lower GPA, fewer APs with lower score, no
extracurricular actitivites, no volunteer, no working experience) got into USC.
No offense. *</p>
<p>this has happened a lot this season…your friend may have had something unique to offer…an unusual major, a legacy, URM status, etc.</p>
You are obviously an excellent student and waitlisted students still have a decent chance. If it makes you feel any better, I already got rejected by WU in St. Louis, Cornell, Columbia, blah blah haha. I would like to say I care, but I got over it after a friend dragged me to a jacuzzi with her haha. Wherever you end up going, do well. 
I understand how you feel, this is the toughest year to be an applicant! Keep your head up.</p>