Your stats are good so I can understand why you, as someone who didn’t have good counseling, didn’t understand the current admissions landscape and went with a top-heavy list. When your parents went to college that list would have been fine.
Here are a couple of random thoughts I have, in no particular order-
- You don’t necessarily have to know what you want to study in college. Of course, those applications where a student knows what they want and have the classes and ECs to show that this is an informed decision look good. But even if you don’t know what you want to study, if your application reads as someone who is intellectually curious and is spending time in a worthwhile manner, you are also attractive.
2- I think you might know some things that you aren’t interested in, right? Based on the HS classes you took, bet you don’t like STEM. So, what do each of the schools you applied to have to offer you? Once you think about that, you can think about how you can turn that around and make it about why you would be a good fit for them. This will help in your LOI, or new applications either this year or next.
3- it sounds like you got lost in the crowd with your GC due to no fault of yours. I think you may have learned a lesson the hard way that networking and making connections with people is really important. If you take this lesson to heart, you are far ahead of the game than your cohorts. So try not to be too bummed out about your results this year, and instead think about what you can positively learn from it to help you in life.
4- Take the time now to rethink everything. Be intentional with your next move.
- look at finances first. Finances for most families are a lot less stable than they were a couple of months ago. Can your family still afford the $20k/year you were planning on? Or do you need to take a gap year and concentrate next year on chasing for more merit money? It should be harder next year because I bet a lot of other kids will do the same.
- know that in the UC system there are good pathways to transfer from CC to UCs. Where you start is not where you end up.
- if you chose to take a gap year, think about what you can do with your time that would be a growth experience for you. It doesn’t have to be fancy. I know lots of folks that ended up going into their careers because of low-level HS jobs that showed them they like the field.
- no matter whether you start of at CC, or work next year, or go to a school you’ll newly apply to now or to one of your WL schools, keep your eyes and ears open. Look for opportunities, and even when you are doing drudge work, think about what skills or future opportunities you can make out of this.
Best of luck to you. Remember, this is just a bump in the road.