<p>@yuhikoJay- I never said USAMO isn’t prestigious. I said that qualifying for it doesn’t make you a prefrosh for sure, because almost all of the people who apply to MIT have such stellar qualifications…</p>
<p>@lyxdeslic - USAMO+2380 is no where near guarantees you a place in MIT. I consider myself a pretty strong applicant, and have also been a medalist at the IMO.</p>
<p>Yet, I wasn’t expecting an acceptance at all (was waitlisted). Why? Because I know IMO GOLD medalists who have been rejected from MIT.</p>
<p>Getting back to the point of the thread: My son was despondent this time last year about his MIT rejection. Two weeks later, his acceptance to all 4 Ivys he applied to cheered him up - a little. This week he’s looking forward to going back to Yale after a two week spring break. He absolutely loves it. Got a grant approved to spend his summer abroad, incredibly excited about that. There is life after rejection, and I believe there is a method to the madness of the admissions process.</p>
<p>My parental perspective? Feel what you’re feeling, but know you will survive - and thrive.</p>
<p>thanks to OP and scoutsmom. </p>
<p>I was deferred and ultimately not accepted this year. I remember crying and being hurt in December. As time went on, I realized that it wouldn’t be the best environment for me. On Monday I received a LL from Brown and I am still among the clouds. I do think that the Brown LL helped me ease my anxiety over getting the decision Wednesday (however Brown is not a consolation prize and has been my dream for a long time). </p>
<p>You cannot use one rejection or acceptance to predict another. Brown had 29,000 applicants and sent out roughly 150 LL for non-athletes. MIT had 18,000 applicants. By virtue of statistics, I should have been accepted, but the MIT pool is self-selective. The admissions people know more about the MIT culture than any of us. And just because we were rejected, doesn’t mean we aren’t “good enough” for another top school (indicated by my Brown LL and lyxdeslic’s Yale acceptance). </p>
<p>It gets better. Life goes on.</p>
<p>Komaromy31,</p>
<p>Great to hear about your good experience at Case Western. I have been there several times and liked the campus (also like the pizza place on the edge of campus), plus it is in a growing and vibrant neighborhood of Cleveland. This is a good lesson that a second choice school may turn out to be a really good fit. </p>
<p>Also, sometimes I wonder if it is better to be a stand out at a good school as opposed to just another strong student at a highly ranked one. My son is choosing between University of Virginia regular and Ohio State honors. Although on its face this should be a pretty easy decision (except that he likes Buckeye football), the honors part makes it harder because of the specialized attention and opportunities given to those students. The reality is that students from Case and OSU who do well get noticed by the faculty and/or employers and do well while laggards at a top school like MIT (well maybe not MIT, lol) have difficulties.</p>
<p>IMO gold medalist rejected from MIT?</p>
<p>That is harsh.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>I could happen if you are were jerk or you did something really bad in your HS life. Or you mentioned Ivies on your essays.</p>
<p>But AFAIK I don’t think there is any US IMO gold medalist hanging around CC.</p>
<p>Remember that it is a lot harder to get into MIT (or any selective college, really) if you are international (so being an IMO medalist isn’t a guaranteed acceptance).</p>