If you were waitlisted or rejected by the schools you feel were at the level you want/deserved, it is HIGHLY unlikely they will accept you during a gap year unless you do something really significant with that gap year. If that’s what you decide to do, you need to have a good plan of substantial work/research/achieve your during the first part of that year that will make them take another look. Going on some kind of pay-to-play trip or mission out of the country isn’t going to be the answer.
Your better option is to be really introspective about why you didn’t have the success you wanted, choose one of the schools who actually want you, and make the most of it. If after honest introspection, doing well academically, and delving into extracurriculars in college you still don’t like that school, apply to transfer. That kind of effort would likely result in better transfer results than re-applying in a gap year.
Good luck! It sounds like you have a lot of growing that needs to happen. I hope you find the right place for it.
it is every bit as prestigious as some of the colleges you are pining over (and more prestigious in many ways than some of them) and there is absolutely nothing you might want to do in life that Hopkins won’t prepare you for. Nothing.
I won’t do a side by side comparison because I’m sure to offend someone (which is not my intention) but I think you’ve won the lottery and don’t realize it because the clerk at the 7/11 is slow to bring you the Slurpee… (or use whatever metaphor works for you).
What are you interested in studying?
UCLA is also fantastic- but since it’s not as popular in my neck of the woods as Hopkins I know fewer kids who have gone there.
You know Michael Bloomberg went there. He is worth 82bn. If it is good enough for him, it is good enough for you :-). It is exceptionally good for biological sciences and things like international studies and creative writing. I am sure it is very good for other things as well
Columbia’s vibe now is very “pre-wall street” and pre-med (pre-med is not new, the wall street kids have shown up in the last ten years) and Chicago- in an effort (misguided in my opinion) to shed the image of “The place where fun goes to die” is much less than a purely academic place than it used to be.
You are WAY too young to worry about “a career in academia”. But if you are looking for a college with serious academics and fantastic faculty who love to teach and who are world renowned- you can’t find better than Hopkins.
Okay. I am struggling with you dreaming of both Brown and Chicago. That tells me that perhaps your focus is not on what it should be, and that is what program and focus is the best fit for YOU, not someone else in your high school.
But to answer your question, I think that you’ll get over going to an “ivy reject” school when multiple of those students kick your butt in your classes. And they will. JHU is a top program. You can be happy, successful, and thriving there, if you open your eyes to the resources available, as well as get to know some of your truly stellar future classmates. There just isn’t a difference in calibre of students or faculty between JHU and the schools you’ve listed, and JHU is a stand out in research (as others have pointed out).
Try learning more about some of the niche programs at JHU, learning about some of the great student groups, etc. It should make you feel more excited to attend.
You seem to care a lot about comparisons to others – both how USNWR ranks the college in their arbitrary weightings and which colleges your classmates are attending. Far more important should be how the college fits with what you are looking for in a college, how well the college will assist with your future goals. For example, is there any particular major, EC, or other activity that is interests you and is notably weaker at JHU than at the other colleges in your list? Do you think JHU would not support your future goals as well as other colleges you listed?
You mentioned Baltimore depresses you and the campus depresses you. Those are valid concerns. If Baltimore and the campus is the main problem, then UCLA or other colleges are alternatives. When I moved from the east coast to CA for college, I found the weather and greater degree of outdoor activities the opposite of depressive. However, it sounds like there are more issues than just the city/campus being depressive.
JHU is a first choice for many students. A significant portion of the class is admitted ED I, suggesting that they were not rejected from Ivy+ schools. You may be applying to colleges largely based on USNWR ranking and choosing the highest ranked college you are accepted to, but that’s not how most kids apply to colleges. Perhaps your magnet school was not a healthy environment and not a good reflection of typical students.
OP - do you have people around you to lift you up and support you? Or, are your family and friends reinforcing your negative opinion of your admissions results? I hope it is the former — you need support as you work through this disappointment.
You will get through this. It may not seem like it now, but this is a good opportunity for you because this is an opportunity for personal growth.
Becoming a resilient person who knows how to pivot towards success in the face of disappointment is a trait that will serve you well in your future. This is a key personality trait of the most successful people. You now have an opportunity to develop this trait.
You can move on and kill it at UCLA or JHU. Please give yourself room to discover what YOU are truly passionate about — you will become more focused on yourself and less on what others have or are doing.
You are facing your first real disappointment in life. There will be more. But, more importantly, there are many more opportunities to shine just ahead of you. Such as, getting great grades in college, attending a graduate school that you love, securing your first job, etc.
I work in academia (granted, its only a T50 for the type of program I work in). All 3 of my degrees (bachelors, masters, and doctorate) are from colleges you have likely NEVER heard of and if in the rare chance you were familiar with any of them, I know for sure you would have never gone to one of those “participation trophy” colleges.
Many, many high-stat students would be ecstatic with your options.
I checked the Naviance data for my kids’ school. Over the past five years, there were 53 applicants to JHU and only two were accepted. Among the kids who weren’t accepted were a 4.0/36, a 3.98/36, a 4.0/35, a 3.97/1570, and a 3.97/1560.
If you are concerned with bragging rights, don’t be. JHU and UCLA are very well-regarded around the world and, in any case, you shouldn’t care what other people think.
If you are conerned about outcomes, you shouldn’t be.
Looking at college scorecard salary data for three of the other schools on your list vs. JHU:
Econ
Chicago 96k
JHU 94k
Cornell 83k
Brown 78k
Math
Cornell 103k
JHU 102k
Brown 97k
Chicago 81k
JHU stacks up very well, and, in any case, the differences at this level are largely meaningless given how many factors other than what college you went to influence the salaries.
Make the most of your opportunities at JHU or UCLA and you will likely be as happy and as well off as you would have been if you had gone to any of the other schools you applied to.
If you are looking at a career in academia, you’ve got another chance at the T10 for grad school and you can pick Harvard, Yale etc. then.
Baltimore isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, but the Homewood campus is in a nice area. Gee, some people think NYC isn’t the best place to live either, but most people find things they like about it - keep the good, avoid those things you don’t like.
If you are determined to be miserable, you will be. If you can find the good things, go to UCLA or JHU.
That’s exactly what I was thinking. It’s all about fit and the AOs are pretty good at sizing up who is a fit for their school. I did not get the sense that the OP extensively researched the schools as it’s hard to believe that one could truly gel with all the schools on the list provided (they are very different places), and so the “Why X” may have been less than convincing. This is incredibly important as the schools want students to capitalize on all the resources they can provide. My suggestion is to learn from this experience, and then when it comes time to apply for grad school or a job, be sure to know everything and more about where you are applying…