Please….please stop fixating on the rankings. Please. Start thinking of the positives about your acceptances…and start looking at the website and see what things might pique your interest there.
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True, but I’m just asking.
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I’m a little confused. Is it that you don’t like Johns Hopkins, or is it that you don’t like not getting into an Ivy League school (I’m quite amused by the Ivy League plus categorization; wouldn’t JHU fit that category?) If it’s the former, we all make mistakes and you can either take a gap year and then apply to some other universities that you might enjoy attending, or go to JHU and then try to transfer. If it’s the latter I’m not sure what to tell you. Name brand is a funny thing. I’m from Europe and Johns Hopkins (as well as UCLA) are well recognized universities, whereas some of the Ivy League schools not so much. I think it has to do with size and research output as many on this thread have already commented on.
You are still young and I wish you well. It’s tough living your life looking through other people’s binoculars. Try putting them down for a minute.
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If Baltimore depresses you, UCLA is an awesome school and the students there seem very happy. Our son loved it there and had great research opportunities as an undergrad. Even though I went to Berkeley, there are several things these days including housing that are more attractive at UCLA.
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Yes….in very good company tied with Duke, Cal Tech and Northwestern at #9. Higher than Dartmouth, Brown, Cornell, and Berkeley.
I can understand your concerns about Baltimore but Homewood campus is not the city and that’s where you’ll spend much of your time.
UCLA is in a vibrant city with amazing weather. And it’s housing situation is much better than what’s currently happening at Berkeley.
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@WeEatWeSleepWeDie I know that these thoughts are popping up in your head, and that you are not really able to suppress them. The fact that they bother you tells me that you are not entitled, and that you are, indeed aware of your privilege, but our feelings do not always listen to reason or to sense.
So here are a number of thing to think about to help you deal with these intrusive thoughts.
First, nobody “deserves” admission to any private college. Colleges admissions are not a prize that is handed out the the “most accomplished” high school graduates. Private colleges select students based on what they believe the applicant will bring to the colleges and to the rest of the incoming students. They, in general, believe that high achieving kids will bring more to the college, but that is not an award for the students, but for the benefit of the college.
Doing that well in high school in a great achievement, and you deserve applause, praise, awards even, and you deserve to be proud of yourself.
You do not, however, deserve admissions to an “elite” private or OOS college because of that.
As a CA resident, you probably do deserve admissions to one of their most competitive colleges, and you indeed receive that acceptance to UCLA. You may have wanted the other top college more, but you did get what you “deserve” from your home state.
So the term “deserve” is mostly irrelevant when considering admissions to colleges with holistic admissions.
Another bit of advice: ignore negative reviews of colleges. People generally only write reviews if they’re unhappy with their college
To help with your intrusive thought, here is a mental exercise.
First, ask your self - why did you apply to JHU and UCLA in the first place? There must have been a reason that you went to the effort to apply to these two colleges, so remember the reason.
Second, ask yourself - had you gotten into, say U Chicago, would you have felt any different? Basically, are you simply suffering from a case of “the grass is greener”?
Third: find things to love about UCLA and JHU.
Baltimore depressed you? Doesn’t really matter - JHU has a beautiful campus, which is where you will be spending the vast majority of your time. You don’t need to see Baltimore at all if you don’t feel like it.
UCLA is in a really pretty part of LA, the weather is generally great, and there’s always something to do in Los Angeles. Many people prefer UCLA to Berkeley, especially since the LA area is so vibrant.
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omg - stop with the pity party. You got into schools where many a student is just as accomplished as you. Heck, there are kids that go to far lesser schools that get into schools like these for their own reasons.
Show love to the schools that showed love to you.
No school is perfect - and these schools are fabulous. 99.9% of kids would kill to get in.
Have a great four years - lean into your experience and stop being a downer. You are in a dream situation.
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You got into 2 of the best schools in the country (possibly more, because we don’t know all of your acceptances). Did you send a deposit?
Having ambition is great, but trying to “outclass” everybody is not and I am glad you realize that it’s toxic. That is a good starting place toward healthy living.
It is time to move on. Accept that you did not get into your desired schools, and embrace the schools that want you. Btw …we are talking about JHU!
I would figure out how to remain ambitious without the dangerous competitive edge. Being too competitive can work against you, and it will not serve you well in college and throughout life. You are going to turn people away…friends, professors, colleagues, etc.
You seem to feel that your college acceptance is the prize. It’s not. It’s a stepping stone to a successful and happy career…and life. Forget about the rankings - nobody cares.
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Have you double deposited? You have answered other questions but seem to be side-stepping this one. Perhaps it would be helpful in moving on if you did a deep dive into where you have deposited and choose one school.
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Said very gently and with deep compassion, it might be wise to take a gap year while doing some intensive work with a therapist. Your self-defeating competitiveness seems like it could create real stumbling blocks throughout adulthood if you don’t take the time and invest the energy into working through it now.
It seems like this may be an internal problem (mental health issue) rather than an external one (poor outcome from your admissions process).
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Don’t dwell on disappointment. Everyone experiences some disappointments at some points in life. Look forward, not back. You have some fine choices for college. Move on with your life.
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Oh yes, Hopkins is a peer of the schools you mentioned. Upon reading your first post, I was so surprised that you would even call it a “silver medal school.” It’s so not that at all, and you are getting so worked up about something that’s not even real (Hopkins’ supposed status as some kind of a lesser school). In fact, as others have noted, its quality surpasses that if the Ivies, etc. in various disciplines. It really does. It seems that you are too young to get this frazzled about getting into a top school that offers the same quality as other top institutions but may lack the ubiquitous name reputation of a Stanford or Harvard. If you allow yourself to go down that road, you will get twisted into a knot repeatedly as you get older and life goes on. There will always be somebody with a higher-paying job with a more recognized company, or a splashier house, or a faster car. Even at the top strata of life, there is still competition. Getting pulled into that is such a waste of time, such needless worry. You got into the top tier. Revel in it!
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here’s the good news - i do think your feelings are based on whats going on around you with your peers/school culture. In 6 months from now I really don’t think you’ll be feeling this way; and this will be long forgotten. ** this scenario right now reminds me of the kid who got a puppy rather than a pony for Christmas. It is all good - it’s going to be OK - and you have some wonderful options!
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College is not a destination. It’s where you’ll spend parts of the next 4 years. It’s a means to an end and not the end goal in itself. For any college experience to be meaningful and worthwhile, you need to be clear about where you want to go with your life because that IS the end game.
So, the question is, where do you want to go with your life? Which of the available options best positions you to get to where you want to be? Everything else is just a distraction.
Keep your eyes on the prize.
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Have you ever heard that song World’s Smallest Violin?
This seems to be a recurring theme on CC -High achieving student applies to colleges based on ranking/prestige and is successful in getting some acceptances but is disappointed with their options. You are in good company. I would be willing to bet that there is someone who got into your top choice but was rejected/waitlisted at JHU or UCLA and would have preferred to go there. That’s just how it works out sometimes.
I understand you are disappointed but you achieved what you set out to do. You got into a T10 school. You also got into the most competitive UC. That’s a big deal. Be proud of that.
I’m assuming you committed somewhere and will start in the fall. Please go with the expectation that you will have a great experience and be very successful. I imagine once you go to school the what ifs and admission cycle regrets will quickly become a distant memory.
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Is this the first time you lose and don’t achieve what you want? Get used to it, it will happen all the time in your adult life.
Silver medal is really not that bad.
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Where you go to undergrad shouldn’t be your endgame. You want to be a Professor?, ask some Professors where they got their undergrad degrees. It wouldn’t surprise me to find that many if not most went to schools you would perceive as modest. They may have gone on to schools considered more prestigious do their doctorate. You are still who you are. Take your talents and drive and use them to pursue your real goals not just some some shiny school with a fancy name. There certainly isn’t anything you did or didn’t do that’s holding you back or was the reason you didn’t get accepted to other universities.
My daughter is thrilled to be heading to JHU and turned down several of the schools you’re talking about. If JHU isn’t a good fit, take a year and rethink things. It’s a big commitment. If it’s not a fit, it’s not a fit.
Ivy League schools are VERY different each appealing to a different kind of student. They have quite different admissions rates too. Be careful of only wanting what you can’t have.
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Yes, definitely. Johns Hopkins is one of the top universities in the world. It is excellent. When you get there, you will find yourself surrounded by very, very strong students and will be learning from very strong professors. Classes will be tougher than anything you have seen up to now, but if you work hard and keep ahead in your work you will learn an enormous amount.
UCLA is also excellent.
Whether these two schools are “top 3” or “top 10” or “top 50” will depend upon your major. For one daughter’s major and focus US News has Johns Hopkins ranked 2nd in the world and ahead of Stanford, MIT, and every other university you mentioned by name in your original post (and UCLA is not very far behind). Employers will consider both Johns Hopkins and UCLA as very top universities to recruit from.
There is also the point that either of these schools will set you up for a strong career and for attending a very strong graduate program. If you look at who attends the very top ranked graduate programs, you will see that they accept students from a very wide range of undergraduate universities.
There are a very large number of very good universities in the US, and just as many or more outside the US. You have been accepted to two excellent universities.
There are not a lot of secrets that Harvard, MIT, or Stanford are keeping from the other universities but that they are going to teach undergraduates. The absolute top students attend a wide range of universities for a wide range of reasons. I think that you will be pleased and surprised how many excellent students you are going to meet who are “like you” at either Johns Hopkins or UCLA, or even at whatever university would be the third and fourth that you got accepted to (assuming that you were accepted somewhere else as well).
Assuming that you attend either Johns Hopkins or UCLA, you should plan to show up on day 1 ready to work very hard and make a huge effort to keep ahead in your class work. Do not underestimate these schools.
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I love this quote and will likely be stealing it from you for use when needed IRL.
To the OP, JHU is absolutely as strong as any of the other schools on your list and stronger than some you consider gold medal schools. I’m stymied that you consider them lower tier TBH. Whoever/whatever made you think they’re silver medal caliber is just plain wrong.
If you don’t want to go there, then don’t - there are multiple reasons why folks opt to apply and attend elsewhere, but it certainly isn’t due to the quality of education or experiences one can get there academically or with research.