<p>On the question of “Why did I prepare so hard?” the answer is that preparing hard to be ready for a tough college makes sure that you will be successful at the college you eventually attend. A lot of students fail out of a lot of colleges. Not everyone who aims at attending a highly selective college gets in, and not all students who are admitted to famous colleges can afford to attend them, depending on family income and the colleges’ financial aid policies, but it is always a smart idea to challenge yourself while of high school age. For some students, that leads to scholarship opportunities and a high grade average at the college they attend, and for other students, it leads to more career success as soon as they seek jobs–which may be while they are still in college. </p>
<p>P.S. One of my best buddies from law school did his undergraduate degree at the University of Wyoming. (He was from a different state.) He ended up getting a job offer from what is arguably the very best law firm in the world, worked there as an associate for a time, and eventually went into private law practice in another part of the country. He has enjoyed his career, and his U of Wyoming degree didn’t close the door to opportunities for him.</p>
<p>His stats are ivy competitive. He’s also a URM. He could have been accepted to an ivy or MIT. He was very poorly advised; he wasn’t even told to take the PSAT, which he would have likely scored high enough for NM or NHispanic. When I hear of cases like this, I wonder what the heck the high school counselors are thinking. Why have him withdraw an app to MIT!!???</p>
<p>^ That’s one of the reasons for regional disparities in college admission results. Some high school counselors are totally clueless. My son’s was above-average, but resigned right in the middle of this application season (very inconvenient for class of 2010 students) and not well familiar with some of the unique aspects of our family’s context and my son’s career goals. It sounds like the OP could have aimed higher for an affordable safety and have applied to more affordable reach colleges.</p>