33 ACT (34 Super Score); Class Rank 1/300; I thought I had fairly decent essays.
All I’ve ever wanted since entering high school is to attend a top university. The past three Valedictorians at my high school got rejected from all their dream schools so I applied to a BUNCH of the top universities across the nation and didn’t get into a single one…I know they’re all considered reach schools but I just feel utterly depressed. I’ve worked hard at school for the past three and half years, participated in a variety of extracurriculars (sports, student gov, math/science comp. teams, honor societies, etc.), and did well at all my interviews! One of my interviewers even shook my hand three times when it ended and said, “Uggg, I know admissions can be random but I REALLY hope you get in.” We got new counselors this year and the teachers who wrote my recommendations retired so I couldn’t use them (apparently naviance only allowed for recommendations from current staff members) so I admit my recommendations were probably pretty generic but I don’t understand how this could happen after all my hard work.
My results–
Wait Listed: Dartmouth, UPenn, UNC Chapel Hill, UChicago, Johns Hopkins
Rejected: Harvard, Princeton, Columbia, Brown, Duke, Vanderbilt, Northwestern
Accepted: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Purdue
The only schools I’m still waiting on are Stanford and Michigan but after all these results I don’t feel very confident…
It also just really bugs me that all the new counselors and staff helping out with applications told me, “Oh my gosh, your GPA is crazy high and you’re ACT is ridiculous, I don’t see how you’ll get rejected anywhere.” I feel like I was tricked and as if the 5 weeks I spent writing college essays was for nothing…I just find it really ironic that I put no effort into the essays for UoI and Purdue but got accepted and but SO MUCH effort into all my other schools and didn’t get in a single one. I just can’t believe I’ll never be able to experience what it’s like to get into a great college. Anyways, if anyone has any advice or similar situations to share, let me know because I feel pretty terrible right now. Hopefully, everyone else is having better luck with their decisions.
You already have. Twice.
Thanks; sorry I wasn’t trying to come off as cocky or arrogant with that comment. UoI and Purdue are the most common universities kids from my high school attend so I wasn’t super shocked or “ecstatic” when I received those decisions.
Who tricked you? You are applying to campuses that are swimming with thousands of applicants.
Applying to a university is not a given. Applying to a bunch of reach schools doesn’t make sense when you don’t apply to safeties.
It is not owed to you. No one tricked you.
Do you need financial aid? That’s a killer too.
I know I wasn’t actually tricked but the way the new administration at my school was “assuring” me I would get into these great schools really made it hurt a lot worse when I didn’t. Also, I applied to all those reach schools since I had already been accepted to Purdue back in August. I know nothing was “owed” to me and that sometimes you get lucky but I just really thought applying to many reach schools would help my chances of getting into at least one. Like I said, none of the previous top-ranked students at my high school did either but I thought I could be an exception. I didn’t apply for any need-based financial aid but did apply to some of the merit scholarships the schools offered.
For an international student, to get into the Ivies and Ivy-caliber universities is like playing the lottery. The odds are against you, and your counselors should have cautioned you about that.
Cheer up! You did better than most students. You have two acceptances from very good schools! (And maybe some others, too.) Now start reading up all about Illinois and Purdue and all that they offer.
Maybe your attitude came out in the essays or recs ?
Life is full of disappointments. Hard work and other personal qualities are what get you success,
not just a name on a diploma.
Look at it this way, you can be a superstar at Purdue or UIUC, get another 4.0, do research with department heads,
get the best internships with firms that recruit those schools. Make the most of your choices.
Thanks, I definitely will.
UIUC has a stellar reputation in CS and both U of I and PU have a terrific reputation in engineering.
Your administration is out of touch so misled you, but if you had looked at old threads on CC, you would have realized that what you experienced was a possible outcome.
Anyway, this is what I put in another thread:
"It’s not personal.
BTW, to any juniors reading: Even if you have stellar stats and ECs, unless you are hooked or are nationally/globally renown in something or the kid of someone rich/famous or insanely good at essays, expect to be denied/WL’ed from more Ivies/equivalents than you are admitted to.
Those single-digit admit rates apply to you as well."
And if you’re an International, the odds are even more against you.
Yeah, I read some of those threads and I knew this outcome was possible but I just thought my stats were good enough. Even though I knew all these schools have extremely low acceptance rates, I was extremely disappointed that I couldn’t find a spot at one of them. I am doing engineering so at least I have that going for me with U of I and Purdue.
??? If you read the threads, you would have seen that your stats were the same as a bunch of kids who were rejected by a ton of elite privates, right?
Yeah, I mean I guess I can understand how I got rejected but it still hurts…that’s why I’m asking for people who’ve experienced similar situations to share their experiences…and anyone who can make me feel a little better to provide some advice.
My advice is that where you go for Undergrad will not define you, but it is what you do with the opportunities you are given.
Best of luck.
Best advice is to kick a** at UIUC/PU.
Remember that life is a journey and college is just a step along the way. People who are successful at middle age don’t mope about where they didn’t get in to college and whether that happens is entirely up to you. Especially when you are already set up for success by studying engineering at UIUC/ PU.
Omg, I would be very happy if I got accepted to Purdue.