Rejected by 12/13 colleges, 1550, 4.0, & 20 college classes [including college junior level math]

Applying to College Admission Stories
101

I feel that you have the mindset of a beginning graduate student in pure math, but who is trapped inside a graduating high school senior’s body, and who unfortunately isn’t accepted to “prestigious” math undergraduate programs. I have two additional comments about your situation, speaking as someone who teaches engineering at a large state school similar to WSU and doing theoretical research but is not a mathematician.

First, given your passion in abstract algebra it appears that WSU would be a better fit than Tulsa because WSU likely has three to five faculty members in each area of math who you could request to work with or take advanced classes from, something Tulsa is unlikely able to match. Furthermore, in case your interest in math changes from abstract algebra to a different area of math as you grow, WSU (or any large state school for that matter) would have the breadth in their faculty members to hopefully meet your need.

Second, while it may be disappointing to you to “settle” on WSU, there are numerous success stories of students making the jump from state schools ranked around 100 to schools that are peers to the 12 that waitlisted/rejected you. Last year alone my department has several graduates who are accepted to M.S./Ph.D. programs in engineering at UIUC, Georgia Tech, Virginia Tech and the likes. WSU isn’t going to be the reason they don’t take you. If you are able to produce some publishable results during your 3+ years at WSU, it would look outstanding in your grad school application. If you couldn’t, then perhaps a mathematical research career isn’t for you (and there is nothing with that).

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102

OP, I really feel for you.

You can get CLEP credits at WSU.

That will save you money and time.

I don’t see applying to grad school young as being a big issue. You’ll be an adult, regardless. Quite different to someone starting college while still legally a child.

Here is another suggestion. Maybe it’s too soon to think of this, but if you apply to fully funded PhD programs (the good ones are), you will get a terminal degree and can immerse yourself in what you love.

Given the new information we have here, I think you can do well at WSU. Save a bunch of money, get credit with CLEP and your one AP class, assuming it’s accepted. Meet profs, get to know them, get stellar recs and go to grad school.

Or wait a year, try again. Or follow some of the other excellent suggestions here.

Maybe this experience has happened for a reason that you don’t yet understand, but there are options for you.

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103

University of Houston and Texas Tech also both have May 1st deadlines. You’ve missed the priority deadline for financial aid but they may still be worth a look. However all this assumes you’re really unhappy with Washington State - you could always just start there and then apply to other colleges as a transfer student if you want.

104

WSU website has a few pages with summaries of the pure math research that is happening there. You could read through and see what picks your interest and contact the professor. Math research is all happening in teams and you need to be part of a team and get mentored in ordered to get an understanding of how it is done. I would personally start at WSU, talk to professors and get in a research team and take it from there. And get good at French, Russian or German :wink:

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105

I don’t really want to wait a year. I’ve got no clue what I’d do, and my bigger concern with my education is getting good at what I’m studying and learning, not the prestige of the college. Prestigious colleges just seemed more likely to provide a better experience and education. However, as has been pointed out in this thread, there are still a number of things I can do to make the most of my college experience, regardless of the prestige of the school, and even with regards to my long-term success financially, where I go to graduate school is more important than undergraduate, even if the two are correlated.

I’m probably going to remain sad that I won’t have the undergraduate experience that one of those locations would have provided, but it seems silly to use that as a reason to delay learning about what I want to learn, especially because getting a different outcome would remain far from guaranteed.

I didn’t just happen to go to a school that had bad AP offerings - I chose to go there, intentionally, because of their program with WSU. I thought that would look better than AP courses on college applications, which I suspect was incorrect, but even knowing that I’d make the same decision again in a heartbeat. The reason I initially wanted to go to these prestigious colleges was because I wanted to learn. I felt like the system I was working in was not very good at facilitating that, and those places would be. I could be intellectually free.

In a certain sense, I guess I’ve just been wanting something more like graduate school since 6th grade. I expect my experience with WSU will be considerably better than my experience with public schooling previously, but even if it isn’t, it’s just another 4 years. Maybe less, if I decide that’s the path I want to take. I’ve made it through 12 years already, so the no matter how I look at it, my situation isn’t that objectively bad. The thing that makes it so very disappointing is its failure to meet my expectations, and the goals I’ve had set for myself for as long as I can remember. Acknowledging all that isn’t going to make me stop being sad. But it’s a start, at least.

I’ll send out some transfer applications probably, but if I don’t get accepted it’s not the end of the world. Pretty sure I won’t take a gap year. I should probably look around to see if there are any other colleges with better financial aid and graduate math classes I could apply to, but coming up with an objective best first choice would be difficult, especially considering it’s nearly May 1st.

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106

How much is Washington State going to cost you? Is it affordable, without loans? If so, that totally works. If it will require loans, you might want to think about an app to a school like UT-Dallas where your NMF status would get you a full ride.

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107

I could go there without loans. It wouldn’t be free though, so I’m still not sure if someplace like UT-Dallas would be more optimal.

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108

Who is to say you wouldn’t have an amazing experience at WASU ?

That’s likely mind over matter.

But this is also another reminder (not for you but others reading) - your safety is the most important school on your list. You’d have to live attending. Mimi promise you there are profs at WASU that will challenge you. Go to office hours. Ask. They will make it a challenge for you.

You are making assumptions about WASU and what they can or cannot provide vs others.

Let them know what you want. Join a professional club. No reason it can’t happen.

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109

Seems like the three options for @OuterProduct are:

  1. Start college at WSU.
  2. Find a college with large enough NMF or other assured scholarships still available and math offerings better than those at WSU.
  3. Gap year (no college courses after high school graduation) and apply to a new set of colleges with good financial aid not requiring non-custodial parent (which probably means UW, Chicago, Vanderbilt, and Princeton) and large enough scholarship (NMF or otherwise) schools that offer the scholarships to gap year students. These colleges would need to have math offerings better than those at WSU.

Option 1 seems to be a pretty good baseline in terms of math offerings. For option 2, it seems that finding such a college with better math offerings than WSU is the difficult part. Option 3 would mean putting college on hold, which may not be that desirable, with probably no guarantee of getting into an affordable college that is better than WSU for math.

Unless an option 2 college is found soon, @OuterProduct 's best option now is option 1. If desired, option 3 can still be explored to see what colleges with better math departments than WSU could be possible for admission and affordability after a gap year. But note that at least one safety of this nature needs to be included if de-matriculating from WSU in the summer to pursue option 3. Be sure to check whether any college’s NMF or other scholarships exclude gap year students.

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110

Glad that Washington State is affordable for your family. If you’re interested in exploring full ride options, you can check this site out. Make sure to double-check the institution’s page for the latest info on the scholarships…for instance I think U. of Alabama’s may now only cover room & board for the first year or two.

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111

I mean, the reason I suspect I won’t have a purely amazing experience is because I’ve already been taking classes there for 3 years and know what to expect in that regard.

But you’re right, I don’t really know. And I’ve actually enjoyed a number of my classes there quite a lot, my main reason for wishing I could go elsewhere is more existential, about how that’ll cause me to develop as a person. But I can still challenge myself if I want to, and the classes that have been the least challenging haven’t been my math classes anyways.

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112

Do you mean that University of Arizona offers a full-ride (tuition plus room and board) for years 1 and 2 but only full-tuition for years 3 and 4?

If this is true, then @OuterProduct , University of Arizona may still be affordable for you and they are still taking applications until May 1. You could probably also join their honors college after you get there (at least for sophomore year and on, possibly for second semester freshman year and on). It might be worth a look.

113

OP:

One thing I will caution you on: get the grades and the results in college first and foremost.

It may seem easy and a foregone conclusion that you will excel in college, but you ACTUALLY need to do that. Starting college life has its own distractions, many of which are exactly what the college experience should have in store for you. But those distractions can also very much interfere with results unless you are disciplined.

So, GET THE RESULTS FIRST, wherever you go, and then, if you still feel like it, consider your options.

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114

Looking at it, a decent number of the programs marketed as “full rides” are actually more expensive to me than WSU would be. Being a National Merit Finalist only earns full tuition at WSU, but I’ve also got the Washington College Grant for over $11,000, and along with a few other things that brings the cost of WSU down to slightly over $7,000 per year, including indirect fees

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115

I’m used to the college workload, but you’re right I’m not used to the rest of college life. I’m generally pretty disciplined, I didn’t get to where I am now without putting in a lot of hard work, but this whole experience has definitely increased my level of apathy about grades and the like, and I’ll have to keep that in check.

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116

The very fact you recognize that now demonstrates how mature you are!

Just work hard, excel like you know (and we all know) you will, and all the results will come in good time.

NO ONE WILL CARE WHERE YOU WENT TO COLLEGE! It’s what you do there that is essential, and what do you do thereafter.

You will go far. Just continue to work hard.

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117

Why didn’t you apply to any of the colleges that give auto merit, and acceptances to NMF?

You applied to all reach schools…and one sure thing. You got accepted at your sure thing.

You have a couple of choices…

  1. Either attend the school where you got accepted.

OR

  1. Take a gap year. Do something productive and apply to a more varied list of schools in terms of acceptance.

Read this linked thread. It’s old. The student in this thread received no acceptances the first time around. He was a NMF also, and class val or Sal. Excellent grades and ECs.

I think you didn’t have any target or match schools on your list…or more than one sure thing.

@tsbna44 is Alabama still accepting applications for NMF?

@WayOutWestMom how about University of New Mexico?

Here is that link…

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118

I’m curious how a full ride is more than 7k? Can you explain? Genuinely curious. Thanks!

119

Is that cost for living on campus, or living at home?

120

You’ll be on campus now. Engage Get involved.

It’ll be great.

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