<p>Let's keep it short and simple. I got rejected everywhere except for Bentley and NEU. What gives! My friends who have less than 3/4 of my stats got in almost every one of these schools! I got the IVYs coming in next week and i've almost given up hope. (Harvard, Princeton, Dartmouth) I applied strictly for business btw. I'm really depressed and don't comfort me by saying: At least you got into 2 schools or whatever. I ended up only like the average kids in my school even though I thought I tried my best. Anyone else feel the same way?</p>
<p>Bentley - YES
Northeastern - YES
University of Michigan - NO
Boston College - NO
NYU - NO
University of Chicago - NO
University of Virginia - NO
MIT - NO
Wharton ED - NO</p>
<p>My stats are 800M 780CR 720W. 2300 total
All 5's on AP calc BC, Chem, Chinese, and US hist.
Nominated for Presidential Scholar. National Merit commended.
President of student council.
Active in varsity track/tennis
GPA: 4.1W
Over 500 hours volunteer
Sci lab research etc...
Qualified for DECA international business competition.
Teacher recs: exceptional</p>
<p>Common APP essay: the only sketchy thing on my app. About how i failed (well a C-) AP chem in school but, even so worked hard and managed to get a 5 on the AP exam.</p>
<p>GPA might be a little bit low but damn, I would think you’d get into Umich, Boston College, and NYU. It could be that you’re overqualified at those schools…as in they think if they accept you then you might not go and they’d rather give it to a “lesser” applicant who might be more humbled, and more likely to attend. It’s called “Tufts Syndrome” but plenty of high scoring kids get rejected from all those colleges every year anyway. It’s never any guarantee anymore :/.</p>
<p>That’s exactly what i’m concerned about. I don’t think it’s Tufts syndrome because I got rejected from MIT and Wharton lol. This could be a problem.</p>
<p>Your essay might’ve hurt you quite a bit, but that doesn’t explain non-CA schools like UMichigan.</p>
<p>That essay sounds like it could’ve been a problem. The “even though I did poorly on _____ here, I made up for it by ______ there” topic is generally not a good idea, especially since they already knew you failed chem and got a 5 on the test.</p>
<p>I honestly can’t think of anything else that went wrong -_- The selection process is so twisted. Oh another thing; I’m Asian.</p>
<p>Your essay could have been a problem and so could your teacher recs. It’s possible your teacher gave you a bad rec which would cause many schools to be fearful.</p>
<p>I definately know it isnt the teacher recs because they let me read them =)</p>
<p>Aside from that, anyone think there’s still a chance for me to get into the IVYs?</p>
<p>In your essay, did you try to justify or explain why you failed chemistry? Adcoms really dislike when students use their essay to explain a bad grade. It tends to come off as you making excuses, or being insecure, even if that wasn’t your intention.</p>
<p>Even if my essay came off sounded bad, it shouldn’t justify being rejected from schools like NYU. Personally I think my essay sounds like a reflection on my change in approach to learning, not an excuse. Here is the essay if anyone wants to take a look:</p>
<p>I gazed as my house got smaller and smaller in the distance until it was completely blocked by the trees. All my life was spent in the same town, with the same friends. Needless to say, I was not prepared for such a dramatic change. Little did I know that moving was just the catalyst of a slew of changes yet to come.
Until I transferred from New York to Massachusetts, I had been quite confident of my academic abilities. One might even consider me a bit arrogant. My intelligence was the last thing I would doubt about myself. Math homework, science projects, and English papers were the byproduct of computer gaming. Thus, I elected to take AP Chemistry and Calculus AB, a combination no other junior in my school dared to take.
Reality is the difficult realization that something other than self-perspective is real. The truth hit me fast and it hit me hard. There was a chemistry quiz on naming ions in the first week of school. I confidently picked up my pen and looked at the questions…Permanganate? I have never even heard of such a thing! The result of that quiz was disastrous, to say the least. At the time, I blamed my poor grades on my teacher. However, those F’s kept on rolling in. For the first time in my life, I felt helplessly defeated.
By the end of the first trimester, I seriously considered dropping chemistry. This was magnified by my struggles in calculus for I never took precalculus. My parents and teachers warned me of the consequences of failure and suggested a U-turn before heading to total disaster. With all the pressure surrounding me, I asked myself whether it was all worth it.
It was during this crucial time that I realized I had been ignorant towards knowledge, and more importantly, my learning style. I started studying these topics intensively on my own with the aid of review books. Many times I ended up working past midnight, something I had never done before, and managed to finish learning the material before the AP exam. At last, I had found my lost confidence. During this time, I also gained a genuine appreciation for calculus; I felt an urge to dive deeper into the topic. Although Calculus BC was not offered in the school, I studied the extra topics independently for a month and took the Calculus BC exam.
Aside from academics, music plays a significant role in my life. Practicing piano had been a daily chore for ten years. My insatiable parents would force me to practice for at least an hour a day; I counted every excruciating second until the hour was up. One day, my parents told me I could discontinue piano lessons after we moved. I was ecstatic at the news; at last I would be free from this burden. I bid farewell to my piano teacher, hoping it was the last time I touched a piano, but after a month, I felt an unconscious desire pushing me back to work the keys. I did not know whether it was the need to challenge myself or the subconscious harmony music evokes in me, but I selected “La Campanella” by Franz Liszt and began to practice for hours, getting lost in the music. Since then, I spent almost all my spare time at the piano mastering the pieces I love. I used to play piano just to please others, but now I realize that it is an indispensable part of my life that makes me who I am.
Moving has changed not just my surroundings, but me as a person. From academics to music, I feel like I have matured; as a result, I got fives on all my AP exams and continue to enjoy playing piano to this day.</p>
<p>I think you were hurt by applying to business…for schools like NYU Stern, Wharton, and UMich Ross that was probably a killer. </p>
<p>Were you able to show any ECs that demonstrated strength in business skills/accumen? If not, that may have also hurt. </p>
<p>What is your UW GPA? If you only have a 4.1 weighted, that suggests a much lower UW.</p>
<p>What was your class rank? That may have also hurt you.</p>
<p>For the ivies, you may have a problem because you’re Asian, and many Asians will have perfect GPAs.</p>
<p>Don’t compare yourself to others in your school. This has been an odd app season with kids with lower stats/rank getting in while those with better stats/rank didn’t.</p>
<p>If you get into one of your ivies, then great. If you don’t, where will you choose? Babson or NEU? Is money no object? </p>
<p>How come you didn’t apply to more schools with good B-schools like Indiana, Purdue, or Villanova?</p>
<p>@mom2collegekids:</p>
<p>My school does not have unweighted GPAs. The valendictorian has about a 4.5 so mine is within top 20 out of 300. However, I transfered in Junior year so I do not have a rank. I didnt apply elsewhere because I need to stay close to home.</p>
<p>I think it’s definitely because you applied for Business. If you’d applied to NYU CAS, you probably would have gotten in.</p>
<p>Mmm your essay is okay, I think that is potentially what did it. The topic of moving doesn’t really seem visibly connected to AP chem and piano. The piano section seems a little forced too. But still, I don’t know if that would be enough to get you rejected from that many schools.</p>
<p>Your stats are irrefutably exceptional, but I have to say–your essay turned me off. I’m don’t work in admissions–in fact I’m just a junior, but I honestly think your essay at least contributed to these rejections. I apologize if I sound rather blunt; I really do sympathize. </p>
<p>But congrats; Bentley and Northeastern are still excellent schools.</p>
<p>^I second that. Northeastern is excellent for business.</p>
<p>You said that you failed chemistry, correct? Getting a 5 on the AP exam does not erase that grade. Top schools don’t even like to see Cs on a transcript…</p>
<p>What’s a better choice: Northeastern or Bentley? I would either like to go into investment banking or hedge funding later on.</p>
<p>your EC’s show you have personality but your essay doesn’t back it up. The topic probably hurt you. Plus Northeastern’s a great school. Anyways you could always take a gap year if you don’t want to go to Northeastern or Bentley</p>
<p>I know someone with lower test scores but pretty much straight A+'s (around number 1 in class rank, but extremely similar extracurriculars) who applied and got into half the schools you named or similar ones, plus others like WashU (except MIT; waitlisted), but he applied for engineering. Applying for business could’ve meant a harsher treatment; how early did you apply?</p>
<p>Personally, I think your essay wasn’t very good. It shows you’re clearly intelligent, but to me you also seem terribly arrogant and bland, and the essay wasn’t very smooth; you needed better transitions, and, as raiderade already noted, to connect chem, piano, and moving. You kinda whined about taking piano lessons and didn’t sound too passionate about it. I don’t think it was good to admit how much you struggled with taking AP Chem and Calc AB at the same time, either (there are plenty of other students taking such classes, no offense), then brag about how well you did. That’s great, but probably not what they want to hear; they ask for your transcript and test scores for a reason.</p>
<p>What did/do you consider your backups?</p>
<p>I’d say Northeastern, but that’s just me. :)</p>