I know you are not going to believe me but what happened is actually a blessing in disguise. You will be in the honor’s program at Rutgers. You have the work ethic to perform well. One thing that is very important is to have an identity outside being a premed student. Med schools want wellrounded people. GPA and MCAT help you get through the initial screening but academics alone is not enough. You need interests and hobbies and need to show you have a life outside being a premed student. That’s what will help you get the interview.
Your high school experience seems to be 99% focused on academics and colleges have enough high stats students to fill their classes. They want well rounded students who will take advantage of all the opportunities the school has to offer. (not just sit and study in the library night and day) They need students that will be involved in making the community a better place.
My daughter just graduated from an instate public with a full tuition scholarship. Engineering, honors program, and premed. She shined in college and is now applying to med school this summer with no debt from undergrad and a strong well-rounded application.
One thing to keep in mind at one of those elite schools you would have had work 10 times harder to outshine all the other stars at the school. Just strong academics alone wouldn’t have made you stand out since that would describe most people at that school.
Please, please stop comparing yourself to others. Each one of you have your own interests and your own unique journey to experience. Consider attending the honors program at Rutgers with an open mind and a positive attitude. This will make all the difference in the world. Life is not always how we planned. and this is a lesson you need to learn and accept and make the best of what you do have.
The impression you have given is that your identity is defined by your academic performance and the school you attend. To me that sounds like a robotic person and that is very sad. You need to learn time management so that you are able to manage social and academics. If you don’t learn to do this you will burnout very quickly and be miserable. The path to being a doctor is a very long, stressful, and expensive one. There will be many road bumps along the way. You have to have the resilience and motivation to keep pushing forward when there are setbacks. You will always be busy but you have to make it a priority to do things outside of your career goals that give you fulfillment and happiness.
A life skill we all need to learn is how to deal with failure and learn from it. We need to learn how to get back up on our feet and keep pushing forward. What’s done is done. Once you get to college no one will care what you did in high school. You get to start out with a clean slate.
There are many super smart students that are qualified to attend elite schools but can’t afford to attend. You will find brilliant students in your classes. One of my daughter’s classmates (came from a low income single parent home) attended the instate public on a full scholarship. He is now attending JHU for his PHD in BME. There is more than one path to reach your goal. Going to an elite school for undergrad is not the only path.