I worked my butt off for 4 years for this? PS: I am a Latina with a low family income and immigrant parents.
REJECTED FROM:
Harvard University- REJECTED *
Northeastern University- REJECTED
Boston College- REJECTED
Boston University- REJECTED
Tulane University- REJECTED
University of Virginia- REJECTED *
Dartmouth University- REJECTED *
Brown University- REJECTED *
WAIT LISTED AT:
George Washington University- WAIT LISTED
University of Miami- WAIT LISTED
ACCEPTED INTO:
Miami Dade Honors- ACCEPTED
Michigan State University- ACCEPTED
University of South Florida- ACCEPTED
Florida International University- ACCEPTED
I understand that most of my rejections were plausible. I have a 1850 SAT score with a 3.75 UW/4.71 W GPA. But I also have things that could at least put me on the waiting list! I have 1400+ community service hours and non profit organization/community service project centered on education for women with multiple recognitions (some are even from the white house). I would say that my only weak point was my SAT score. I’m a horrible test taker.
They Ivy leagues and UVA were def on my reach list. But I would have expected to get into MAYBEE at least Boston College, Boston U, Tulane, or maybe even Northeastern. Those were my real dream schools. Their rejections hit me the hardest.
Even though everyone keeps telling me that it doesn’t matter where you go and where you graduate from because in the end its all the same education, I am still upset. I am upset because it’s the principle of the thing. It is traditionally expected that a stellar student should get into at least 1 of the colleges they applied to. But competition in this country is so rigorous and cut-throat that even the most qualified applicant can’t get in to their dream school. I understand that. It just makes me mad that I was sitting down in my computer two years ago, thinking about all the colleges I should apply to and thinking “I must be accepted at least to one, right? Life isn’t THAT unfair, right?”.
Little did I know.
Even if some of these colleges had accepted me, I probably wouldn’t have gone because of financial aid packages or something. But its the fact that they did accept me, that they considered me and didn’t just turn me down completely that would make me happy. Just the fact that I could do it and I did it would be enough for me. Unfortunately, after seeing all my friends get accepted to their dream school or to all their colleges, I wish I would have my letter or #insertcollegename2020 hashtag that I could put on my Instagram/twitter profile. I still don’t know where I am gonna go or even if the colleges that wait listed me will reject me too. Probably. with my luck. It also makes me sad that my parents wasted their money on 10 common app applications just for me to get rejected from possibly all of them. We don’t have that much money and I appreciate the sacrifice they have made for me as they both lost their jobs last year (at different times).
I wish this was all an April Fools Prank, but sadly, this is not.
Extremely reach-heavy list – not sure why you’re so surprised. Rejection stings, but you have four choices and the opportunity to go to college. Feel the disappointment and then move on.
I am sorry. Nothing can make this feel less painful but it truly is not a reflection of you. The college admissions numbers are staggering. All of these schools have reported vast increases in applicants this year.40,000 applications for 4,000 spots. The people applying are nearly all top of their classes. Many are valedictorians. But you cant squeeze 40,000 into 4,000 (or whatever a particular school’s numbers are). Valedictorians, class presidents, varsity athletes, competitive award winners-all have been rejected. there just are not enough spots. The valedictorian and couple other of the very top students at my son’s school were all rejected by Ivies. The school is a private school w a lot of smart, accomplished kids. Not only were the cream of our crop rejected, we went 0 for 30 overall. People are shocked…but it is just simple math. I’m sorry for your disappointment but it is not a reflection on you. You are clearly an outstanding student and will be successful at wherever you go. And if you cant afford any of those options, start at community college. Many use community college to get core courses out of the way inexpensively. Good luck!
Those were all very high reach schools… Maybe you lacked extracurriculars and that paired with a (good, but) not GREAT GPA And SAT score kinda explains why.
To be brutally honest I don’t know why you’re so surprised. These are all highly selective schools. Just be happy you’re going to college and pick one of the 4 colleges that accepted you, they aren’t bad schools or anything. College isn’t everything, maybe take a gap year even and explore other interests.
Bottom line is you have options and its up to you. Good luck.
Your accomplishments sound amazing, not just because they make you qualified for certain schools, but because you’ve impacted the world in a way that not many people have at your age (or have even thought about doing). That’s the payoff; life doesn’t always work out such that if we do X, then we get Y.
You realize how competitive college applications are these days. So it’s not necessarily the case that if you are rejected, you are not good enough or “can’t do it.” It was good for me to get rejected from my “dream schools,” because I realized that my worth doesn’t lie in what schools accept or reject me. It literally says nothing about my intelligence or capabilities.
You have four acceptances, and two waitlists (think about sending letters of interest; there are ways to be proactive and fight for that acceptance, though you should still be realistic about your chances). Your parents’ sacrifices weren’t in vain. Really, be proud of what you’ve accomplished and where you got in! Some of the best outcomes in life happen when things don’t go according to plan.
I am sorry people misled you in thinking that you would achieve at least one admission to your reach group. I have also heard adults that should know better talk about what our top students will be getting, what they deserve, how advantaged they will be in admissions. Wrong. There’s no real “system” in place in our country to ensure that happens. I believe your post will help bring reality to other high school students, although I realize that is cold comfort. What I am about to say doesn’t really help you today, either, I realize that.
FWIW, I have an advanced degree and work at a university (so I know what I am talking about). Michigan State is a good college, full stop. No excuses needed if you go there. The others (USF, FIU, MiamiDADE) I know less about so can’t say but hey, they offered you honors and you will be living in Florida if you go there. Attending one of these schools, especially if it were at an in state price, would be a dream for many of our northern kids with your grade/scores profile. Good luck to you and thank you for the good work you have done out in the community.
Thank you for posting about your experience. It can be utilized by other students who might be looking here for advise.
Sorry about your outcome and how you feel badly about it.
I don’t know if you just started reading CC but it does look like you made some major errors. Not applying to fair test schools was one. Another was not looking at the Common Data Set for each school to really give you an idea of how that school would measure you against the applicant pool. And unfortunately you created a list that was unrealistic. And you got bitten by the prestige bug.
I hope that you embrace your options. Go check out Frank Bruni 's book.
Lots of kids out there would be ecstatic with your choices. Bloom where ever you are planted.
You have some good choices and should feel good about those. As for expecting to ‘at least’ get into BC, BC reported that the avg SAT for accepted students was somewhere around 250 -275 pts higher than yours. BC was every bit a reach for you as the Ivy’s.
You didn’t qualify for a fee waiver? Or were the schools just going to let that happen? Anyways I got into my dream school and I didn’t expect myself to be admitted. I have an augumented 3.33 gpa and I’m probably one of the low 20th percentile of the school. So really there is hope and fairness in the world.
It is unfortunate that your guidance counselor did not point you toward the list of no-test and test-optional colleges and universities. Some of them might have liked you a lot. Please be a good friend and pass the information on to people behind you at your school who have good grades and good ECs but bad test scores: http://fairtest.org/university/optional
You have some good choices. Congratulations on your acceptances.
As noted above, you did not receive great guidance. While you can be disappointed, there are no surprises here. All the schools which denied you admittance or placed you on the wait list were reaches, with most of them being very high reaches.
To be honest you shouldn’t be that shocked… when it comes down to it for top schools scores come first and I’d bet money that no one with an 1850 (with the exception of a recruited athlete or a celebrities kid) got into those schools.
I’m so sorry for your disappointment. You must be very frustrated.
Take heart in the knowledge that you have the work ethic that it takes to succeed. All those community service hours - WOW!
As others have said, you truly do have some good options. I’d look closely at USF. Michigan State is great but I would not pay OOS tuition for it. FIU might be a good option too.
I’m really sorry to hear what happened and you must be in pain. You’ve had a great impact upon your community and are an excellent student. You will be successful at whatever 4-year college you choose to attend.
You may attend a lower-performing school so the guidance counselor didn’t really know how competitive the process was, perhaps he didn’t know what to put into the recommendation letter, or the teachers didn’t.
Another issue is that you didn’t seem to know about the highly selective, meet-full-need schools that are test optional - the right answer to excellent students who are poor test takers.
Please share this list with the Guidance Office: http://www.fairtest.org/sites/default/files/Optional-Schools-in-U.S.News-Top-Tiers.pdf
(I also can’t believe your GC didn’t give you fee waivers so that you could apply to commonapp schools for free, or told you about free-to-apply commonapp schools! Well, I can believe it, obviously, but I’m shocked and upset he didn’t. )
You have 4 good options.
Apply to the Honors College at each (quickly!)
What’s the net price* for each 4-year option?
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