Rejected from Brown: UVA vs. Binghamton vs. Gap Year or Transfer

College Search & Selection
1

Hi! I’m having a bit of a crisis at the moment. I had my heart set on Brown, but was rejected. Now I’m left with Universoty of Virginia, Binghamton, and Stony Brook. But my problem is: I really really do not want to go to any of them. Neither of them feel “right.”

As a New York resident, it would make more sense to go to a SUNY school but Stony Brook is too close to my home (I’d like to go away) and Binghamton is nice and comfortable but the school’s location isn’t great. It feels completely isolated and the horse stables are tiny and rather inadequate–which is a problem considering that horses are and would continue to be a huge part of my life.

Alternatively, University of Virginia has beautiful stables and really a beautiful campus but the overall atmosphere of the university is almost too “rara” for me. Sports are extremely important there and so are fraternities and sororities. The school spirit is huge, but I’m not into that at all. I feel like it would be nearly impossible to meet people who share my same feelings about this, especially considering that I’m super shy and pretty awkward in social things so the chance that I’ll talk to people is pretty slim anyway. When coupled with the very high out of state tuition and super preppy reputation, UVA just doesn’t seem like such a great idea.

So now I’m freaking out because it’s April 21 and I have until May 1 to make up my mind. And I don’t want to go anywhere. Except Brown, which isn’t an option.

So what do you guys think? I’d hugely appreciate any advice about your opinions on the schools or whether I should take a gap year and reapply to Brown or even consider transferring into Brown after my first year. Basically, what do you think I should do? I’m completely lost.

Thank you so so much for your help.

2

I’d say go to a college and then transfer if you really don’t like it. If you did take a gap year what would you do with it? You’d need something to make your app different from when you originally applied if you want a different result.

3

“the horse stables are tiny and rather inadequate–which is a problem considering that horses are and would continue to be a huge part of my life”

I’d suggest a gap year to allow you to do more research on places where there are better horse programs. Depending on your specific interest, in NY that might include the College of Ag and Life Sciences at Cornell U. In Virginia (if you are a woman) you should look at Sweet Briar.

4

@happymomof1, didn’t Sweet Briar shut down?

In any case, were these the only schools you applied to?

I’m pretty certain that there are more schools with equestrian programs.

Gap year and doing more research seems like a good idea. For instance, if you dislike UVa so much that you are contemplating taking a gap year, why did you apply there?

5

Sweet Briar is fully open and functional. The alumnae saved it last year.

6

Mount Holyoke has nice stables, I know some students bring their horses to school. Odds of getting into Brown after a gap year or as a transfer are really, really low. You need a new plan. What is your planned major & your financial situation?

7

I don’t think that I would recommend doing a gap year in hopes of getting into Brown. A gap year would be more because you have something that you want to work on- volunteer, learn a new language, travel, make a documentary… And rework your list to apply to colleges that you want to attend whether they be a reach or a safety. But don’t pin your hopes on one dream college.

Can you afford UVA? What attracted you to apply in the first place? Is it not big enough that you would find your own tribe there?

8

Brown, UVA, Stony Brook, and Binghamton all are so different… How did you develop this list??

9

I’m thinking that Brown and Binghamton are probably more alike than any of the others… Besides the tiny stables, why won’t Binghamton work?

10

^ I know that they are very different but basically I’ve understood that Binghamton is where the really bright in state school kids often end up. So it’s affordable and you could find like peers there I’m sure.

11

I don’t know–which is basically the source of my problem. I just applied where my parents told me to apply, which I now seriously regret.

12

Here’s the problem: even if you take a gap year and do research, what do you do if UVa turns out to be the best available option?

But there are some fine suggestions here. Look in to some LACs.

13

@lostatschool, if I were you I would deposit at Bing. It’s a small deposit fee, I think. In May, you need to check out the list released by NACAC of colleges that still have spaces available for Fall 2016. There are many great colleges on this list. See which colleges offer equestrian facilities.

BTW, did you ever consider Goucher? If you got into Bing and UVA, you definitely could have got in to Goucher, and Goucher has a whole equestrian team. I think last year they were still trying to fill spaces. It is just outside of Baltimore, very close to Towson. I think you can take classes at Towson too, but don’t quote me.

Forget Brown. Really, do not spend one more second thinking about it, because it will not happen. Hardly anyone gets in anyway, especially not as transfers. Bing is in a lovely hilly area and only three hours from NY. Three hours is no time at all. What will you be doing three hours from now? Surely there are nice places around Bing to go riding.

If you decide to do a gap year, you have only lost a few hundred dollars on a deposit. Now please stop fretting about what didn’t happen. Think about what you can make happen, if you allow yourself to move on.

14

You might find that uVA isn’t as bad as you thought, and it’s got the stables & location. How about enrolling there and then transferring after a year if you end up not fitting in?

15

Seeing as UVA is clearly the better of the two schools, I would suggest that you deposit there. At least try it out.

16

UVA is great. It is public, so you will find your niche there. You will also have great career prospects.

17

Your high school record is static, and isn’t going to change. Your SAT scores will maybe go up a bit if you retake them, but likely not much. And if you took a gap year, the only things that would go on your application are things you did between now and December or January - the next 8-9 months (and presumably you still have 2 months left in high school). What would you do during a gap year that would be so phenomenal it would get you into the school you didn’t already get into?

No, I think the only sense a gap year would make is if you had both of these covered: 1) You had an idea of something you wanted to do - some project, some volunteering, some activity - and you had the financial support to do it, AND 2) you intended to make a new list of some colleges that fit you better, and that are realistic for your high school record. I personally don’t think you should take a gap year because you have three really good options on the table (and UVa is a truly excellent one).

What is it about Brown that you loved so much? Thinking about the qualities you love about Brown - other than appropriate equestrian facilities - may help you formulate a list of schools that you would apply to.

That said - I was checking out lists of schools that are good for equestrians and UVa is a frequent name. The school also has 15,000 undergraduates. While some of them attend for the “ra-ra” atmosphere and the sports and Greek life, others attend because it’s an excellent university - maybe they’re in-state for Virginia, or maybe they’ve fallen in love with the history and the beautiful campus, or maybe they love the powerhouse academic reputation that UVa has. The majority of UVa’s students - 70% - are not Greek. At a school of this size, I think it’s actually inevitable that you find some students who aren’t really into sports. Besides, school spirit is about more than just sports. I went to a women’s college without any sports teams and we have incredible school spirit - but it’s about the sisterhood and the pride in the history and traditions of our college. Yes, a lot of UVa’s spirit is about the performance of their sports teams, but a lot of it is just about the very distinctive culture and historical grounding of UVa. If your family can afford it, I would go there in a heartbeat.

The only negative thing you said about Stony Brook is that it’s close to home, but that might not matter. Just don’t go home that often! What things do you LIKE about it?

As far as Bing - well, what are you planning on doing with the horses? Are you bringing your own horse? Why does it matter that the stables are tiny? I must admit that I know nothing about equestrianism, but it would seem to me that as long as you have enough space to house and feed your horse it shouldn’t matter how big the stables are. The isolation is another problem entirely. (But Stony Brook would solve that problem, as it is definitely not isolated.)

If you are super shy and awkward at UVa you’d be that way anywhere you go. Brown doesn’t have magical properties that would make you less shy. It’s up to you to come out of your shell :slight_smile:

18

Having horses around is important to me, but I don’t want to base my choice on the equestrian program instead of the academics. Academics are hugely important to me (as with most people here), I’d just really love to have a comfortable place with horses to be able to escape to.

I’m looking for pre-med, probably majoring in biology (but not 100% sure). Financially, UVA is doable but a state school would obviously be better.

I probably won’t do a gap year, seeing as it’s April 22 and I still don’t have the slightest idea what I could possibly do to make myself more attractive to more selective colleges.

I’m retaking the ACT in June to try to raise my score (from a 34) for a potential transfer.

So now that I’m considering transferring before I’ve even started college, I still don’t know where I should start–Binghamton or UVA.

I only applied to UVA because of it’s reputation for being extremely selective for out of state students. I really don’t know what what was going through my mind when I was doing the applications. :(( I’m also not sure about it’s reputation, besides being hard to get into for out of state students.

19

Bing appears on an online list, “The Experts’ Choice: Colleges with Great Pre-med Programs,” should this be of interest to you.

As stated well above, give little thought to Brown/gap year at this time. The school’s main vaIue to you now may be as an example for the qualities (open curricula, etc.) you may want to seek in a potential transfer option (at which point you could consider another application to Brown).

UVa’s reputation may be equivalent to its selectivity, which is high, but especially so for out-of-state students (as you noted).

A 34 ACT is certainly a nice score. I don’t know how colleges would interpret your June performance in that they might expect an increase for students testing in the following year’s cycle.

20

Oh, I wouldn’t bother. I made the first statement I did assuming that maybe you didn’t have the kinds of scores to get into Brown, but it appears you do. A 34 puts you in the top 25% of accepted Brown transfer students.

Also, I decided to check and the good news is that Brown is actually easier to transfer into than most elite schools - the transfer admissions rate is actually higher than that of the regular freshman admissions rate (it was 11% in 2013, 9% in 2014 and 17% in 2015). They are a lot more friendly to transfers than most: most elite schools start their transfer page by talking about how difficult and unlikely it is that you will transfer; Brown starts off by talking about how important transfer students are to their campus community. See here:

https://www.brown.edu/admission/undergraduate/apply/transfer-applicants

For a transfer to an elite university, here’s what would make you most competitive for the very small number of slots:

  1. Go to a comparable institution. While it’s theoretically possible to transfer into a top school from anywhere, it seems to me that most transfers come from comparable institutions. They mostly transferred in not because they were trying to get to a more elite school, but because the atmosphere at their old one didn’t suit them. That said, again, Brown is kind of different - they have quite a few community colleges and regional public universities on their list of original universities. Still, most of them are elite universities. University of Virginia is on there.

  2. Do EXCELLENTLY at that institution. You’re probably going to need a 3.7 GPA or higher to have a good, realistic shot. Brown says the average college GPA of their transfers is above a 3.8.

  3. Get involved on campus immediately! Transfers to top schools seemed to be the kind of student who jumped in both feet first and demonstrated that they could contribute to the campus atmosphere. Many elite universities explicit list this quality as something very important that they evaluate on their transfer websites. Community service, participation in a campus club, getting involved in homecoming committee or whatever…it doesn’t really matter what you do, as long as you do something. That’s because elite schools want to bring in students who stay really active on their own campuses.

Observe:

  • from the website.
  1. Write a really compelling essay. A lot of transfer websites say this, too - they want you to explain articulately WHY you want to transfer, and WHY you want to transfer specifically to THAT school. You need to think about all of the things you really love about Brown and why you think you’d thrive in that atmosphere.

However, as with anyone considering transferring to a top college, you should attend a university that you know you would like to stay at for four years. That’s because the odds are you actually won’t transfer. You don’t want to be unhappy.

UVa has an excellent reputation, for sure on par with other very selective private universities - it’s long been called a Public Ivy. Should you attend, the vast majority of your classmates will have been in the top 10% of their class, had high SAT/ACT scores in high school, and have taken rigorous high school classes that will have prepared them well for college. Many will have participated in all manner of great activities in and outside of school and will bring that active community spirit to campus. UVa faculty discovered two of the top 10 worldwide scientific breakthroughs in 2015. It’s one of the top 30 universities in the country.

One interesting fact: if the revenue generated from the businesses started by UVa alumni were the economy of a country, it would be the 12th biggest in the world, between Canada and Australia.