<p>Saugus, I’m in a situation similar to you. My stats are not as high and my EC’s are not as great but I still thought I had a good shot at all those top schools. I’m also Asian and from SoCal. Yesterday I received eight rejection letters. My options right now are UChicago and Berkeley, with a waitlist offer at Cornell (did not accept).</p>
<p>My advice is to take a few days to grieve…I know I’m in the process of doing so. Then decide between Berkeley and Cornell. I would personally take Cornell because it’s slightly better than Berkeley for economics. If you’re in the AEM program at Cornell, you should be good. The problem is that both schools are HUGE and you’ll be competing with lots of people for investment banking internships.</p>
<p>The original poster is a high school senior with excellent credentials, who, for whatever reason expected to get into certain schools. When he didn’t, he expressed bitter disappointment (an honest emotion) and wrote some things which IMO were impolitic and demeaning and should not have been written.</p>
<p>However, nothing he said hasn’t been said by others in this forum. Like it or not, it’s an opinion that’s out there. Probably 60 to 80 posts ago, his views towards Cornell began to change and he seems to now accept that his two choices Cornell and Berkeley, while not his first choice are each excellent choices.</p>
<p>Does anyone here read this differently?</p>
<p>If not – let’s lighten up. He seems to be moving on, shouldn’t we?</p>
<p>As i said there is no excuse whatsoever to have the attitude that he had, ever. I am disgusted by his character. The only “Moving on” i suggest is to not post anymore in this thread.</p>
<p>Earlier in this thread I said that i admired zephyr’s spirit. It’s interesting to me that I now find myself impressed by Colene’s spirit even as she disagrees with zephyr’s call to tentatively forgive. My take is that it predominantly depends on OP’s ability to progress, move on, see certain ways in which he may have recently been very misinformed about a certain school. I’m not, however, going to hold my breath. I still believe it may best for Cornell if OP chooses to stay on the west coast.</p>
<p>OP,
My older daughter was in the same boat as you 5 years ago, she got all her rejections and WL within minutes (servers didn’t crash on her that year). I was on a business trip. My H had to hold a brown bag over her face for her to breath. Then the phone rang from a second tier LAC she had applied to as a last minute safety. H didn’t know if she could speak, but she took the call, the adcom wanted to know if it was one of her top choices. She was able to compose herself to tell them it was indeed one of her top choices. My H told me that he was never so proud of her as at that moment.</p>
<p>She was WL at Cornell and Duke, accepted at Tufts and Colgate, her best options after she worked her butt off for 4 years. The second tier LAC offered a full ride. D1’s plan was to go to the LAC then transfer, but she ended up getting off both Duke and Cornell’s WL. She chose Cornell over Duke.</p>
<p>Just like OP, d1 expected to get into most schools she applied to because she had the stats for those schools. But through the college application process, D1 learned not to take things for granted. She now cherishes and celebrates her success, which she had many at Cornell and at her job now. I think her college process humbled her and made her able to empathize with people more. </p>
<p>In all of our lives, there will always be failure and triumphant, and what defines us is how we handle them.</p>
<p>If you think you’re too good for Cornell go somewhere else.
Your attitude about this school confirms that maybe you should go elsewhere and save that spot for someone who actually wants to go there. You won’t get far in life with that woe-is-me attitude.</p>
<p>FYI - if you rly go into IB, heed the following: I interned at a major investment bank (top 5) and there were more Cornell students than any other Ivy in my division (S&T) and had far better full-time yields than the over Ivies (some actually had 0). Try doing your homework and getting the facts straight before you bash a school with the #3 Undergrad Business School in America and the name-brand to help you land a job without even being in that amazing business program (I was in a physical science field). Additionally, be prepared to curve your attitude because no manager is going to want to hire someone who is misinformed.</p>
<p>^ You wanted to be an i-banker but didn’t even look into the business programs at the schools you applied to? </p>
<p>I feel like you just looked at the USNews list and applied to the top 15-20 schools off of it without ever taking into account what YOU wanted out of a school (aside from its ranking). Why do you want to be an i-banker? You just come across as so…robotic. Like an automaton going through a script written for you at birth: consume yourself in high school and ECs (that you may or may not even like), ace the standardized tests, then go to an ivy league school, preferably HYP, followed by i-banking. No passion, just the desire to follow wealth and prestige. Sorry if that sounds harsh, but that’s how you come across. Your basing your despair at having to attend Cornell not on lack of fit, or a major you don’t like…no, your whole issue is how the school might “look” to others compared to a school like Princeton or Harvard. There’s more to life than this narrow path you (or your parents) have created - open your eyes and get out there.</p>
<p>I applied to Penn Wharton and was rejected RD. I want to be a banker, but supposedly any major is fine and you should pick one you enjoy. You are actually spot-on correct about applying down the list, although I legitimately liked (almost) all of the schools. Wasn’t a fan of Dartmouth either.</p>
<p>I just don’t get why people look down on Cornell. Other people’s opinions shouldn’t matter, but it really bugs me. </p>
<p>@poetgrl</p>
<p>I actually do have that. Not sure if applicable in this case, though.</p>
<p>@kdmom</p>
<p>What, would you like a screenshot?</p>
<p>Look, I’ve already said that it could be worse and that Cornell is still an excellent school. But everyone defending it so vehemently is only confirming my suspicions. Sorry.</p>
<p>You need lists. For your own sake, you need to compile them. You’re “off” right now, and uncomfortable. You had lists. Cornell wasn’t on the list, Cornell was a tossed in extra app, “for good luck.”</p>
<p>Now, you need new lists.</p>
<p>Make them for yourself.</p>
<p>You actually can’t stand elitism, stuck up ness, all the rest of the b.s. Cornell is the Ivy for the people, dude. Cornell isn’t a snob factory. Cornell has real people in it. Start there. Build up.</p>
<p>Also, find some way to do some community service work this weekend, if you can. You’ll feel better if you go and help someone less fortunate. </p>
<p>Cornell educates farmers and people who run hotels as well as people who work at Hedge funds. You prefer this, as a person. You seriously do. You hate elitism, so I know this is a stuck groove for you.</p>
<p>didn’t I read somewhere that the best looking girls in the Ivy league go to Cornell, and the nicest? I swear I read that somewhere.</p>
<p>^
That last point is inconsequential to me, and I believe people say it is Penn.</p>
<p>Okay. I’m going to go around on the other boards and figure out reasons why Cornell is the best Ivy. When I’m done, I’ll post the list here.</p>
<p>Just as future reference for anyone: When I wanted to apply to Princeton SCEA, I had the same feeling I’m feeling now. I felt like I was going to get scoffed at for not going to HY, and not recruited because it wasn’t Wharton. Grade deflation there also bugged me a lot, as did the lack of professional schools. It was my top choice, but I focused on the flaws. Still loved the school. Got deferred and then rejected, and now it seems perfect.</p>
<p>Remember how much you hate snobs, it is a defining feature of your personality. Truly.</p>
<p>Don’t just look on the boards here, check out other source material, too.</p>
<p>Look, I don’t know who scoffed at you when you were little, but nobody here is going to scoff at you for going to Cornell. It is one of the premier schools in the entire world. Anyone would be proud to wear that sweatshirt.</p>
<p>Don’t go around the boards. What expertise will you find there? Go to Cornell’s website. Look at your opps there, check the course catalogs for specifics on academic opps. After it fills you with a bit of academic info, it may ease the emotional side. Action, not emotions. Information, not opinions. Decisions not hearsay.</p>
<p>All the good schools have some grade deflation. You can view that as A’s being genuine triumphs. Sure Harvard is hard to flunk out of and Brown has all those pass/fail options. But no great school is a breeze unless you major in basket weaving.</p>
<p>Saugus - why are attractive girls inconsequential? Though, actually Cornell is known for ugliest girls.</p>
<p>Also you make no sense. You were mad when no one said Cornell was the best school, then when people defend it you say it confirms your suspicions. Grow up and stop being a tool. Is your whole life really this defined by the fact that a few ignorant people call Cornell the “worst” ivy? You do realize people said that about Brown until recently (and some people still do). Penn was also viewed as the worst ivy for a long time, until they cleaned up/gentrified that area of Philadelphia. There was a time when Penn had a 40% acceptance rate.</p>
<p>Yes, it is. I’m a gunner-type with a large ego. </p>
<p>I am convinced that Cornell is as good as Penn CAS, and Penn is merely carried by Wharton. However, why does Cornell lose in crossadmits 14-86 to Dartmouth, 24-76 to Brown, and 22-78 to Penn? It wins 62-38 against Cal.</p>