<p>I applied to 25 colleges because I was paranoid of not getting accepted anywhere, and that seems to be exactly what is happening. I've received 7 rejections from schools that I felt comfortable that I'd be accepted to attend. Right now, I still have a bunch to hear back from, but they are all more selective. </p>
<p>If I can't get into a school that has a 45% acceptance rate, do I still have any chance at the Ivies? Harvard is my absolute dream school, but my mind is already convinced that I'm going to have to reapply to go to college at all next year. </p>
<p>I keep looking at my stats and can't figure out where I could even try to improve that would make a significant difference. I have friends with equal or less qualifications than mine, and they've been accepted or at least waitlisted at the same or similar schools. </p>
<p>If I do need to take a gap year due to a lack of options, what can I do to give myself a better chance?</p>
<p>Are you an international applicant or a US applicant?</p>
<p>If you are international, the only safeties here are the very short list of institutions that admit by the numbers and guarantee admission to international applicants by the numbers. Your real safeties would be in your hone country.</p>
<p>If you are a US applicant, how much financial aid do you need? Did you apply to any open admission institutions such as your local CC? Did you apply to any institution that guarantees admission based on GPA and/or exam scores where you clearly have met or exceeded the minimums for guaranteed admission?</p>
<p>Looking up stats in books, online, or even in your own HS records office is not a guarantee if anything. If there are human beings reading applications and exercising decision making powers, you can be the one cut out.</p>
<p>Go sit down with your guidance counselor, and find yourself a real, true, dead-on, guaranteed safety, or come up with your Plan B for the fall.</p>
<p>Hopefully you will have more success with the schools that have yet to notify but the body of information on CC suggests a very poor acceptance rate at schools that turned you down the first time after a gap year. If you fail to gain one acceptance to the 25 schools you have chosen to date, your “better chance” is by applying to different and at least some significantly less selective schools. Agree with happymom that you should be discussing this with your guidance counselor who presumably approved of your college list.</p>
<p>I could be wrong, but aren’t there some schools with rolling admissions or late deadlines that you could still apply to? For example, Franklin Pierce has rolling admissions and has an acceptance rate of 93% in 2010. You could probably get in there.</p>
<p>If veritas2017 is a US applicant, there are scads of rolling and late admission institutions - options would be limited however if money is an issue. If veritas2017 is an international applicant, it may be too late for fall 2013 because of the lead time necessary for the visa paperwork.</p>
<p>If you are a domestic applicant, the usual route for those who got shut out is to go to the open admission community college for two years, do well there, and transfer to a state university to complete your bachelor’s degree.</p>
<p>I think you’ve made the wrong decision by applying to 25 schools. you gave much less time to each application. for this reason, you’ve lacked demonstrated interest. i think demonstrated interest does play a role in admission decision. Now hope for the best. i think you’ll get in somewhere if you’re really qualified. </p>
<p>Think it in this way if you gave 5 days per application, what would’ve happened if you gave 7 days to per application and applied 18 instead of 25.</p>
<p>like I’ve said just hope for the best. i know how it feels to wait for something. don’t worry you’ll get in somewhere.</p>
<p>I would not even let my daughter apply for more than 10. Also, there should be at least a couple schools for safety. If you are in the reach for Ivies, it should not be difficult to find a few safety schools to apply.</p>
<p>Wow! 25 schools?! I only applied to four, and my sister only applied to ONE. I can’t even imagine filling out that many applications and it doesn’t sound like a particularly good idea to me. </p>
<p>Still, if there remain 18 schools you need to hear back from, I wouldn’t give up hope yet. But I do agree with the others that you should perhaps look into safeties with rolling admissions.</p>
<p>I applied to 25, its not as bad as people think. Colleges use the same essays over and over again, so writing really isn’t an issue. The most problematic thing about applying to that many schools is money really, but I would argue that an extra $600 is worth having a wide selection of colleges, all of which you’re probably going to be investing a quarter of a million dollars on (if we’re talking ivy league/ivy-league-like schools).</p>
<p>And no, if you get rejected at schools with 45% admissions rate, you’re not getting into an ivy league. Sorry, but there is a reason why you’re getting rejected, and that reason will keep you out of ivies.</p>
<p>Not always. Universities look for different things and sometimes demonstrated interest is one of them. I know someone who was rejected a number of ‘match’ schools who got a likely from Harvard. What impresses some doesn’t impress others.</p>
<p>I applied to 20, it really wasn’t that bad. It was pretty unnecessay (I could have applied to 14), but it really wasn’t a lot of hassle. </p>
<p>I don’t think you need to worry–wait until all your letters come in stay positive! Don’t just settle thinking that you won’t get into any schools! I got into a school with a 45% admittance rate and rejected from a school with a 58% admittance rate. Totalllly unexpected! You never know with these admission committees; they are all totally different and they all look for different things in an applicant! So keep your head up :)</p>
<p>While it is true that schools look for different things, that analysis only applies if the schools that you’re applying to are similar in competitiveness, for example, making it into a school with 30% acceptance rate when rejected from a school with 45% acceptance rate MAY pan out, although still very unlikely. When you’re talking about ivy leagues, where the best of the best get rejected, and you compare that with a school with a 45% rate with a mediocre pool at best, your chances look slim to none.</p>
<p>One thought is to start at junior college and transfer. I know, not ideal. Virginia has a statute/law/regulation that allows students to go to junior college for two years, after which you are guaranteed admission to a state university. Check around for similar deals. Good luck, and don’t worry too much. You’ll land somewhere!</p>
<p>I have a friend who got rejected from UCSD, waitlisted at UCR, waitlisted at Cal Poly, and then accepted into UCLA. This guy had a 1900 SAT I, 3.8 WEIGHTED GPA, and one weak EC.
College acceptances are very situational, as much as people who leer over stats and **** think. Weird stuff happens. I’m not even in my school’s top 20 (ranked 24th in my class) but I’m the only one who got a likely letter to Duke because of some extraneous stuff.
Maybe these colleges think you don’t belong there. Maybe you misunderstood your app and essays. Maybe your app is weaker because of fewer APs or something.</p>