<p>Hi, RD2012, I encourage you to attend as many of your “Accepted Student Days” as you can before you make your decision. It’s a wonderful opportunity to tour the campus, learn more about what makes that university special, and meet potential classmates. Good luck! You have some great options.</p>
<p>Absweetmarie gave some great advice above. </p>
<p>You got screwed by the numbers game and the demographic issues. It’s pathetic that most of the posters on this thread won’t admit it. You feel “entitled” because you believed the BS the college “industry” marketing departments put out about about merit-based admissions and the best/brightest getting ahead. You did what you were told and were cheated anyway. Welcome to the adult world. </p>
<p>But both your choices are great (UCB, CMU). You have something to prove now. This disappointment will drive you to great success. Good luck to you!</p>
<p>@sdgirl66
I’m attend all of the accepted student days, and I’m paying close attention to what each school offers because I need to pick the best school for me. Thanks for the advice.
@paradocs
I’m aware that colleges admissions are not 100% merit based, and that’s why I was so upset initially when I got rejected. But now, I have to move on, and do the best I can at the colleges I got accepted to. I definitely have something to prove, and these rejections have given me the motivation to go out there and perform to the best of my ability. I’m hoping to thrive in these colleges, and hopefully earn a 4.0gpa.</p>
<p>OP: You’re handling this well. Try and remember that there are kids out there who don’t understand why their stats didn’t get them admitted to the schools you did, kids who have those schools are their dream schools and with good reason. These are two great schools. Ivy is just a brand name.</p>
<p>YOu are in at UCLA, Berkeley, Carnegie Mellon and UNC-CH Hill? These are great options. Don’t focus on the “ivy” thing. Really.</p>
<p>Sounds like you’re ready to rock and roll, rd2012. Best wishes!</p>
<p>Thanks so much everyone, I really appreciate the help and advice.</p>
<p>Every time a well deserved kid posts his disappointment regarding not getting into their dream school, some idiot comes back with a bashing response that he has a sense of entitlement and that there are always kids way brighter and more accomplished in that admission pile. It’s always their essay that must have seemed arrogant, etc.
The kids in question are never complaining about the well deserved applicant that beat them out. The disappointment stems from seeing kids with lower stats and accomplishments get into these same schools because of a hook, whether it be race or being recruited athletes, legacy, etc. I’m referring to the kids who have never seen the inside of an AP class but kicked their way into Harvard or are picked up by an ivy with low stats because they are a first gen or URM.
So many people tell these accomplished kids they should be satisfied being at their safety school and to suck it up. Usually these are the same people that got into places due to their hooks or those who would love to go to that safety. The truth is, if they had the same stats as the posters, they would be crying foul themselves.
Why can’t people just admit that these kids deserve a few days to be disappointed after 12 years of doing everything right, following rules, and emersing themselves in ECs and service projects in an effort to reach their goal? Why shouldn’t these kids feel a little bit screwed?
I know I will be bashed, and all the " admissions build a class and want diversity" stuff will follow. But seriously, I think in the effort for diversity, the tables have turned too far.
This kid will do great at UCB, UCLA, CMU or wherever he goes because cream will rise to the top. But guess what? He would have also done just as well at Harvard, Yale, UPenn, Cornell, etc. The recruited athlete, URM with lower stats, and many of the legacy kids that got in solely because of the extra help from their hooks with face a daily struggle. Who really should be in these spots?
Let the bashing begin.</p>
<p>Sorry seniormom, Harvard is a private institution and they decide who is “admissions worthy”, not a bunch of misinformed guidance counselors who annually tell their Val and Sal, “you are absolutely Harvard material.” </p>
<p>There ARE no rules- you seem to think that college admissions is like paying your taxes- the IRS issues the instructions, you fill out the form and check off your boxes, and as long as you haven’t made a dumb error in your math, they accept your taxes as “fully paid” (unless they audit you.)</p>
<p>Harvard decides who they want in; the grumbling that a kid with “lower stats” took the place of a “higher stat” kid is ludicrous. The kid with a lower SAT score clearly had something more desirable TO HARVARD. Whether you think it’s right or not is neither here nor there.</p>
<p>To all the unhappy HS students and their parents out there- you will all end up someplace marvelous. You will go on to do great and substantial things with your education once you let go of that massive chip on your shoulder that’s weighing you down.</p>
<p>Go ye forth.</p>
<p>I get a little irritated by the complaints that kids are getting cheated out of Ivy League educations simply because they have good stats and followed the rules.</p>
<p>Case in point are comments like rd2012’s “I’m aware that colleges admissions are not 100% merit based, and that’s why I was so upset initially when I got rejected.” Why is it that simply cramming one’s schedule with APs is seen as “merit”, and why is it that taking real risks and stretching in new and uncomfortable ways is discounted? Why is it that the kid who had the luxury to study AP Art History should get a bump over the kid who worked 20 hours/week to help support his family or the kid who spent that same 20 hours/week training with his lacrosse club? Can we comfortably predict who will make a bigger impact on the university or on the world after graduation?</p>
<p>My kid could never get a 5.2, the primary reason being that his school doesn’t weight classes. They don’t offer APs because they feel their own advanced courses are more rigorous than the standard AP fare. So while my student will spend his senior fall taking advanced calculus, advanced physics (has a full year of physics as a prerequisite), Spanish V, a writing intensive course in the classics and Jazz Theory III, many kids here would see him as an inferior candidate because he will not have a single AP and his weighted/unweighted GPA will be under 4.0.</p>
<p>I agree that any kid who doesn’t get into his or her dream school deserves a few days to lick his or her wounds. Complaining that other people had unfair advantages or that the admissions process is rigged is part of that. Seeing the grapes as sour is human. But I’d like to discourage the adults here from feeding that dynamic. Sure, the OP sounds like a great kid who would do well at the college of his choice, but there are thousands and thousands of kids like him/her. There’s just not enough room in the boat and sometimes the differentiators, while real, are small. The OP will doubtless go on to a successful college career at one of his/her excellent choices.</p>
<p>With thanks to ExieMITAlum over on the prep school forum…
<a href=“http://www.insidehighered.com/views/2012/02/21/essay-questions-obsession-over-ap-courses[/url]”>http://www.insidehighered.com/views/2012/02/21/essay-questions-obsession-over-ap-courses</a></p>
<p>Sorry, but Harvard and other top schools don’t admit kids that will ‘face a daily struggle’ and likely can’t handle the workload. They have been doing this for years and have loads of data that show them that what scores and grades lead to a graduation. They only admit students that are capable of graduating. If these students have some hook, so be it.</p>
<p>seniormom, the stats don’t back up your argument about URMs and recruited athletes struggling at Ivy League schools. I remember a kid that was a regular poster from Stanford-great kid, URM, not the highest test scores, but overcame some hurdles in life. Many posted that he would fail, and worried about his chances to succeed. He is a happy graduate with great prospects the last time I remember him checking in. Those high retention numbers of Ivy League schools also show that there are not a lot of dropouts. Even the stats of recruited athletes are impressive, IMHO.</p>
<p>Life is not a test that can won by merely studying, and some of these high schoolers that are URMs and first-generation students have already proven that they can juggle. Many work real jobs in addition to maintaining grades, juggling ECs and directly contributing to the upkeep of the family. You may think that this “diversity thing has gone too far” but if you don’t bring something unique to the Ivy table, you shouldn’t feel bad when you don’t get in. Diversity is NOT just race or economic background-it is experience, outlook, potential. The WORLD is a diverse place and the holistic admissions reflect that. </p>
<p>The great thing is that we, as humans, don’t need to peak at 17 to do well in life. Ivy is not necessary for success, nor is it a guarantee for the future. Valuing education and making the most of every circumstance is essential.</p>
<p>The OP doesn’t seem arrogant at all. He just said he was surprised and wanted to know if there was some flaw in the application.</p>
<p>Brown is probably the most unpredictable of all the ivy leagues in terms of admission, so don’t be surprised or disappointed with that result.</p>
<p>Cornell, Dartmouth, and Duke surprise me, particularly the last two, because usually very high stats are enough. I’m assuming the SATII’s were also sky-high. However, being president of clubs is not a great EC these days. The fundraiser was nice but everyone does them. In general, your ECs/cocurricular achievements seem a little light.</p>
<p>According to one guy who transferred there about 5-6 years ago, transferring to Cornell is easy assuming you have very good grades in college freshman year. So if you have your heart set on Cornell, then this may be a realistic option.</p>
<p>Sometimes a thread title can trigger a visceral response in posters, so the title “ridiculous”, along with the passing reference to being an ORM and wondering what “put the adcomms off” may have sounded arrogant to some readers. Dunno. Just guessing. The reality is that there ARE many, if not too many very qualified applicants for too few spots. They dont have to be “equally” qualified. Just qualified. As others have said, schools are in the business not only of admitting students, but of seeing them graduate, do well and give back to their alma mater. Why would they admit students who they think will struggle? Other than perhaps schools with Div1 sports, there is no reason to admit a student who the do not have every reason to believe will succeed. </p>
<p>I am going to go out on a limb and guess that seniormom has a kid who was, like the OP, burned in the admissions process, who did well academically, on standardized tests, in extracurriculars, etc and still for whatever reason didn’t stand out enough from a fiercely competitive admissions crowd to get the nod at the schools he/she wanted. Yes, kids who were disappointed in the admissions cycle have every right to feel disappointed and to vent. But if they sound like they were somehow entitled to a spot they didnt get, that for some reason went to a less deserving kid, thats where it may get a negative reaction from other posters. Like it or not, when students apply to schools with admissions rates in the single digits, the odds are stacked against them. Mostly through no fault of their own. Its time to do something to ratchet back the ridiculous number of applications that many students are sending that is continuously inflating the app pools and driving down the admissions rates.</p>
<p>JYM, what is inflating the app pools is that the elite universities are doing a better job of getting the word out that even if you don’t go to Groton or Dalton or Exeter, and even if your daddy and his daddy are NOT alums, and even if you can’t afford to endow a building, you may still get admitted. Even if every HS kid in America applied to Yale and Stanford- each discrete kid can only attend one college at a time. And so the fact that app pools go up and admissions rates go down is neither here nor there- what’s significant is that unlike the “good old days” where being a member of whatever was considered the ruling class was enough to get you in, the playing field has been expanded dramatically to include all those kids without the right address, or without prep school, or horrors- without the right ECs.</p>
<p>Yes, people like to vent. But to suggest that college admissions is now less transparent or less fair than it was back in the 1940’s when many ethnic and religious groups were categorically denied or had small quotas is absurd. You may not like the fact that you personally can no longer assume admissions to the college of your choice- because kids who assumed they’d be taking the bus to the local CC are now being encouraged to aim high-- but that can hardly be considered a bad thing for society as a whole.</p>
<p>Back in the day, the Ivy league didn’t even need people to read applications. The headmaster’s of the prep schools got on the phone with the head of admissions and they all divided up the class. Then a couple of “not so threatening” ethnics were admitted just to bolster the intellectual meat of the entering class (and to make sure that the physics department and other “hard” majors had enough students) and that was that.</p>
<p>You really think that’s a good idea?</p>
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<p>OK. I’ll bash. My kid had a hook (athlete) and it sure helped him get into an Ivy. His stats were in range, but not top of range. He also had to answer the essay explaining some “incidents” in school, which we were told by a number of top tier schools was not only not a deal-breaker but made him a more interesting candidate. (this for all the posters who think only perfect kids get admitted) He graduated cum laude and didn’t seem to struggle daily! Agree with jym- seniormom has a kid who she views as “burned”.</p>
<p>I think so many things are true at the same time.</p>
<p>Yes, private institutions can admit whom they want.</p>
<p>But yes, it’s fine for kids to grieve for a dream that will never happen. Other wonderful things will, but that dream won’t.</p>
<p>And schools do admit kids who struggle (not necessarily any select group, but kids who do.)</p>
<p>And that doesn’t mean the adcoms were wrong to admit them.</p>
<p>And maybe someone’s perfect mentor is at the “lessor” school and life is giving a gift.</p>
<p>We don’t know.</p>
<p>I think the only finger that can be pointed is at a society that is so crazed about “brands” that if it says “Kardashian” it is automatically worth something and if it has no label, it isn’t.</p>
<p>I am not dissing Harvard or any fine institution by saying this, but the kids are mourning a brand, but society has encouraged them to think like this.</p>
<p>My kid was in a very elite institution and struggled, mostly because of the major he chose. It was poor judgement, and he pointedly did not tell me what was going on. He had very high grades in another discipline that should have been his major.</p>
<p>And I second guessed sending him there. But he found his passion there (that we probably wouldn’t have anywhere else – long story – evolved from a unique summer job.)</p>
<p>Now he is at the local state U making up some UG classes because he had nothing on paper in his new discipline. He is running a 4.0 across six classes, something kind of unheard of at the school he came from. But he is learning less, much less.</p>
<p>Which is the better outcome? Depends on one’s goal.</p>
<p>So, the OP has been taught to think HYPS is the best and the only best. Maybe he’ll revise this thinking, but I do think we can cut him some slack, even with the bitter tone of the thread. And I do think we can cut HYPS some slack because it would be a dull school if only the tippy top grade earners and test takers were admitted, kind of like the old Chinese Civil Service.</p>
<p>When my kid graduated, his advisor (aware of grade snafus that I wasn’t yet as it happens) told me that my kid had the most breadth of knowledge she had encountered. It wasn’t rewarded in his grades, but he did make the classroom an interesting place for everyone.</p>
<p>And he has been admitted into a grad program in his new discipline so even mommy is a happy camper.</p>
<p>This is a long, personal post when I didn’t mean it to be. There are a million stories. I hope the OP can start feeling better about HIMSELF. He’s been admitted to some schools that CAN provide an awesome learning environment and experience.</p>
<p>When my kids were little my D was always so upset that folks made so much fuss over S because he had platinum blond hair and she had very dark hair (no, it wasn’t the postman!) But guess what? He doesn’t anymore.</p>
<p>And the people who cling to their “brand name” schools as adults can seem silly at a party.</p>
<p>One Harvard alum told me that it had made it difficult to graduate from Harvard because no one ever felt he was living up to his potential. He sent his kid to Reed (where she wanted to go.)</p>
<p>I think the ridiculous jump in applications has followed the ease of shooting out extra apps on the Common app or universal app. Even if schools want an extra essay or two (or three), and the student had to do their homework to write a good “why XXXXX” essay, its still relatively easy to shoot out a few more apps to hopefully increase the students’ chance of a better outcome. Back in the days of the dinosaurs, when on a typewriter we hunt and pecked our applications out on each school’s form, the thought of having to do more than a handful was enough of a turn off. This business of sending out 15-20 or more apps is just out of control, IMO.</p>
<p>
I’d like to make every privileged kid read [Amazon.com:</a> A Hope in the Unseen: An American Odyssey from the Inner City to the Ivy League (9780767901260): Ron Suskind: Books](<a href=“http://www.amazon.com/Hope-Unseen-American-Odyssey-League/dp/0767901266]Amazon.com:”>http://www.amazon.com/Hope-Unseen-American-Odyssey-League/dp/0767901266). It’s the story of a kid from the DC slums, with SAT scores in the 400s (if I recall correctly) who was accepted by Brown. It was a struggle for all sorts of reasons, including culture shock, but ultimately he graduated with a 3.3, turned down a job on Wall Street, got a master degree in social work (I believe) and is giving back to his community. I call that a good call by Brown.</p>
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<p>modadunn I think there are cases of luck vs. no luck. When a kid applies to 10 top schools and gets into one, but his friend with similar stats doesn’t, you can chalk that up to luck, or something else. But, when a kid gets “multiple tickets to the ball” as you say, I would think there might be something done right to justify getting those multiple tickets. Lottery or not, multiple acceptances can’t be completely chalked up to luck.</p>