<p>My D (from GA) bypassed UGa and other Southern schools, got into Harvard, was deliriously happy and pulled the plug on her other apps, then wondered if she was only picking Harvard for the name, and became miserable. It was a strange process to observe, but I think a very natural - and for some folks perhaps a necessary - process to go through. She came through it, went to H, and has loved it. She's found a wide variety of people there - some intense, some chill, some in between - but all remarkable.</p>
<p>You can find whatever kind of crowd at Penn that you want. Its diversity and global culture is much broader than Westminster's and considerably broader than UGa's. You'll never have to feel trapped in a culture or barricaded. For the concerns you cite and the talents you apparently possess, Penn may be the ideal college destination. Congratulations - hang in there and believe!</p>
<p>The solution to your problem is simple... attend penn for a year and if you don't like it, transfer out. It's not like you can back out of your binding ED contract anyway.</p>
<p>Good job, plainsman. You really outdid yourself with THAT one! </p>
<p>The OP is expressing feelings that many, many students have. She is leaving a small, nurturing private school to attend an elite university where she fears (normal) that she can't measure up. </p>
<p>OP- I believe my kid is at the school you will be attending, so if you want a contact there, send me a PM. He actually had a rough time adjusting freshman year, despite having been at boarding school, so I can understand your anxiety. HOWEVER, he did adjust, is now a junior and I know you will also have a wonderful experience. I also think there have been times when he wished he were at UGA or UTexas at the top of the heap watching good football. Please feel free to PM me with any questions and I am very willing to help you with your transition to college. My son also has relatives in the area!</p>
<p>As everyone else said, you are not alone. I am a fellow ED'er who was accepted to a great school that most likely no one from my HS class will go to. I am my biggest self-critic and I sometimes feel inadequate or not "intelligent" enough to do well on the next level. I watched as my friends were hearing back from their schools this month and began to question my ED decision. However, I recently visited my ED school again and I remembered while I picked the school in the first place. </p>
<p>I recommend you look at a sometimes overused but relevant poem that helped me during my stressful senior year. Check out "The Road Not Taken" by Robert Frost. </p>
<p>Good Luck next year and remember, the emotions you feel are not unnatural. In fact, if you are feeling them, many of your peers are most likely feeling them as well.</p>
<p>I was in a similar situation last year. I loved Cornell, until I sent in my deposit. I was nervous about getting lost in the crowd of bright students, I was jealous of my friends going to state schools, and I was regretting committing to Cornell. But then I got there, did very well first semester, and now I love it. Give Penn a chance, I think you'll probably end up liking it (most people do).</p>
<p>I loved my time at Penn. I think I had a case of buyers remorse in part of my sophomore year--not because i was in any way unsatisfied with Penn--but simply because I was wondering what my life would have been like had I gone to a different school. Even after Penn, in a job I'm loving, I still wonder what my life would have been like had I gotten a job elsewhere. It's just a function of the innate and insatiable curiosity for the world that I have, and most people who get into Penn and other top schools have too :)</p>
<p>You will love Penn. I feel it offers among the finest undergraduate experiences and educations in the world. You are so very fortunate to have gotten in. Enjoy it! :)</p>
<p>Is money a factor in the cold feet / regret? That is, the price between the 'down to earth' schools OP stated and Penn causing any regret in OP? </p>
<p>I have a friend who was accepted into H w/ no aid (must pay the full bill), and recvd a full ride at chicago. She happily picked Chicago. Her dad is a doctor and money was there, theoretically. But as I understand it the family thought that H was not worth 200,000 extra dollars.</p>
<p>this is the lamest **** i've ever heard.....the OPs clearly seeking attention, encourgament and praise from the thread readers
if i got into penn....i'd take that in a heartbeat (wharton of course)</p>
<p>Penn's a beautiful college, IMO. I wish I had a place there! Oh, and did you know that they filmed some of the scenes from Transformers 2 there? (it says so on their Wikipedia page).</p>
<p>Also, ignore Plainsman. I doubt he would be quite so smug if someone were so arrogantly patronising to one of his kids. You were just being open - you don't need counseling.</p>
<p>Therein lies the problem with Early Decision. Schools like Penn (and Duke and WUSTL, etc.) use it more for their own benefit (read: perceived selectivity) than the interest of their own students and applicants. That's why I respect University of Chicago, to name one example, for sticking with Early Action in light of what most top 25 schools do conveniently. Despite taking a beating on its yield rate, U Chicago refuses to compromise the integrity of its admissions policies.</p>
<p>I think everyone feels differently about acceptances. Some students are gripped with glee from day one, and some students express mild regrets. I was exceptionally excited about my college from the day I found I got in, but before, during, and after my college attendance I often wondered what it would be like to go to a school that was completely different: a co-ed school, a large university, a rural area, a more prestigious school.</p>
<p>Heck, I'm a year out of college and sometimes I daydream about what it would've been like to go to Penn State, or Amherst, or Columbia (where I am now). When you can only choose one, it's natural to wonder about the others.</p>
<p>that actually does put u chicago in a really good light for me nyccard :p
redglory, i don't think the OP is an attention-seeker...
but anyways, good luck OP. i'm sure this is a common feeling & hopefully it will pass :)</p>