<p>I have similar numbers on paper to you, and I just got into Georgetown, so keep your head up. You’ll be admitted to a great school if you keep working hard for it.</p>
<p>Thanks Robbie…</p>
<p>It’s just that I’ve spent so much trying to maintain an A average, countless 4 a.m. nights, and much more effort than most of my peers that I would feel completely let down if I went to Penn State when I could have gotten in while getting B’s etc.</p>
<p>I’m actually considering taking a year off just to raise my test scores…</p>
<p>“James Madison, George Mason, Fordham, Marist, Northeastern, and your state flagship U.”</p>
<p>These are the only schools I have any hope of attending?.. If so then I’m definitely taking a year off.</p>
<p>I’m sorry if I sound conceited but what the heck.</p>
<p>Vicimus, don’t assume you could get in at Penn State by coasting. If you are putting in much more effort than your peers, in order to maintain your current grades, then you need to rethink about where you are applying. You want that IVY atmosphere, and you want to be surrounded by top students, but you have to remember you will end up competing with those same top students for grades.</p>
<p>You’re showing a bit of an unwarranted elitist attitude if you think the suggested schools are beneath you - and if they are in fact the only schools you can get into, taking a year off to improve your scores isn’t going to do you any good. Next year you would be competing with another set of compelling applicants who earned their scores while still in high school. A year off is only helpful if you do something significant in that year off - not just raise your scores. </p>
<p>An IVY is not impossible, but your first rejection indicates they think you are not a good fit for that school. Again, if you’re working that hard to get those grades, you will have to continue to work that hard at an elite school. Instead you should focus on a school that offers an excellent education, with solid support, and where you are near the median for scores and GPA. What is the value of an IVY league education if you end up spending your 4 years there unable to avail yourself of your surroundings because you have to spend every waking hour studying just to stay afloat?</p>
<p>Your stats don’t place you out of range- but they are just one part of the story. We don’t know your major, how competitive that is, what you’ve done to prep for that (beyond some classes- or even if you’ve taken the classes)- and your ECs and answers/essays on the CA and supps play a very large role in how you come across. It’s not all about stats.</p>
<p>I kind of understand. I just feel like a failure. I could spend 8 hours a day 5 days per week volunteering and then studying in the afternoon. That’d be almost 2,000 volunteer hours… If I don’t get accepted anywhere else I’ll attend University Park and try to be happy. Thanks.</p>
<p>lookingfoward, yea there are many variables. I just have to hope for the best.</p>
<p>If you have any apps not yet sent, just be sure you managed the whole picture. Take a fresh view. [It’s not about 2k hours, btw, that’s another stat. It’s what you actually did, the responsibilities and impact.] Lots of kids are stressed at this point, so don’t forget to breathe. Good luck.</p>
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<p>But if you do take a gap year, make sure that you do something really meaningful. </p>
<p>And, if your school is still open, find a different GC. This one is not giving your good advice. (A college list of all mega-reaches, for an unhooked applicant with <700 test scores, is just not realistic.)</p>
<p>Well, it’s probably “too late” for this, but since you seem to be from the mid-atlantic, you might consider applying to colleges on the west coast or further west, or even south. One problem you will face is the fact that you are from an area that puts a A LOT of apps into the places you are looking into, people with just astonishing test scores and ECs.</p>
<p>Anyway, good luck to you.</p>
<p>If you don’t get what you want, widen your horizon.</p>
<p>Thanks for everything everybody. And no, I’m staying in the mid-Atlantic. I’m just going to finish writing my apps and expect I’m going to Penn State. I have to realize I’m nothing more than some faceless soon-to-be high school graduate nobody cares about and is nothing special.</p>
<p>Cheers mate, thanks.</p>
<p>Vicimus, plenty of people care about you. You’d be surprised. The truth is that the most important thing about college is not where you go but what you do when you get there.</p>
<p>Penn State has as many opportunities as anybody needs to succeed in life!</p>
<p>Also, finish your apps strong. Sometimes on CC we sound insane, and we are wrong. Nobody can say where you will get in except the admission committees at the schools.</p>
<p>Good luck to you.</p>
<p>I’d like to point out that it’s not about where you go so much as what you do there. Any school can be as challenging as you want it to be. True, at some places you may have to seek these challenges out more - but you always have that option. If you work this hard in high school, then wherever you go it will pay off because you will have a stronger understanding of the basics and a much better idea of what you need to do to succeed :)</p>
<p>Also, in terms of surrounding yourself with people who are academically motivated - you can find groups like these at any school (you can also find groups NOT like these any school). </p>
<p>On a different vein, I’m sure you didn’t do well in high school just so you could get into a certain college. You probably did because you’re the type of person who always puts their best foot forward. So embrace that and you will reap its benefits no matter where you end up.</p>
<p>Apply to those schools if you like them and can afford the application fees, but don’t get your heart set on them (no one should). I would also suggest looking at UVa, BC, BU, Tufts, American, and GW.</p>
<p>I feel so sad to tell good students that an ACT of 31 is low. For the top T21 schools, ACT of 31 is not high. They preferred the 35/36 and 32 is kind of the cut off point. But SAT/ACT is not the only decision maker. GPA is also important. And you need to factor in other things - legacies, connections, accomplishments, recommendations, extraordinary events, etc. </p>
<p>So far, no one besides the Clintons, the Bushes and the Obamas (and probably a few others) has a clear formula for acceptances to these great schools. You will need to explore every avenue you can find. If you find it, good for you! If not, there are plenty of other great colleges out there. And many many successful people graduates from state colleges. Gee, we have quite a few billionaires that are college dropouts. Don’t you ever give up!</p>
<p>I would look at Tufts and Brandeis. There’s also Univ. of Rochester, College of William and Mary, Wake Forest, Univ. of Michigan, UNC-Chapel Hill, RPI, UIUC…just look on US News and see what interests you in terms of schools, with a good test score range that fits you. Good luck!</p>
<p>wellthat’sokay, that’s a great list!</p>
<p>I never expected so many replies. While I still feel awful, I do feel a lot better. Thanks for all the support.</p>