<p>Rejected at Stanford, waitlisted at Duke, accepted at Northwestern and Boston U
(still waiting on a couple decisions)</p>
<p>School: Public
Race: Taiwanese American
Gender: Male
UW GPA: 3.9
W GPA: 4.5
Rank: 3/660
SAT: 2300 (800 Verbal, 780 Math, 720 Writing)</p>
<p>AP's:
Chemistry 5
US History 5
Calc AB 5</p>
<p>Extracurriculars:
Cello (both private lessons and best youth symphony in the state, not involved in orchestra at school this year, but would've been principal cellist)
Piano
String Quartet (over 300 hours playing at senior centers and libraries and such)
National Honors Society
Academic Decathlon (sophomore year; we took 3rd place at State)
Amnesty International (VP)
Research at a university the last two years, different projects
Research intern in a pancreatic cancer lab (soph. summer)
Hospital volunteer (started last semester)
We the People Team Competition, 1st in state
Boys' State</p>
<p>Awards:
All-State Choir
National Merit Scholar
TASP Finalist
All-Region Orchestra
Orchestra Varsity Letters
AP Scholar
NCTE Achievement Award in Writing
local concerto competition, 1st place senior division lower strings
a few awards in local essay contests
Full scholarship to Idyllwild Arts Academy Summer Music Camp</p>
<p>Recommendations: Very good, as far as I can tell
Supplemental essays: Decent, but not bad
Personal Statement: Very, very good</p>
<p>I don't know, I'm just feeling kinda confused and disappointed right now. I thought I had a better chance than most, but I guess I was wrong. I did get a C last semester (it's a long story); do you think that'd be the deciding factor?</p>
<p>You didn't do anything wrong. You got into one of the country's top 12 universities. As for the rejections and waitlist, who knows what caused it? The colleges that rejected/waitlisted you have an overabundance of thousands of qualified applicants. This is particularly true of Asian American applicants who are excellent in classical music (including prodigies) and also are planning on being pre med (I'm guessing the latter about you). The colleges want a diversity of students, majors, ECs, etc., so will select from their pool of outstanding students those who'll most create a class that's diverse in all meanings of the world. It's not likely that the one C on your transcript made any difference.</p>
<p>
[quote]
I did get a C last semester (it's a long story)
[/quote]
</p>
<p>I doubt very much that that was it. Getting into Northwestern is good. My view of your classes is that you could have taken more hard classes earlier (I say this because I know students who do) and my view of your extracurriculars is that fewer to a higher level might have looked better. But I could be mistaken--I'm always wrong in chances threads, which is why I don't post chances predictions anymore. Have fun at the college you like best that admitted you.</p>
<p>Where you went wrong was in defining success too narrowly, and discounting the great value of what you have achieved. You went wrong by passing up a golden opportunity to bask in the glow of your success, and to be thankful for your amazing good fortune.</p>
<p>Greybeard, I know you're just trying to be encouraging, but... I honestly can't see any "amazing good fortune" in this - especially not when peers who are not anywhere as "good," (and yes, that is said knowing everything that they do) are getting into the same schools with ease. Yes, I'm happy for them, but... it still hurts. I don't mean to sound arrogant or anything, but those are the facts.</p>
<p>Well rejection from a college is not neccessarily a referendum on one's abilities, since the decision was mostly based on a paper application. With that said, no, it is not a 'fact' that your peers are nowhere as 'good,' as you so humbly stated. I personally know many people with lower stats than me who could easily surpass me in intelligence. And there are also people with omg 2400 president saint ironman who are morons (this isn't to say you're a moron). You've been accepted to a number of very respectable schools with stellar undergraduate programs, so you shouldn't be too upset about being rejected from x prestigious university. You also should not be so arrogant as to assume that you will be accepted to every university you apply to, especially ones like Stanford. If you look at the stats of some of the people who responded and others on CC who have been rejected, many of them have qualifications that at least matches yours. Of course being Asian doesn't help :] But I agree with Greybeard in that, at this point, you should focus more on your successes. I'm not sure if success glows (maybe if its golden), or if it would be comfortable at all to bask, but you should definitely be proud of yourself. And your achievements are not amazing good fortune because you earned them 8D</p>
<p>You got into Northwestern, a top university. Consider yourself blessed.</p>
<p>And don't forget that college admissions are somewhat luck based. There are plenty of people with stats similar to yours. Some are accepted, some are rejected. You happened to be one of the latter. What else is there?</p>
<p>I felt a bit sick when you commented that your peers are not as "good" as you. How do you define good? Your SAT score? Your GPA? Your National Merit Scholarship? What makes your peers any less deserving than you to go to their dream schools?</p>
<p>Count your blessings. The fact that you were born with the capability to achieve so much is indeed a blessing. I would call you a very fortunate person indeed.</p>
<p>Yes, of course. By "good" I meant considering EC's, community service, awards/honors... all those stats, I suppose, that colleges look at to decide... But then, that is why I put good in quotation marks, after all. It was never meant as an evaluation of their personal character or worth, just the paperwork. I apologize for sounding arrogant - believe me, I didn't mean to be. Thanks, unshunreshun and JP_Omnipotence.</p>
<p>jedidiah185, you have no idea what your "less good" associates put on their applications. It's likely that even your best friend doesn't report every contest and credential to you, let alone people you only talk to during class or at clubs. You have no idea if they won a competitive internship or got a 2350 on their SATs or volunteered abroad in Cambodia over the summer. Judge not, lest you be judged.</p>
<p>I agree it's a paper application and you can't truly judge someone by what is on paper. This admission process is sometimes just luck. We are all on the same boat. It's Stanford's loss. Stanford is not perfect - look at the email rejection letter they sent. They are not sending a paper copy "to be environmentally conscious." Well, I remember they requested that I send all my materials in 9 x 12 envelopes. I think that uses a lot of paper.
Good luck to all!</p>
<p>Actually, karajanhra, I do know what SAT scores most of my friends get, and I do know what internships they get, and trust me, I would definitely know if they were gone in Cambodia for an entire summer. But that's beside the point. Again, I wholeheartedly apologize for sounding so arrogant :</p>