<p>Both my daughters got rejected from their EA schools, and both got into many fine schools in RD. Both ended up choosing Ivy league schools.</p>
<p>My own worst rejection story was when I was applying to PhD programs years ago. In those days everything was done by snail mail. I mailed out my apps on Monday and got my first rejection on Thursday - from UCSD, which wasn’t even the most selective grad school I was applying to. I was crushed. I knew acceptance was no sure thing, but they rejected me so fast I wondered whether they had even bothered to read the app past the first page. I ended up getting into a couple of fine programs, and the one I chose worked out great for me. These things have a way of working out.</p>
<p>My son only got rejected from one school, but guess where he got the news? When we showed up for our campus visit. Duquesne Univ. could have saved us a 4 hour drive and a lot of embarrassment on both our parts. My son went to his second choice school and is graduating with a 3.99 GPA.</p>
<p>I don’t know if this counts but I got rejected from every program I applied to before college haha. Columbia Science Honors Program, RSI, 2 county wide summer programs, jeopardy. At the beginning of the college process I began wondering if I would ever get an acceptance letter in my life</p>
<p>chaosakita - the examples you gave were of people who applied, basically, ONLY to tippy-top schools. I don’t feel sorry for someone who applied only to Brown, Dtmouth, Columbia, Pton, Stanford, Williams, Wellesley, UPenn, Yale and didn’t get any acceptances and just one waitlist. That person didn’t think through her strategy, and just scattershot top 20 universities and LAC’s under the premise that they were the only things worth considering. Ditto for the person who applied only to H, Pton, Yale, Columbia, Dartmouth and Duke. There is a strong arrogance in only applying to schools at that level.</p>
<p>Full acceptance/no rejection isn’t always so great, either. I know someone who experienced this, and realized that she could have reached higher. She felt like she had wasted an opportunity. When she applied to grad schools, she was determined to get some rejections, so she would at least know that she had bracketed her level and taken a chance on a better outcome.</p>
<p>Andi’s threads are excellent. I hadn’t read them…since well they occured. Lots of sage advice form some long time posters for new posters who might not have read them.</p>
<p>When I was in college, the seniors would post their rejection letters from job applications and interviews on their dorm doors. I remember seeing one door completely wallpapered with rejection letters. On one letter the kid had scrawled in big red letters, “Extra points for rejection on birthday!”</p>
<p>Don’t panic yet, Chaosakita. You’ve only gotten one response so far. If you had a balanced list, it will all turn out ok.</p>
<p>The stories that we could tell every spring,when the wait seems to be unbearable. While you may not be feeling good now and it seems like April will never come, things are going to get better. </p>
<p>There are those of us who are still remember the Yale EA massacre of 2003 (class of 2008). </p>
<p>IN LIFE you will never be happy and content until you change the way you choose to view things. The power of positive thinking, is just that powerful. I was raised with this belief hammered into me at every opportunity my parents had. Of all the things my parents gave me a positive attitude is my most cherished possesion.</p>
<p>Take it or leave it, I suggest everyone take it to heart.</p>
<p>Didn’t Oldbatesiedoc have a classic story about this? Her/his kid eventually ended up at Middlebury. It’s a good story that everyone should read.</p>
<p>The “worst rejection stories” don’t come with college apps but later in life, when you don’t get that job you really really need to support your family or someone you’ve loved for years decides that he/she doesn’t love you. Not getting into College X is really not a big deal in the overall scheme of things. Rejection is a part of everyone’s life. It’s the ability to deal with rejection and bounce back from it that determines your level of happiness and success in life. I know this forum is all about college but a little perspective would help, maybe.</p>
<p>I have a feeling I might be posting a story on here come mid-April. I was talking to a friend the other day. D is a great student, 2350 SAT, 34 ACT #1 in class, blah, blah, blah :). Safety schools are Grinnell and Carleton otherwise applied to Harvard, Yale, Brown, Cornell, etc. 10 schools total. No real hooks other than being “female” but I don’t know if that is really a hook. EC’s are ok, participation in many things, no real "accomplishments’, JV sports through high school, etc. She does not interview well, very nervous, lack of eye contact when talking to people, etc. Sure she has the numbers to get in, but so do the 30,000 other kids that apply. Might be a rough month over at their house.</p>
<p>SteveMA - Being female is the opposite of a hook - women outnumber men in college these days, especially in LACs. (Unless she was applying for a STEM major) I hope her grades, Val & scores get her in. It’s possible, if she’s got strong academic recs. Recs are a piece of the puzzle that most of us never see.</p>
<p>I met 2 kids this summer who might have similar experiences. One of them applied to one SUNY and all the rest Ivies and Berkeley. Meanwhile lamenting about how her grades had dropped last year. The other applied only Ivy with Johns Hopkins and Brown as safeties, according to her. Neither did it out of arrogance, but rather ignorance. They are both first born kids to Asian parents who didn’t grow up here, so apart from clueless GCs who told them their lists were fine, no one gave them proper advice. I tried to, but didn’t want to come off sounding rude, so gave up after a few uncomfortable minutes. It is so hard as a fellow high school senior who is more “in the know” about the process. You try to help others, but don’t want to come off as being arrogant or patronizing. However, when you’re telling a kid to lower their sights a bit and be more realistic, no matter how gently you say it, their 17 and 18 year old selves take it as a hit to their egos and assume you think you’re better than them.</p>
<p>That said, I think the main thing some people find off putting is the title of the thread, not the content. To me, it sounds like this was written as part of an on-going conversation between a small group of people. Obviously, kids don’t apply to reach schools (or any schools for that matter) without at least hoping to be admitted. So it’s natural to be disappointed even at the long shots, and even if you have some good results.</p>