<p>I think the title pretty much sums up my thoughts and those of thousands of others like me who applied to college this year with high aspirations and hopes. What happened exactly? I have never seen this many rejections before on CC and I have browsed CC decision threads for the past 5 years and this is COMPLETELY uprecedented. I know this is the peak year for people belonging to Generation X to go to college but is this really the justification for it?</p>
<p>I'm probably not going to come back to CC ever again after today probably, because I see no reason to(a sad consideration I know) go on any other forum other than the Duke forum(where I was accepted to and will most likely be attending next year!:):):) GO BLUE DEVILS!!!), but I just want to say something first: All of you deserve better than this. A hearty congratulations to the lucky few this year who got into their dream colleges this year, but for the rest of you were rejected/waitlisted from your top colleges this year, YOU ARE ALL THE MOST AMAZING BUNCH OF PEOPLE AND YOU HAVE EVERY RIGHT IN THE WORLD TO BE EXTREMELY PROUD OF ALL YOUR ACCOMPLISHMENTS!!!!!!!:) All of you didn't deserve to wait 3 months to find out you weren't good enough by any college or wait an extra two hours to even find out your decision(for those who applied to Cornell, you know what I'm talking about LOL). </p>
<p>This whole process has drained the emotional and mental well-being of everyone involved: the applicants, the teachers, the counselors, the admissions officers, the parents, etc. etc. All of this is very unneccessary in my opinion if there were serious reforms made to college admissions in the country. I'm no expert but one suggestion I have is that colleges be more forthright about the admissions process such as their true expectations for applicants as well as finally be open about the advantages of applying early. Early admission seemed to be the key this year as colleges became SIGNIFICANTLY mroe selective in the RD round as of what I have seen this year(University of Chicago, Cornell, etc.).</p>
<p>Basically, this is the thread for all of you teriffic people to vent your frustrations/thoughts/ideas regarding the whole college admissions process. You are all clearly a VERY deserving bunch and I for one am eager to hear your thoughts.</p>
<p>Good luck to the entire HS Class of 2007 from this point onward in their college selection process and beyond!!!!:)</p>
<p>P.S.: Someday, long time for now, we will look back at these last couple of months and laugh at it all considering how successful we will all be.;) However, rejection still hurts.:(</p>
<p>Thanks....I guess that makes me feel better about my Ivy rejections. I had family issues (my mom was having surgery and lots of other things were going on) in the fall so I didn't apply early, and now I'm wondering if it would have changed things if I had...But we can't wallow in the what its.</p>
<p>Thank you for the kind sentiments. I'm sure everyone else appreciates it, too.
I've been going through this awful process for months now.
First, it was Oxford. I flew out to the middle of freaking ENGLAND to see it, spending thousands of my parents' money. I wrote and wrote and wrote until my hands bled, and then when I was done, I revised. After I'd managed to turn everything in, I drove up to New York City (again, more money) to do an interview that I thought went fantastically. I even sang Christmas songs like "All I Want for Christmas" while making the subject Oxford - I wanted it that badly.
And then I got rejected. Just flat out rejected. I've never cried so hard - it wasn't just sobbing, it was screaming like I was being murdered.
Weeks passed, and eventually, the wound started to heal a bit. I got busy applying to American colleges, which have later deadlines. I got hopeful. I got optimistic. I got, I'm sorry to say, unrealistic. Who really has a sure chance at an Ivy League? Who really can say, this year, with so many applicants, that they have it in the bag? I manged to convince myself that I at least had a pretty decent shot.
As of 6 o'clock today, I know that I basically didn't. The odds are ridiculous - I pity the next round of souls to go through this grinding process. The stats are so absurd that it's literally laughable - that is, if it weren't so horrifying and peoples' happiness didn't depend on it.
But you know what? I'm okay now. I didn't get into Oxford...well, I just found out that Sarah Lawrence has a program there, and I'm definitely accepted at SL. Now that I look at it, with a boyfriend that I may very well marry some day, perhaps it is a blessing that I won't spend years that far away from him, something that puts a strain on even the toughest relationships. And Oxford has graduate degrees, after all, that can be attained.
So, you know what? It'll all work out. After all the carnage is swept up and all the tears cried and all the soul-crushing pressure is faded, we'll all get up and go to a school that we might've thought was terrible compared to Princeton, but one that I'll bet most would - and will - enjoy.</p>
<p>evil<em>asian</em>dictator- GREAT post. Congrats on Duke.</p>
<p>Hyzenthlay- About Oxford study abroad...start planning early. Sophomore year is too late to start planning; I learned that the hard way. Whether you're applying through Arcadia-CEA, Butler-IFSA, or Sarah Lawrence, you need to plan at least a year in advance and apply early in your sophomore year.</p>
<p>I think schools should be divided into official tiers and students should only be allowed to apply to 1 or 2 from each tier. I feel like the ambiguity over who will matriculate and top students applying to HYP and every other ivy is what makes the process seem so arbitrary. If everyone were limited to applying to 2 ivy leagues, things would become less cutthroat and admit percentages would go up.</p>
<p>I was rejected from Harvard, my number 1 choice. but got into yale and princeton, and really only applied to them because they were on the common app. I feel like im taking the spots of people who had P and Y as number 1 in their hearts. And likewise for people who got into Harvard but never really cared to go.</p>
<p>my best friend got waitlisted at UNC, and she had good stats and she was a double legacy.
it was almost as shocking as our math team star being waitlisted at MIT</p>
<p>Evil<em>asian</em>dictator, I will have to disagree on your view about this year being the year with the most rejections. I was a lurker for a year and signed up in 2004. Even though admissions is way more competitive than it has ever been, I think that the class of 2004 was the year of the most rejections on CC. Congrats on getting into Duke!</p>
<p>I also hope something can be done with the admissions process, I don't know what that is or how it can be done, but what really ticked me off, was busting your a$$ to get in all your financial aid info in on time, and then the school informs you that you are missing a form, more running around, mailing things off.... only to get rejected!</p>
<p>I have to totally agree with what you said. Getting into colleges is steadily becoming more and more competitive. Just from the results from my school, it shows that this year was terrible for everyone. Usually we send alot more kids to Ivies. Lots of people were rejected or waitlisted where they really shouldn't have. Anyways, I'm glad I got into Duke. :) So see you next year!! Go Blue Devils!!</p>