Do any of you ever get those inspiring moments where you say to yourself, “You know what, I think I will get into Brown! UCLA is right for me! Duke wants me.” And then once you break outside of this illusion, you end up feeling insecure about your grades (not that this doesn’t happen to everyone at some point in life). If so, have any of you sought for a way to change this and if so, was it successful? I have honestly been having days like this a lot and I feel that it is truly dragging down my mood 
Oh my gosh, all the time. I’m surrounded by crazy kids in my school who have ridiculous grades and extracurriculars, which puts me in a bubble that I too, am like them and could be a perfectly potential applicant to my top schools. I realize that my grades and activities are very sub-par and my illusion fades as I continue my applications. I usually try to change my perspective by hearing or looking for other stories where other successful or mediocre students have been accepted to subpar schools and their success stories. That puts me in a better mood and gives me some more motivation to work harder, even though your goals may not have been what you have planned. As cliche as this quote goes, it’s important to remember that “it’s not about the destination, but the journey.”
Be confident and proud in the work you’ve put in so far, and realize no matter what, the hard work and good grades you’ve put in will pay out good dividends regardless of what college you end up going to. When I was applying, I was wait listed by Harvard, MIT, UPenn, and UChic and rejected by 3 other top10 schools and I honestly lost a lot of self esteem during that time, but now I’m at UW Madison with a full ride scholarship and I couldn’t be happier. A year ago I would have never imagined myself at a state university, but things don’t always happen the way you expect and that’s completely okay. If you don’t get into an Ivy, so what? It’s not the end of the world, and if you’re smart and a hard worker you’re going to succeed regardless.
tldr Don’t beat yourself up about your grades and Ivy League schools; you’ll be so much happier. Just keep doing your thing and improve every day.
Thanks guys 
it honestly means a lot