This might cause angry comments

College Search & Selection
1

<p>Lately, I've been really regretting the fact that I screwed up by not getting into the University of Pennsylvania (which, as you know, is an Ivy League school).</p>

<p>My first mistake was that I could have done somewhat better on my ACT--I could have scored a 32 or a 33, which is what I usually got when I took the test on my own. The day of, however, I was overconfident, causing me to run out of time on certain parts and reduce my score to a 31. I took it once again a few months later, but I wasn't nearly as prepared and in the groove as I could have been. I got a 31 that time as well.</p>

<p>There's also the fact that I didn't actually find out about UPenn until 11 days before the final application was due. You can say I wasn't exactly on top of my game when it came to college applications. I was thinking about doing the College of Arts and Sciences, but for some reason I changed my mind and decided to apply to the Wharton Business School. I applied via Early Decision, and ended up getting deferred and then rejected.</p>

<p>Needless to say, I got rejected by the other Ivies, but I wasn't quite as close to getting into those. I ended up falling back on the University of Michigan. I was really frustrated, because UMich was really easy for me to get into, and I didn't feel like it was a high enough badge for me.</p>

<p>I regret my sub-optimal ACT score. But I especially regret my decision to apply to Wharton instead of CAS at UPenn. I wasn't really sure what I wanted to major in at the time, so I thought to go for business. But I ended up doing LSA Economics anyway at UMich, and my chances could have been measurably better had I applied via CAS. And to think, I got <em>deferred</em> (not rejected) from Wharton--maybe I could have been <em>accepted</em> had I simply opted for CAS instead!</p>

<p>And then I would have been in the Ivy League. But I'm not. Now, I fear that people won't know I'm any different from just another state-school student. I know, people say it's all about the effort you put into your career and that's what really makes the difference. But I can't help but be utterly frustrated and deeply regretful about my missteps and my failure to obtain the badge of honor that would have come from being in the Ivy League via UPenn. </p>

<p>I know this might be arrogant and superficial, but I'm the type of person who likes prestige and wants to be judged as intellectually credentialed. I want to go work in DC some day and establish a reputation for myself. I look at so many other successful pundits, policy wonks, and economists, and they all are very well credentialed in their schooling, with Harvard, Princeton, etc. But here I am with just UMich. And to think, I could have at least had UPenn...sigh.</p>

<p>So I don't know, this has just been weighing on me hard lately, and I'm just here to express this to some people. So honestly, how should I feel about this? Perhaps I'm looking for consolation, but don't feel obligated to nice things up just to make me feel better. Any thoughts on this?</p>

2

<p>My thought is…it only matters where you end up. I think it’s just as great to go for your master’s and/or PhD at an Ivy or other exceptional school. One of my kids who is in HS still says, “I am aiming for Ivy, but I’m going to go for a free ride at a state school, and then go to Ivy for grad school.” I think that is really smart.</p>

<p>Just my thoughts :)</p>

3

<p>Two years is a long time to be consumed with regret. I’d focus on doing well at Michigan and getting a good summer internship and/or prepping for the GMAT. Once you have a graduate degree or a few years of work experience, most people won’t care where you did your undergrad work.</p>

4

<p>I think getting a life would be a more important pusuit for you than making useless board posts.</p>

5

<p>Sounds like you wanted to go to an Ivy for all the wrong reasons - the prestige rather than the education. You also seem to greatly value what you can’t have and downgrade what you did accomplish.</p>

<p>The question is, what are you doing at Michigan. Are you blowing it away, or limping along? If you’re blowing it away, Wharton still awaits, you can get an MBA and Michigan will look fine on your application. If you’re limping along, sulking about being at Michigan, then you haven’t learned any lessons from HS and you’re blowing another great opportunity.</p>

<p>Character can be measured by what we do in the face of adversity rather than our successes. Which road did you choose?</p>

6

<p>Michigan is a great school, you seem to only want to go to Penn for its prestige which isn’t a real reason. You will be fine with a Michigan degree even if it is “only a public”.</p>

7

<p>A degree from Michigan will not stop you from achieving your goals.</p>

8

<p>People and their obsession with prestige… It’s so superficial. </p>

<p>Does telling people you go to any Ivy League school really give you that much of a hard on? Going to an Ivy League school doesn’t make you better than anyone else. In the real world, people don’t care. It’s about who you are and what you do, not where you go. If you’re smart and hard working, it won’t matter where you go and you can accomplish everything you set out to do.</p>

<p>Penn wouldn’t want you with this attitude, probably why you got rejected from every Ivy League school anyways. I hope you didn’t sound like this in your essays. They want people who have a desire for knowledge and not people who have a desire for some self-inflated sense of superiority.</p>

9

<p>I don’t mean to be rude…but it is time to get over yourself and put the past in the past. Your life is not defined by your school, it is defined by what you make of yourself. And who knows if you would have been accepted into Penn even with higher ACT scores? Just don’t make the same mistakes twice. Get the most of where you are and put yourself in a position to succeed by getting solid work experience and if you want it grad school. UM is a fine school with an excellent reputation and if you do well you will be in great shape.</p>

10

<p>You could have applied to Ross once you got to Michigan. Did you? I have to say that the students who are on top of their games in researching colleges and studying for their standardized tests are the one who got into the Ivies. Michigan is a fine school (I went there, to Ross when it wasn’t yet called Ross…). It is well respected and you likely will do fine unless you want to go into investment banking or strategy consulting – those are honestly the only fields where it makes much difference. Other than that, you can do as well with a degree from Michigan. But you need to focus on your grades and hustle for internships so you are well prepared coming out. Or… have you procrastinated on those as well? You are in a situation you made for yourself, and you (in your own words) do come across as arrogant and superficial. Buckle down, there is nothing wrong with where you are, just with your attitude toward it.</p>

11

<p>Just an FYI…regardless of the college at Penn…a 31 ACT score was not a guarantee to admission.</p>

<p>I</p>

12

<p>If you are looking for Michigan graduate success stories in DC, don’t forget Gerald Ford. :)</p>

13

<p>Nope, you weren’t on top of your game. And now, mighty Mich isn’t enough of a…badge. One of the harder life lessons is to take responsibility for your own mistakes, learn from them and move forward as high as you can. That’s how we get our “badges.”</p>

<p>If you did learn something, you’d be a great student now at Mich, a standout- leaving no doubt you are not an “ordinary” state school student. Or?</p>

<p>I think OP may be yanking a few chains here.</p>

14

<p>

Being deferred ED and rejected doesn’t mean that you were close to getting in. When Penn provided deferred data several years ago, it showed that they deferred almost as many ED apps as they rejected, and the admit rate for deferred ED was less than the overall admit rate for RD. For example, for the class of 2012:</p>

<p>Overall ED Admit Rate – 29%
Admit Rate for non-Deferred ED --43%
Admit Rate for Deferred ED – 10%
Overall RD Admit Rate – 17%</p>

<p>If the personality displayed in your postings here came out in your essays or LORs, it’s not surprising that you were rejected. That said, Michigan is a great school and is nothing to feel bad about.</p>

15

<p>33 won’t get you into penn either. time to get over it.</p>

16

<p>You will poison yourself with an attitude that life has dealt you a worse hand than the one you think you deserved. You have to play the hand you’ve got (which in your case is a very good one).</p>

17

<p>[You</a>, sir, are an idiot - YouTube](<a href=“You, sir, are an idiot - YouTube”>You, sir, are an idiot - YouTube)</p>

18

<p>I’m not going to judge what you have chosen to regret. Your feelings are your feelings, and that makes them valid. In my opinion, U Mich has much more “prestige” than “any old state school.” But it’s not for me to tell you what your opinion should be. </p>

<p>However, regret serves no purpose. Looking back over your shoulder will keep you from looking ahead. You can’t change the past. Period. </p>

<p>You can change and affect your present and your future though. Focus on that. Now. </p>

<p>Otherwise, two years from now you will be saying “I can’t stop regretting missed opportunity X and missed opportunity Y at U Mich.”</p>

<p>If this school is so easy for you, become its biggest star.</p>

19

<p>Penn is among the worst Ivies.</p>

<p>Michigan is among the best publics.</p>

<p>I think you got the better end of the bargain.</p>

20

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<p>Meaning what, among the “worst” five out of eight? Kind of a silly statement. :rolleyes:</p>