To All Those Applying This Coming Year

Colleges and Universities A-Z Yale University
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<p>I felt compelled to write this. </p>

<p>I was, like much of the cc community, an applicant to some top tier schools. I applied to HYP, Duke, Dmouth, and WUSTL. I worked hard in school, (valedictorian, 4.0/5.0, good ACT/SAT, my one weakness). I had good extracurriculars, nothing stellar, a little research (no excuses, but going to private institutions does offer more opportunity). The sum of it all is, I was a good applicant with a decent shot at the top, not great, but I took advantage of every opportunity available to me.</p>

<p>Then Decision Day came.</p>

<p>I came home after an endless workday, two hours after decisions were made. Sat down alone.
Dartmouth: reject. no reaction
Duke: reject. darn
WUSTL: waitlist. surprise
Harvard:reject. no reaction
Yale: reject. a tear or two (this was my first choice)
Princeton: locked out for 30 minutes because I forgot my password.
checked it. reject. no reaction</p>

<p>I was numb. I stepped outside. It was cold, because Wisconsin is always cold. Didn't want to talk to anyone. Came back in. Mom comforted me a bit. Called dad. Dad speeds home. Comes home, I break down, hard. Tears poured in a deluge down m cheek. It was the single worst feeling I've ever felt, ever. I ran outside, grabbed my lacrosse stick and ripped shots against the door for a good 5 minutes, tears filling my eyes. I was the most angry I'd ever been. I screamed at God. "WHY! WHAT DIDN'T I DO!" I was so upset I didn't come to school for a few days. I was more hurt by that one day than ever before. I felt that my life was pointless, worthless. I felt like I should have taken more opportunities; that I didn't do enough and wouldn't have done enough even if the opportunities had been there.</p>

<p>But then something weird happened. I came in. My parents and little brother had been crying too. My little brother hugged me and said it would be okay. I cried some more. I didn't go to school for two days, and when I did, my teachers nearly cried with me. No one expected it, my whole school had been rooting for me. They told me that if anybody deserved to go, it was me. But I didn't feel that way. My dad told me we were going to rebuild, but I felt absolutely empty. I didn't even want to go to college after that point. I had some backups, but it didn't matter. I applied late to Drake, Creighton, and a few others, with little joy in my heart.</p>

<p>They accepted me within the week, with a fat scholarship. We visited those other schools, and you know what? I fell in love all over again. Drake is going to be my home this fall. </p>

<p>I grew up a lot in these past weeks. I guess the point I'm trying to make is that your self worth is not reliant on the college you attend. The odds ARE against you, but that doesn't mean you stop trying. You will succeed wherever you go. If you applied to top schools, you know you took advantage of everything available to you, so stop comparing yourself to other applicants. You shot for the stars. Be strong and courageous in the face of defeat, because life doesn't always go your way, and the only way to grow is to face challenge.</p>

<p>I'm rambling, and so I apologize. It feels a lot like word vomit. Again, sorry. Usually I'm a more cohesive writer. </p>

<p>My last bit of advice, don't be mad at the schools, or God, or yourself. Don't be mad at the schools because they have an impossible job to do, and the institutions are still outstanding. If you believe in God, don't be mad, because his plan is greater than you can imagine (not a religious debate, don't make it one PLEASE). And above all, don't be angry at yourself, you are an incredible individual.</p>

<p>And it is with this message I bid adieu to the cc community.</p>

<p>Best of luck everyone,</p>

<p>M. Wright</p>

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<p>This is one of the best posts I’ve seen on CC.</p>

<p>I think you will go far in life. </p>

<p>Yale’s loss is Drake’s gain.</p>

<p>Good luck.</p>

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<p>Agreed. :)</p>

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<p>This is what I’m worried about happening next year :/. Thanks for letting me know that it is possible to get through if it happens.</p>

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<ol>
<li><p>Great post. I think we can all agree that wrightm is a winner.</p></li>
<li><p>For those of you thinking about applying next year, one of the real lessons of this post is that you may think WashU is your safety, your teachers and counselors may think that WashU is your safety, but WashU is not anyone’s safety, and neither is any of the similar colleges with admission rates only slightly better than the Ivies have.</p></li>
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<p>For the sake of your sanity, put a lot more energy than wrightm did into identifying one or more safeties and applying to them. You may still want to have a cry, to skip school, and to destroy something next March 31, but the recovery process will be a lot faster if you already have another great college to go to, and aren’t limited to the few that accept applications in April.</p>

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<p>wrightm. I have one thing to say.
Energy is always conserved.
Though it may seem like a very major failure to you for now,
your effort that you put in comes out in a form, somehow.
That may be, if you still conquer your dreams without attending the college of your first choice. Your life is not even 20% completed.
I myself is a sophomore. And though I am saying this to you if I were in the same situation as you i would cry most definantly.
But we must know it’s not over, and trust the Energy Conservational law,
and I believe you are a dedicated person, you’ll still conquer your dream anyhow.
Good luck. :)</p>

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<p>Go back two posts and read JHS’s post again. Good luck to you wrightm and thanks for the update.</p>

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<p>Just to respond to JHS really quick regarding the second comment.</p>

<p>I was surprised that I was waitlisted at WUSTL because I wasn’t really expecting to get anything from them (I thought my ACT/SAT were too low and that I didn’t show enough interest). Not because I expected to be accepted (I hoped, but didn’t expect).
Secondly, I misspoke when I talked about safeties.</p>

<p>Beforehand, I had Creighton and Madison in hand BEFORE March 31. Afterwards I applied to Drake and UIowa because we wanted more options. I was okay with Creighton at Madison (I could have seen myself there though, and that was what mattered), but fell in love with Drake. I had safeties I was okay with. But yes, as a word of caution to everyone: MAKE SURE YOU HAVE SAFETIES</p>

<p>Oh, and heartyface, thank you. I suppose that is the message I was trying to get across. It isn’t the end of the world. This IS a little thing in the scheme of life, so if that wasn’t clear from my post, I apologize. :smiley: cheers everyone!</p>

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<p>Best of luck to you at Drake, I am sure you will enjoy your time there. Very good post.</p>

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<p>That makes a lot of sense, wrightm. I was surprised that someone as thoughtful as you obviously are could have let himself (or herself) get skunked, but you didn’t do that. I’m glad you had a choice in the end among schools you liked, and could choose the best one for you. Good job all around!</p>

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<p>Agreed again. Drake’s gain indeed. Great post.</p>

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<p>Thanks for this! Although I have safeties, I am applying to like 10 really difficult schools come this fall. My greatest fear is that I won’t get into any school (or any that I’d actually ever want to go to). I seriously have anxiety attacks and nightmares about it all the time.</p>

<p>But after reading this, I felt so much better. You’re going to a great school, with an amazing scholarship! This gives me hope that if I do end up getting rejected to all my schools come next spring (and December for my ED choice), there is still hope for me! ALl will not be lost. (:</p>

<p>Good luck at Drake next fall! With stats like yours, you have the potential to do some amazingly great things, both at college and in your life to come!</p>

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<p>I’ll definitely keep this post in mind when decisions are released next year. Thank you for this inspiring post and all the best to you man, you deserve it. (:</p>