Turning down colleges - sadness? relief?

Applying to College
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<p>Well, here it is: May 1st, the moment of truth. We've all invested a bajillion hours searching for our perfect schools, making college visits, writing stellar essays, and agonizing over every detail in our applications. We've come to love many places, but now we have to pick just one! NOW, I understand what the Bachelor must have felt like, lol.</p>

<p>As I made my decision and pressed multiple "no" buttons on college websites, emptied my folders of all their brochures, and deleted all their e-mails, I couldn't help getting a feeling of sadness of it all finally being over. I turned down several beautiful highly-ranked schools that gave me amazing financial aid, all the while thinking, "Awww! They were so nice to me!"</p>

<p>I couldn't be happier with my first choice - it's my dream school. Still, today made me feel... empty. Anyone symphatize?</p>

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<p>"NOW, I understand what the Bachelor must have felt like"</p>

<p>lol nice</p>

<p>Feels nice to "reject" colleges, doesn't it? You're one of the few who gets to. =)</p>

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<p>Haha I felt very sad....I turned down my dream college....:( who knew that a visit to a random college in mid-april would completely turn all my plans for the future upside down???? :D I get my tee shirt from Florida ATlantic University's honors college soon tho!! that makes me feel better</p>

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<p>I felt sad as well when I rejected Amherst for Caltech...Amherst was so damn nice and beatiful, Caltech, not so nice....haha...oh well.</p>

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<p>My friend is in Caltech and loves it!</p>

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<p>I felt kind of scared actually. I kept second-guessing my choice.</p>

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<p>yeah I know what u mean nelle! I feel the same!...</p>

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<p>Yeah. I wasn't that upset to turn a lot of them, being as I had long decided I didn't want to attend. But I REALLY hated turning down Reed. It was really disappointing. And I nearly cried turning down Bryn Mawr, being as it was my first choice. Yeah. :&lt;/p>

<p>I'm happy where I'm going, believe me. It was pretty disheartening nonetheless.</p>

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<p>FreshElephant,</p>

<p>I know what you mean! I keep second guessing myself too (I chose West Point over Annapolis and Annapolis was my "dream school" since 8th grade) but there's no turning back now. Let's just hope we both made the right decision.</p>

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<p>I know exactly what you mean nelle178. I was feeling bad and kind of sad...I kept asking myself .......how can u say NO to these schools? I was even feeling guilty !! Then, i started thinking that I was very fortunate to be in that position and that these schools would not have hesitated to turn ME down for whatever reason...( just like they have done to a lot of my friends..) and then....I started checking NO like a maniac saying...Screw you!!</p>

<p>I felt better afterwards.</p>

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<p>i applied and got in to my first choice ed, and i couldn't be more excited. but, i still have to tell a few colleges that i'm not attending (uc's routinely ignore withdrawl requests and my safeties were rolling). i must admit, it makes me a little sad.</p>

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<p>I wrote short letters to colleges saying that I am sorry that I can't attend and that I am still considering them for graduate school.</p>

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<p>I feel sad for turning down Stanford...:( But I gained Yale. :)</p>

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<p>i turned down reallllyyy nice weather in north carolina. i hope i don't regret it when im freezing my but off next winter.</p>

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<p>I felt a bit guilty turning down Bryn Mawr because the financial aid office there had been so helpful in working with my family's very unusual situation and offered me a competitive package (over $21,000 in grants), and the fact that it was my first acceptance made it sentimental. I didn't feel at all guilty rejecting Wellesley because the financial aid package was so laughable (<$3,000) that the acceptance might as well have been a rejection. </p>

<p>In the end, I went with the school that was the best fit socially and academically, in the best location (I actually like rural!), and that offered me the best financial aid package (>$25,000). The hardest part was being rejected from my "dream school" (which I now wouldn't attend if they paid me); the actual decision was easy... I ordered the sweater online on April 2. I don't think I've ever been this happy. :)</p>

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<p>Why wouldn't you attend Princeton if you were now given the chance?</p>

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<p>A few reasons off the top of my head...</p>

<p>Academics: Dartmouth has an excellent Geography major that looks really interesting and suited for one of my career options (international development), very good language programs, and offers students more flexibility with regard to majors (options include a double major, major and minor, major and two minors, or a "modified" major, compared to Princeton's one major and one or more "certificates").</p>

<p>Location: I grew up in DC and always wanted to leave the Mid-Atlantic area for college. I actually love cold winters, mild summers, skiing, and other "outdoorsy" activities. I've lived in cities all my life and look forward to experiencing something completely different.</p>

<p>Calendar: I love the flexibility of the D-plan and the fact that it allows me to study abroad more than once and for shorter periods of time. Being able to apply for internships in the winter (thus facing less competition from other students) is convenient as well.</p>

<p>Social life: Fraternities, eating clubs-- whatever. I do like the fact that Dartmouth's frat parties are open to everyone, which seems to be the case for some but not all of Princeton's eating clubs. A smaller proportion of Dartmouth students belong to the Greek organizations than Princeton students to eating clubs (I hope that made sense). </p>

<p>Students: Everyone I met at Dimensions was friendly, unpretentious, brilliant, passionate, and generally amazing. I have no doubt that I would find such people at Princeton as well, but those I met at Dartmouth are the ones I'm attached to. (Cheers for silly, sentimental reasons!)</p>

<p>I don't want to start a debate about the relative merits of Dartmouth and Princeton; both are excellent schools with a reputation for undergrad focus (they were the only Ivies I applied to for that reason). I do think Dartmouth is the "dream school" I never knew I had. Of course I'm speculating, but I really do suspect that it's a better fit.</p>

<p>Sorry about the novel; I hope that answers your question. :)</p>

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<p>About five seconds after I said "yes" to Columbia (at 11:00 PM on May 1) I immediately felt I should have picked Stanford and spent most of the night thinking of all the great things I liked about Stanford. I do take solace, though, that had I chosen Stanford over Columbia I would have agonized in reverse.</p>

<p>It also doesn't help that, oh, 95% of the people I told my decision to told me I was insane. ;-)</p>

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<p>cameliasinensis, you would likely be singing a very different tune had Princeton accepted you (would you even have considered Dartmouth?) but I am glad you adjust well. I have a pet peeve with people rewriting things to say "oh well, it wasn't a good fit for me anyways..." but I suppose that's unreasonable of me.</p>

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<p>After I turned down Williams (not this year), I felt a bit sad for a while. I liked a lot of things about Williams that Amherst just couldn't compete with (slightly better financial aid package, though the difference was minor...a beautiful campus, an environmental studies major...) but I love Amherst and I don't think I would be as happy at Williams. </p>

<p>jmiller, you'll love Columbia, don't worry. It was a fine decision.</p>

<p>Edit: I got a laughable financial aid package from a safety school (a decent LAC, into their honors program...that would have required me to pay about my family's entire income) but I felt a little almost guilty for turning them down, because they had alumni, parents, and professors all email/call me, and it was a bit upsetting to tell them I wouldn't be attending.</p>

<p>I didn't feel bad about turning down any other schools, though.</p>

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<p>I never said that Princeton was a bad fit, only that Dartmouth may in some ways be better. You're right that I might not have considered Dartmouth as seriously had I been accepted to both, but I like to think I would've visited both and made my decision based on those experiences. I do think I'd idealized Princeton to an unhealthy level, and that included ignoring some more or less legitimate reservations I had (location, the restrictions with regard to majors, eating clubs, and so on). I met several people at Dimensions who were choosing Dartmouth over HYP due to (perceived) "fit", so it can't all be sour grapes. :)</p>