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What was yours?
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<p>I was in ILR, one of those "state schools" that you so disparage.</p>
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Can we answer the OP's original questions or let this thread die??
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<p>Didn't I do that in the fourth post?</p>
<p>Whooaaaaaa. wrong thread baby.</p>
<p>Kay, BYEBYE!!!!</p>
<p>;)</p>
<p>I can understand MP's expressed feeling of superiority, or perhaps it is inadequacy. She had to attend her last choice college (in her listed top 5) and was rejected at her top 4. To quote the late, great Groucho Marx in a "letter" to a country club, "Please accept my resignation. I don't want to belong to any club that will accept people like me as a member".</p>
<p>Please see the stats page below for reference...She applied EA to Harvard. Also, if you look at the "Desired Characteristics" column... she noted that she preferred urban and small<a href="under%202,500">/u</a>...Cornell was never the right fit for her. It is great that she is happy at her present university. I am an alum of Cornell (undergrad) and Penn (grad) and they are very different environments. I agree with Sally - any person who has the opportunity to spend their undergraduate years at either institution is incredibly fortunate. By the way, "she" also listed herself as a male on the stats list. </p>
<p>Interesting observation Tahoe... I don't want to psychoanalyze too much, but I think you hit the nail on the head. In my years at Cornell I ran into one or two personalities similar to muerte's, and needless to say, I don't think that Cornell is the problem in these types of clashes. </p>
<p>Interesting to note that she attended a small private school in Boston. I wonder if that was the Winsor School by any chance... given what just transpired, and what I know about the expectations of students who attended, I wouldn't be surprised. I could never quite understand it -- somehow it was a failure or a letdown to attend an institution as rich in resources and opportunity as Cornell.</p>
<p>Oh well. Sometimes I still don't understand the world in which we live. Deep breaths.</p>
<p>I'll make it easy for you guys:
everyone in my family in my parents generation went to elite schools/had elite careers as academics (at places like Wharton, Harvard, et. al) or doctors. I wasn't raised with that expectation, but it was inbred congenitally, for better or for worse (really just for worse).</p>
<p>I was at the top of my class, I get a 2250 on the SAT, 750+ on 2 SAT IIs, etc, I'm all set to attend a top ivy. Then I **** up big time. I apply to Harvard early with the valedictorian when I should have applied to Yale or Penn or Columbia, so as not to compete with that kind of academic firepower. My college adviser assures me that legacy will make up for the discrepancy, and Harvard HAS accepted multiple people early from my school before. But it was not meant to be, and in hindsight I shouldn't have screwed around with my academic future like that. I am deferred.</p>
<p>At this point, I realize that I've made a gargantuan error. Almost everyone in the top decile gets into their top choice early decision from my high school, but rarely does it happen for regular decision. Harvard, Columbia, and Penn had already accepted 1, 3, and 2 people respectively out of a class of 50. Suddenly, it becomes clear that it's either Yale or bust. I didn't want Dartmouth or Brown (hated the atmosphere), and I knew that I was a lock at Cornell. Somehow, I thought it would just work out with Yale (even though it was unlikely) or Harvard/Penn/Columbia (even though they had filled their spots in all likelihood). Of course, it didn't. That year was especially brutal for college admissions. I was rejected from all my top choices, and went to Cornell - a great school, yes, but definitely not in the vaunted elite.</p>
<p>Think of it this way: I wanted to attend a school that showed up in ALL the top 10 rankings (selectivity, best undergrad, most ___, etc.), was Ivy, and was in a city. I was left with Harvard, Yale, Penn, and Columbia. And had I played the game correctly, I was basically assured a spot. But I didn't, so I had to transfer.</p>
<p>I know that's going to leave a bad taste in your mouths, but that's the way that I saw things (and still do, though not really on an intellectual level).</p>
<p>Oh, and did I go to Winsor? I'm kind of shocked that you know of it, honestly. A lot of my friends did go there; I went to a similar private school of equal renown a few blocks west, if you guys know Boston. It has the same name as the longest street in the area. That's all that I'll say.</p>
<p>With love,</p>
<p>Muerteapablo</p>
<p>;)</p>
<p>Why are you so obsessed with prestige? You say the biggest factor you were looking for is something that had ALL the top 10 rankings...but rankings depend on who's doing the ranking. Do you think employers regularly memorize the contents of that years USNWR rankings and make decisions based on that? Now that you've posted your life history, I feel kind of bad for you though. I'm sorry you didn't get into Harvard, but sheesh...let it go. </p>
<p>If you think Cornell is a bad school, you must think that 99% of colleges in the world are bad...I mean, Cornell isn't as highly ranked at HYP, but it's up there. Most universities/LAC's around the world are not as competitive/selective/strong as it. </p>
<p>BTW, what are you going to do with your linguistics degree? I'm just wondering because I've never met anyone with that major, though I've heard of it, and I'm just curious.</p>
<p>College is a match to be made, not a prize to be won. - TIME</p>
<p>To be honest, as a person who grew up in Taiwan, a nation full of technology corporations such as Acer, Asus, TSMC (world's largest maker of semiconductors), manufacturers responsible for production of iPhone, iPod, Macs, PCs, Intel chips, motherboards for Apple, Dell, Intel, HP, Gateway (bought by Acer), Sony, Toshiba (by the way if you dissect your laptops or desktops, you should find that the motherboards inside are manufactured by Asus), I think Cornell holds astronomical amount of prestige in the technological sector.</p>
<p>And yah people will say it's just one sector, but that's Taiwan, a nation dominated by manufactures, and the technological sector has contributed to the fact that Taiwan holds the world's third largest foreign reserves.</p>
<p>muerteapablo: I think you should apologize for your attacks on my English abilities. Please re-read your post and correct a many grammar mistake.</p>
<p>Interesting, muertea. Even though it doesn't fit your ranking criteria, Chicago would have been a better 5th choice for you, judging by your other criteria.</p>
<p>By the way... are you male or female? Just curious, now that you said you were a female in this thread, but but "M" on your stats sheet.</p>
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Oh, and did I go to Winsor? I'm kind of shocked that you know of it, honestly.
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<p>Why did you even apply to Cornell in the first place? Why not just a place like Tufts? Or NYU?</p>
<p>An acquaintance of mine from Cornell attended Winsor. Similar story. Rejected at Harvard, Yale, and Columbia. Her father ended up getting her into MIT even though she never applied. She hated MIT, and after a year she transferred to Cornell. I don't know why -- she hated Cornell as well, kept on complaining about how it was a state school and all of the usual rants that you just spelled out here. She would actually make fun of other people at Cornell for not being good enough to get into other schools. </p>
<p>Coincidentally, she's getting married to a Cornell boy next summer. She's in med school at UMass presently. I think everything turned out just fine. Actually, she is probably much better due to her experiences at Cornell. She couldn't believe it when I mentioned that a couple of girls in my high school class had gotten pregnant. And it's not like I was AGR or anything; I ran around with the Telluride crowd, so she wasn't even that far out of her comfort zone.</p>
<p>This all said, please don't bring your significant bias onto these boards again. Cornell is a wonderful institution with a unique history, full of Shakespeare scholars and organic chemists, farmers and engineers. Unfortunately your perspective precludes you from appreciating its transformational nature.</p>
<p>Cornell does have a state school atmosphere, except for the fact it's ivy league and has really strong academic programs. What attracts me to it is that fact that it's huge, diverse, and has that state school type feel...rather than a smaller college filled with pretentious elitists obsessed with rankings who judge the value of a person based on how fancy their degree is. And I'm not even talking about muerte or whatever that person's username is, I'm speaking in general...mostly about elite LAC's. </p>
<p>haha cayuga why did your prestige obsessed friend go to U.Mass for med? surely daddy could get her into at least JHU?</p>
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surely daddy could get her into at least JHU?
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<p>I think there was a divorce and the family ran into financial difficulty. She just wants to practice, so UMass was a very good option.</p>
<p>Interesting that muerteapablo changed his/her stats profile from:</p>
<p>"M">>"F"
Columbia from "Rejected" >> "Waitlisted"
Penn from "Rejected" >> "Will Attend"
Cornell from "Will Attend" >> "Accepted"
Size from "Small (Under 2,500)" >> "Small (Under 2,500), Medium Small (2,500 - 5,000), Medium (5,000 - 10,000)"</p>
<p>I understand that the Columbia and Penn updates are from his/her transfer applications, but changing the gender?</p>
<p>maybe he/she had a gender change? or was a hermaphrodite and got the problem fixed? anythings possible these days. </p>
<p>it would also explain the need to transfer colleges - if I had a sex change operation I would totally transfer and start off new, so no one would judge me as that kid who was a guy and now isn't :)</p>
<p>I think the legendary bball87 has been reincarnated. Next step will be a new screen name...:rolleyes:</p>
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Didn't I do that in the fourth post?
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<p>I wasn't referring to you....that was my polite way of asking MP to take her leave.</p>
<p>Where is the alum to alum respect?? jk jk</p>
<p>I was originally listed as male in order to not give away too much background information, but that was when I was 15 years old, made paranoid by news television. Now, I don't really care. I find it unlikely that you could find out my name. I gave you a enough information, but only a zealous google fiend could possibly track me down.</p>
<p>I changed Columbia from rejected to waitlisted because when I applied to transfer, I was waitlisted. I changed Penn from rejected to accepted because I was obviously accepted. I changed size preference because the first time, I thought it referenced class size, not the entire undergraduate population. I wanted a medium fit, somewhere between Columbia and Penn, but not huge (like Cornell). I changed this information at all, because it could be helpful to someone, someday.</p>
<p>Shifu Yoda: I didn't insult your English, I just said that I could identify you as foreign from your syntax which is, while correct, somewhat irregular. I'm a linguistics major. This isn't an ad hominem attack.</p>
<p>Why linguistics major - this is one of two majors, the other being neuroscience. Easier than it sounds, believe me; a ton of classes cross-list between the two departments. I love linguistics, is all I can really say to explain it. I recommend you take the intro class offered at Cornell, it's not that difficult and extremely interesting.</p>
<p>muerteapablo - thank-you for your clarification. I could appreciate your bitter feeling toward the college experience. My daughter was greatly disappointed also. Fortunate for her, even though Cornell was not her first choice has turned out to be the best choice. She believes through some long winding road someone has guided her to be where she should be. She is loving her time at Cornell, both academically and socially. I hope you are happy where you are now. You are privileged to have had an opportunity to be at Cornell and UPenn, it speaks a lot of your accomplishments in HS. Best.</p>
<p>Thanks, oldfort. That was very kind of you.</p>