<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>