@menloparkmom Can you provide insight about graduate business school acceptance rates from non-top-tier schools? How hard is it to get into top-tier business schools from less prestigious universities? Do adcom view some universities unfavorably? Would I be able to get into a top-MBA program from Northeastern? What should I do to get into good graduate schools? I dont want to make the same mistakes I made in undergraduate. I am willing to work 100x harder, and I will get what I want when I go to grad school. I just need advice on what to do. I will never give up going to a great school. Its not about being able to say, HEY I WENT TO HARVARD, its about being able to tell myself, I got a great education, made amazing connections. My goal is to learn everything in this world. From every single atom to the largest truths of the universe. I know that is not possible. It is the craziest most unrealistic thing ever. But my point is, I will work till the day I die to be the best me I can be.
How did your DS get to the PhD at caltech, brief summary of life? I know grad school is more objective in terms of admissions, am I right in that notion?
as I said- relax. All of your Admissions decisions are not in yet. College is GOING to be plenty challenging for you. believe me. Unless you are a genius, It will be MUCH harder fro you than HS.
When you get all your admissions decisions in, then you can decide where to go.
"I know grad school is more objective in terms of admissions, am I right in that notion?’
PhD program acceptance is ALL about your GRE scores, your GPA in College, what research you have done ind college, and most important- your LOR’s from college professors in the field you are applying to… Applying to PhD programs is like applying for a job, since you will be essentially working for your advisor, in exchange for R + B for 5 years.
It is a totally different kettle of fish than applying to MBA or LAW programs.
DS knew he wanted to go to CalTech since is has the #1 ranking in the field he wants to pursue. So he tactically chose USC for 3 reasons= the MIT trained head of a very prestigious program there in his field went to Caltech for UG and his PhD, and would be able to write strong LOR’s for him, it was free, and he had the opportunity and support of the Dean at his college to continue his research with his outside mentor, which resulted in his being able to publish his findings after 4 years of research in a Scientific journal.
He was accepted at every grad school program, as it is very unusual to be published as lead author before even finishing UG.
@educateddarcy Can you speak about someone you know, and basically their life story in terms of admission to SUNYB and then what they did there, and then about how they got into MBA? And yes the work exp is necessary, so i think NU will be a good setup with all of their coops. What do you guys think?
After seeing your list, tbh, I don’t think you will have much success at the rest of your schools. Your response to the Princeton deferral was incorrect. You should’ve refined your list, and spent a lot of time on a few applications. Instead, you shot gunned. You applied to 20 colleges. And the results have started to show. Obviously the quality of the application was much weaker and you can’t afford that when it comes to Ivy League colleges. Instead of sending 10 stellar apps, you probably sent in 19 ok-ish apps. I’m not saying you will for in fact get rejected everywhere, but it wouldn’t surprise me if you did. Maybe JHU, but I could see you getting shut out everywhere.
A lazy person at Stanford will not get further in life than a passionate, hardworking student at Stony Brook. This ivy, MIT, Stanford or bust mentality is very troubling. If I were you, I’d be very happy with the acceptances so far, and pick out of where you’ve gotten into so far.
@NorthwesternDad That is good to know…I know I sound absolutely crazy right now, but I think all I need is some reassurance and positive words…I know that college admissions can be quite random at times, and perhaps I am basing my self-worth off of which undergraduate institution I am accepted to quite a bit seriously. I know no matter what happens, I am positive, I will be at least middle-class in life if not for some financial disaster. I am sure that I am smart enough to land a job that pays at least 60k, esp with a college degree from NU with USP.
But life isn’t about settling for me, it never has been. I want the best undergraduate experience I can obtain…and maybe this quest for “perfection” in a sense, is getting the better of me…
You are not even there yet. In two weeks, if you get rejected from all of your dream schools, then post again and I’ll talk you off the cliff that you are on. But something tells me you are going to be just fine.
@CaliCash I agree that a lazy person at Stanford < hardworking SBU student. But then again, you misunderstand. I will work hard, to the brim of my ability, no matter where I go. Speaking generically, you would be hard pressed to find lazy students at Stanford. They got in because they worked hard. You are speaking about the very few. Overall, there are a lot more Stanford success stories than SBU success stories (in terms of percentage of course, not number because SBU has a lot more students).
And, if you think the quality of my apps was low, the only thing that changes in essence is the essay. Would you mind reading my essay(s), and providing suggestions? I could PM you or email you? I am not trying to show you you are wrong. I just want to see, if what you are saying truly is correct.
@CaliCash And if I can accept your statement, I will come to terms with myself. I can say to myself: IT WAS MY FAULT. I will not repeat this mistake in the future. If my app quality was okay, I will always wonder - What did I do wrong?
“I know that college admissions can be quite random at times, and perhaps I am basing my self-worth off of which undergraduate institution I am accepted to quite a bit seriously”
A BIT?? you are placing WAY too much importance on it. Your life does not end at 22 after you graduate.
@menloparkmom What do you think of CaliCash’s statement? Do you think he is right? Would you mind reading an essay of mine as well?
Same here, I have similar stats and was waitlisted. This was my safety school ! Luckily I already got into uchicago. At my school about 20 applied to northwestern, and one other kid and I both got waitlisted while the rest straight rejected. I think there is something up with their admissions committee, it might not be yield restriction but they might be tired of being the universal back up school.
ITS NOT GOING TO BE YOUR FAULT. There is nothing that you could have done differently to increase your chances at the most competitive colleges. They cant accept all the students that ARE qualified to be there- there simply is not room. Its truly a lottery- the admissions officers have to decide who to reject, since so many are qualified to be accepted.
@menloparkmom Okay, I guess that is true. I can’t change anything now, especially. In fact, it is probably doing me emotional harm to keep speculating about why I didn’t/won’t get in to specific schools…the best I can do is hope for the best, and if it doesn’t work out, start thinking about admission deferral, 3-2 combined plan programs, transfer admission, or business-school MBA admission.
"What do you think of CaliCash’s statement? Do you think he is right? "
No, I think his projected results are not worth a bowl of warm spit.
HOW in the name of GOD could you think a teenager, like you, could know what is likely to happen?
He can’t and doesn’t. So quit second guessing yourself right now.
BUT, he is right about this:
“A lazy person at Stanford will not get further in life than a passionate, hardworking student at Stony Brook. This ivy, MIT, Stanford or bust mentality is very troubling. If I were you, I’d be very happy with the acceptances so far, and pick out of where you’ve gotten into so far.”
Really, relax. You know Tim Cook of Apple went to Auburn? Jobs went to Reed? Howard Schultz of Starbucks went to Northern Michigan University? You can still be successful in life without going to Ivies/Stanford/MIT.
@sdhotmama Of course you can. You can also be successful by dropping out of college: Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerburg.
Okay, let’s see. Most people who did not go to college. Are they like Bill Gates or Mark Zuckerburg, or working underpaying minimum-wage jobs with less than 50k a year salaries?
Bottom line. Yes, you can be successful. It is extremely difficult, however.
“start thinking about admission deferral”- BAD IDEA
“transfer admission”- EVEN WORSE IDEA.
or business-school MBA admission- there ya go! !!
There is a phrase that you will need to whole heartedly adopt once you make your decision of where to go to college-
“grow where you are planted”
Dont look back, only look forward.
“It is extremely difficult, however.”
NO its NOT.
You can still be successful in life without going to Ivies/Stanford/MIT.
Especially true for smart students who have ability and drive and DO go to a 4 yr college. They can and DO rise to the top.
@menloparkmom I don’t know if this was apparent on my thread, but I am 16. I skipped a grade. I have a legitimate reason for admission deferral. I could say that I want the year off so I can travel the world, and that way I will catch up with kids in my age group. It is not as bad as it looks. Plus, I could probably get into Cornell ED, since Cornell loves its ED. And I don’t think it gets very many 35 ACT students.
Transfer admission. Yes, I know it is ridiculous to hate a school and want to leave before even going there. But with my full tuition scholarship to NU, I could transfer to Berkeley or Cornell (both of which have higher transfer admission percentages), and save a year of fees.
@lb43823 Your stats looks in range for NU. I guess it might have been the essay that wasn’t extremely good. If you want, you can PM it to me and I can see. I was accepted ED.
Also keep in mid the acceptance rate RD is around 4%, so you may have been waitlisted due to not enough seats available. I would not use this to predict that you will not be accepted at NU’s peer colleges however.