Was rejected at all schools I applied to. What next?

Transfer Students
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<p>Hi all! Congratulations to the many talented, hard-working students who were recently accepted to any number of wonderful schools! Unfortunately, I just got the news that all of the schools I applied to transfer to rejected me. I was hoping for a bit of guidance as to what my plan of action should be for the fall. Here are my stats, first of all:</p>

<p>Applied to: Smith, Vassar, Barnard, Wesleyan, UMass Amherst, BU, Hamilton, GWU, American
Rejected: all :)</p>

<p>HS: International school in US
IB diploma, bilingual, 4 HLs
GPA: 3.8
SAT: 2050
SATII: French with listening (800), Spanish (760)
ECs:
- School awards for theater
- President, founder of Theater Club
- Mentor and teaching assistant to 3rd grade</p>

<p>Uni: McGill University
Major: East Asian Studies
GPA: 1.53 (explained below!)
ECs:
- Sexual Assault Centre of McGill Students' Society: support group co-facilitator
- Membership in clubs, but nothing special </p>

<p>Uni: Harvard Extension School (open-enrollment classes taught by local profs - offers associate, bachelor, master degrees)
Non degree candidate
GPA: 3.75 (only took three courses at a time, all substantive classes in language, government, history, etc. - all A-/A grades except one stupid B)
ECs:
- Summer in Beijing for six week language intensive program
- Summer in Tokyo for six week language intensive program</p>

<p>Projected for Fall 2013:
- Full-time coursework at HES
- Volunteer with rape crisis center.
- Part-time work (20-30 hrs per week)
- Intern at Japan Society of Boston
- Active membership with Harvard Extension Student Affairs
- Possible research with associate director of Weatherhead Institute of International Affairs at Harvard (improbable, but possible - I studied under him in a smaller class a while back and got an A)</p>

<p>Hooks:
- International background: have lived in five countries, traveled to fifteen countries.
- Speak five languages, three fluently</p>

<p><strong>Note</strong> My time at McGill was marked by severe depression and debilitating anxiety issues after being raped at the end of high school. I never attended class, forgot assignments, and failed or withdrew from most courses. The admin were really awful at trying to understand my situation, which made life very stressful. After volunteering at SACOMSS, I realized I needed to take time off to heal. </p>

<p>It's been two years sice I withdrew, and I'm now in better health than ever. I took classes at the Ext School as I recovered, and I finally feel ready to take on what I would consider a full slate of work this semester. I think adcoms might have felt that I was still not challenging myself with my coursework and didn't think me ready for full-time student status. I hope to change that this fall.</p>

<p>So, my question is: where do I go from here? I would like to reapply to these schools this fall, but also add a few safety schools. Any suggestions would be fantastic! Should I consider graduating from HES with a bachelor's, and then applying to grad schools? Any ECs I should focus on? Any and all help would be absolutely amazing! Thank you!</p>

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<p>Sorry to hear about your prior trauma and best wishes as you move forward. As far as safety schools, I recommend the following schools:</p>

<p>Bard College
Beloit College
Knox College
College of Wooster
Sent from my ADR6410LVW using CC</p>

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<p>Thank you so much! I’ll definitely look into those schools. :)</p>

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<p>To be honest, mcgill is quite well known in academia and the fact that you got a 1.xx gpa there doesn’t help the case at all. </p>

<p>Also, if I may ask what did mcgill do wrong? I mean from what I gather your assault happened in high school while you were in the U.S</p>

<p>I’m not sure how mcgill is to blame for this or how they could help at all? If you needed help or counseling, it should have been resolved before you arrived there or during a gap year if you wanted one. Did you go there expecting mcgill to hold your hand and give you an easy pass grade wise?</p>

<p>These are just the questions which the officers in charge of your file are going to be asking.</p>

<p>The fact that you actually went there in the Fall and then did badly and plan to blame the it on an event that happened before you even reached is quite a stretch. It’s even more of a stretch if you consider that mcgill would have gladly deferred you a year if you felt you weren’t ready.</p>

<p>If you have other reasons for performing poorly then please do list them when you apply next time because this looks more like a sob story with ridiculous excuses. I apologize if this comes out harsh but someone needs to tell you this.</p>

<p>The situation would have been different if you got assaulted in campus after you already started at mcgill but that isn’t the case at all. I see no proper reasons for you performing badly if you consider everything I’ve said above.</p>

5

<p>I second Bard and Beloit, and add Trinity and George Mason.</p>

<p>Zilch… Stop being rude about rape. Ever had your mind and body grotesquely violated and been powerless to do anything about it? No…? Then you can’t relate. Leave him/her alone.</p>

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<p>You do realize this happened in high school, not in university. If she felt so bad about it, why did she go to mcgill in the first place? Surely a gap year or some time off for counseling would have done some good if they felt that they needed it?</p>

<p>I am not trying to be rude here, I am just wondering if there are other reasons for her doing badly. </p>

<p>I assume that if she decided to go, felt reasonably well and landed in such a beautiful friendly city like montreal, the situation would have improved.</p>

7

<p>Sorry for your trauma and I understand your situation after it.
No offense. Just I have the same question @zilch3. You can take a gap year to recover since it happened at the end of high school. Even if you didn’t, the admission officers won’t understand your situation since it’s not happened in McGill.</p>

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<p>@AFE111, first of all, no offense taken. I am always happy to answer questions. Having already conversed with Zilch3 in another thread, I’ll attempt to answer your question here.</p>

<p>Unfortunately, when I was raped, I was a sixteen year old girl. It wasn’t like your media-popular idea of rape, where a woman is raped in an alleyway by an anonymous man. I was raped by my boyfriend in my own bedroom. It left me feeling very confused, scared, embarrassed, and ashamed. For a while, I denied that I could have been raped, because I thought it couldn’t possibly happen to me. I blamed myself for the longest time, and didn’t speak about it to anyone. I didn’t know I needed to take a gap year. I didn’t know deferral was even an option. I didn’t know that, once at McGill, I would have plenty of time to think about what had happened to me, and I certainly didn’t know what a profound effect it would have on my self-worth. The physical wounds from my rape took one week to heal, but the emotional wounds took around three years to heal.</p>

<p>As for adcoms not understanding my situation, it is my responsibility as the applicant to make sure I explain my situation in the clearest way possible. It is my hope that, especially at women’s colleges, adcoms will be more understanding of my situation.</p>

<p>Thanks for the question, and I hope to use your feedback to help bolster my application.</p>

<p>If anyone else has any suggestions to make - how to formulate my essay, what ECs I should be taking, where to apply - I would be more than grateful. Thank you so much!</p>

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<p>Mt Holyoke, Wellesley, Bryn Mawr. Best wishes for your ongoing healing and your continuing education!</p>

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<p>Thank you for the well wishes and the college suggestions! I have been researching Bryn Mawr, and would love to apply. I actually applied to Mt Holyoke coming out of high school, and was accepted with a 25k scholarship, but turned them down to go to McGill. I hope that they will still view my application favorably!</p>

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<p>Try Hampshire! It’s got a really cool vibe! Also, if you would like to send your essays/supplements my way for some critiques please just PM it to me, I would be more than happy to help!</p>

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<p>@lexieam: Thank you so much for the offer! I’ve sent you an email with my essay - unfortunately CC’s PM system only allows messages 5000 characters or less in length. Any and all feedback is very greatly appreciated! As for Hampshire College, I’ll definitely give it a good look! I’ve heard many great things about it. Thank you once again for your suggestions and help!</p>