Were You Accepted-or Denied-by a "Dream" College & How Do You View It With Hindsight?

Student Lounge College Life
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<p>If you, too, had a “dream” college, how did it work out for you?
I stumbled across by Brown my Junior year, and I thought I’d found the promised land. Everything seemed to fit, I thought I’d finally found people “like me”, somewhere I could belong, you know? Somewhere that was perfect for me. The campus was beautiful, and everything seemed more than I could ask for. Honestly, I didn’t even know it was an ivy league when I first looked into it, rather, I loved it because of it’s open-curriculum. It was just so…amazing. The interview went great, and I honestly thought I had a shot at getting in.</p>

<p>If denied, have you been able to be happy elsewhere? </p>

<p>[Well</a>, in the beginning, it felt almost like this.](<a href=“[English Fandub] "Rolling Girl" 英語で歌ってみた [Mitsumushi] - YouTube”>[English Fandub] "Rolling Girl" 英語で歌ってみた [Mitsumushi] - YouTube) I didn’t only get rejected from Brown, but also from MIT, Yale, Stanford, and Waitlisted/Rejected from Middlebury, Tufts, and WashU. It was like, everything I had put forth effort in, and I was failing. Just kept rolling, you know. Except, eventually I stopped. I realized that what I had done to try to get in was essentially sell my soul, and I had looked past a great many of my interests. Anyway, after a good deal of rolling, I eventually somehow landed at Tulane, and I love it. I’m realizing that the career path I’d chosen wasn’t exactly what I wanted, and I’m trying to explore more of my interests. Granted, this leaves me majorless for now, but learning Japanese must count for something, right? Besides, it’s the journey that’s important. And, now I’m enjoying it much more than I was before.</p>

<p>[Now</a> I wake up in the mornings feeling like this.](<a href=“【Gumi】 Blue Skyline ~English Subbed~ 【Vocaloid PV】 - YouTube”>【Gumi】 Blue Skyline ~English Subbed~ 【Vocaloid PV】 - YouTube)</p>

<p>And I love it.</p>

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<p>I was accepted to my dream school (Yale), and will be graduating this May. It has been the most wonderful 3.5 years of my life so far, and I am so glad I’m here. In fact, I feel like crying when I think about graduating and having to leave, and I know I’m not alone. So sometimes, it works out!</p>

63

<p>If you, too, had a “dream” college, how did it work out for you?</p>

<p>I had one Ivy dream college, which I applied to early and got deferred and then rejected from. I also applied to several other Ivies regular decision, all of whom also rejected me.</p>

<p>If denied, have you been able to be happy elsewhere?</p>

<p>Absolutely. I ended up choosing between Mount Holyoke and a top ranked technical institute. When the tech school won, I was suprised because I had been set on a liberal arts education. I was wrong, and getting rejected helped teach me this.
I am now a senior will be heading off to graduate school (PhDs) interviews next month. I had a fantastic experience at my university, and while I can’t say I would never trade it for the dream school, I do not regret the rejection. It made me a better person, and I deeply appreciate the college experience I got instead. In fact, I’m grateful I didn’t get into the dream school because it gave me the freedom to choose the school that was right for me (and not just a name brand, or the prestigious option).</p>

<p>Also: today, I got an interview offer from that dream school, for a PhD. And now, they aren’t the only one I’m considering. Just remember: college is what you make of it, not where you go.</p>

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<p>I did my process a bit practically - my dream school was Columbia. But I knew that if I applied, my family would never be able to afford it if I was admitted, so I decided to spare myself the disappointment and use the $80 application fee for a more realistic choice.</p>

<p>Basically, I created a new set of ‘dream schools’. Each of the schools I applied to, I would’ve been very happy to attend; my top school on the list was Spelman College, which I got accepted to and got a full scholarship, so that’s where I went. Like some others, my success was in that I found a range of schools that I had very reasonable chances of acceptance too and I would’ve been really happy at any of them (maybe except Georgia Tech…but who knows, I would’ve loved the D-I sports!). I got merit money at most of them, so my advice on CC is always colored by my experiences.</p>

<p>Did it work out? Definitely. Spelman was a wonderful place; I don’t regret going there. I got great training in my chosen field, and I also had a lot of fun and have a lot of warm memories. But I think for a ‘dream school’ your expectations are always a bit too high for any college to attain. Every place has flaws and things you don’t like. Many times I wish I had gone to a bigger state university with Division I sports and anonymity (when I got my GRE scores back I felt like everyone at Spelman and Morehouse knew what I scored. People I didn’t know were asking me for tutoring!) But overall, I loved it, and I get a nice fuzzy feeling when I think back to my Spelman days. And I do plan to donate money when I have a job.</p>

<p>Ironically, I did get into my original dream school 4 years later - I’m getting my PhD at Columbia. I absolutely love it, but once you are here you realize that every place has flaws. The good parts totally outweigh the flaws here, but there are some major annoyances that Columbia possesses (bureaucracy is awful here, the administration takes FOREVER to do the simplest things!). It’s also not the same as attending as an undergraduate, but hey, I WILL get to say that I got a PhD from Columbia :smiley: Even just saying I’m getting one tends to turn heads.</p>

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<p>I have 2 kids, a daughter who is a soph. at Emory and a son who is a sr. in high school. My daughter got into all of her top schools but my son has not been so lucky. He was rejected by Emory as well as Wash U. He was accepted by Miami University (OH). I gues with each kid its different</p>

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<p>My dream was Wharton, and I was, unfortunately, placed on the waiting list.</p>

<p>However, I was accepted at the University of Chicago, so it really wasn’t too big a deal. </p>

<p>Couldn’t be happier here at UChicago (though a slightly higher GPA might be nice XD)</p>

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<p>If there are any concerned parents/students, I’m a pretty good person to talk to about this stuff. Rejected by my top 4 or 5 schools, but during school have done things more prestigious than anyone I went to High School with and have a more prestigious job than anyone I went to high school with. </p>

<p>Feel free to PM me with questions</p>

68

<p>In high school, I kind of had a dream college, and I was accepted to it, but to my dismay I ended up not loving it as much as I thought I would when I visited it. This was really surprising and confusing to me at the time. Furthermore, I was also accepted to other great schools and therefore I had a really tough time deciding on a college because I was torn between the great opportunities that the more prestigious schools presented me and my kind of childhood dream of attending this particular school that had all this sentimental value for me. In the end, I choose a school that was never my dream school before matriculating, but that is probably a better school than the one I originally wanted to go to and that was probably the dream school of many other thousands of people (Stanford).
Coming to Stanford has by far been the best decision and the best experience of my life, and I couldn’t imagine myself any place else. I think it is just awesome, and it’s a great fit for me, so I’m really glad things happened the way they did.</p>

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<p>It’s tricky. For the first 15 years of my life, I didn’t want to go anywhere but Michigan…however, after visiting Miami (fl) and the university of florida, I fell in love with their weather and their campus’s…when I applied, I knew it would come down to those 3.</p>

<p>I got into all 3 (and got a big enough scholarship from Miami to make it plausible), but in the end, I decided that Michigan was too good of a school to turn down, plus, it would be easiest on my parents.</p>

<p>Did it live up to my expectations? yes. The academics are great, the school spirit is wonderful, and I love the athletics and clubs as well. I still hate the winter, and when the temperature are sub-zero I sometimes wish I had chosen Miami, but other than that I am very happy with my decision.</p>

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<p>I absolutely loved Johns Hopkins, in that i’m-going-to-die-if-I-don’t-get-in kind of way, for a really long time, intensified by the fact that my boyfriend when I was applying to colleges was a sophomore there. I got deferred early decision, then waitlisted, and then accepted off the waitlist, but by the time I was off the waitlist, I had already enrolled and gone to orientation for another school. The school I currently attend is definitely better for me than Johns Hopkins would have been, and I can’t even really remember why I liked Hopkins so much to begin with. In the end, a rejection from a school isn’t necessarily a rejection of you as a person, but the admissions department deciding that you wouldn’t fit in. I know I wouldn’t have fit in at Johns Hopkins, and I’m really glad the admissions committee there knew that.</p>

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<p>I love this^</p>

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<p>Agreed. I really like hearing about students who end up just as happy at another school as they do at their “dream” school. If I had gotten into every school on my list, I probably wouldn’t have ended up at Carleton, but it’s surpassed everything I ever wanted in a college.</p>

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<p>I was rejected from my first choice, a small LAC that I thought was an absolutely perfect fit. Now I’m at an Ivy, and I could not be happier! Some of the things I love most about it are not the case at the LAC.</p>

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<p>My D applied to 8 schools (2 safety, 2 match, 4 reach). She got into all her safety and match and got into one reach. Her final decision was tough, since all schools accepted her gave her scholarships (ranging from a minimum 10K to half-tuition to Full-Ride). She ended up choosing a Full-Ride in-state school. She took a lot of AP courses in high school, so her in-state school waived 41 credits for her to start off. She finished her first semester with straight A’s (included one A- and two A+). She is a very happy camper right now. Currently, she already earned 60 credits, and her advisor told her that her status is actually a junior (even though she only just finished one semester). </p>

<p>I always am wondering, what could have happened to my D if she picked and attended her reach school. I don’t know. However, she told me that she has never regretted for her decision.</p>

<p>From our last year experience, my one best advice to all current senior high school out there must spread out evenly (if one can) and apply to their safety/match/reach schools. This way, if you are lucky (like my D), at the end, you will have a much better choice to pick out without ever feeling sorry.</p>

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<p>My dream school was the University of Pennsylvania. Needless to say, I was not accepting. I am not a student at Villanova University and am extremely happy with the decision. It’s hard to not like your school, after all, you are living there and are practically forced to make friends. I can only speak for myself, but everyone in my hallway are friends with each other, and the camaraderie is unbelievable. 'Nova is a great school.</p>

<p>(Villanova was my #3, behind Penn and Princeton)</p>

76

<p>If you, too, had a “dream” college, how did it work out for you?</p>

<p>My dream school was USC (University of Southern California). I literally did everything in high school for USC… for the purpose of getting into USC… I was a mad woman. When I found out I get denied, I was incredibly shocked, but appealed the decision… and GOT IN. Best feeling in the entire Universe.</p>

<p>If accepted, did it turn out to be everything you’d hoped for?</p>

<p>USC is everything I could have hoped for. Love the location, the people, my dorm (Pardee tower) the opportunities, the school spirit, the campus… everything.</p>

<p>If denied, have you been able to be happy elsewhere?
Since I was denied at first, my advice is DON’T GIVE UP. If you truly want to go somewhere, don’t be discouraged if you’re rejected. Check if the institution has an appealing option! Best of luck to all of you!</p>

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<p>It’s fascinating how many stories here tell of finding happiness at non-dream schools, and yet how few stories tell of being unhappy at a dream school like the OP suggests. Almost makes this cynic believe in optimism. ;)</p>

<p>I spent an absurdly long time (2.5 years of intensive research) picking the colleges that I wanted to attend/apply to. I didn’t have a “dream” school, but I did rank-order my entire list. For financial reasons, Yale and Swarthmore ended up as a tie at the top; for those same reasons, and to keep my flexibility, I chose to apply SCEA to Yale. I was rejected outright, and ended up applying EDII to Swarthmore, where I was accepted and given a great FA package–so, obviously where I now attend.</p>

<p>And, like so many of the dream-school-attendees in this thread, I love it. It really has met all of my myriad expectations, though admittedly I had pragmatic expectations. My own idle wonderings are about the other schools that I applied to and also loved for different reasons–Carleton, Pomona, and Stanford. I know from informal admissions communications that I would have been accepted to Carleton/had been accepted before I withdrew my application, and I really adored my visit there. But Swarthmore was just a teensy bit better for my academic interests (principally linguistics, my prospective and rare-at-LACs major) and had better financial aid policies. </p>

<p>I miss certain friends that go to Yale, but I doubt I would actually enjoy attending the college as much as I do Swarthmore. I DON’T think the same is true about Carleton or Pomona… I am really an LAC girl at heart, and since linguistics will probably be my major, I’m glad that I picked a school that offers it since half of the LACs on my RD list did not. But if I had stuck with RD and ended up choosing Pomona or Carleton, I would probably still love it–just for different reasons, because the experience would be different.</p>

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<p>I really love reading all of these. I’m torn right now because I don’t want to take on any loans, but I really (although I try to deny it) want to go to a “prestigious” school. They’re prestigious for a reason: they offer amazing opportunities, great social and educational experiences, etc. Everyone in my family (even my great grandmother who’s 90 y/o) graduated from my state school. It’s not a good state school either, it’s University of Nevada-Reno. I have decent stats, so I can get into a lot of better schools. Although going to another school would mean being away from my family, I can’t help but think that I’d regret not going out of state. I’ve worked really hard, and I don’t want to feel like my effort is wasted. Also, I hate to “close doors” on opportunities. My whole life so far, it seems, has been about holding as many doors open as I can. </p>

<p>It seems like so many people are blown away by their amazing college experiences. I’m concerned because I want to go into medicine, and I know that I would be just fine staying at UNR and going to their medical school. I’m not science aptitude (more verbal), so I worry that I couldn’t compete at other schools. Thanks everyone for posting all of this info. It helps me to get a more complete picture. </p>

<p>Also, please everyone, post the names of the schools you’re talking about. I want to know the names so that if you liked them (or didn’t like them) I can research them a little more.</p>

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<p>Before and during applications, Stanford was both mine and my parents’ dream school. The day I found out I was accepted was probably the happiest day of my life and my parents were elated. I pretty much decided then and there that I would be going to Stanford; in fact, I was so set on going to Stanford that when I found out a couple of days later that I had gotten in to Yale, my parents and I had no real reaction to it. I pretty much just thought: “Oh, that’s cool. I’m going to Stanford though.”</p>

<p>Upon visiting Yale for Bulldog Days, everything changed. The campus atmosphere at Yale is truly special: the level of passion and spirit is absolutely incredible. And plus, Yale had an amazing music program both extracurricularly and academically, and I considered myself a pretty serious musician. I visited Stanford later, and it only reinforced my desire to go to Yale. The atmosphere, while still fairly pleasant, was not as passionate and energetic and fun. And the musical presence on campus was not even remotely comparable to that of Yale. Should’ve been easy then to just choose Yale right?</p>

<p>Nope. At the time I was a prospective engineer and Stanford’s reputation in that field is much stronger (although I do not believe that the program itself, from an educational standpoint, is necessarily better; semi-important point in my decision). I thought to myself, do I choose the place I love, or do I choose the place “better” for my academic interests (but much worse for my extracurricular interests)? After all, I was sure that I would end up liking Stanford eventually if I went there, so perhaps it would just be better to choose based on academics.</p>

<p>I really, really, really stressed out about the decision. But I followed my heart and chose Yale. And I really can’t say enough about how much I’ve enjoyed it. Everyday, when I meet up with my very close-knit group of friends (my fellow music geeks, I love them) to eat, chat, goof around, laugh, sing symphonies at the top of our lungs while running through dining halls and across campus, I KNOW I made the right decision. It’s not even close. And everyday I am thankful that I did end up where I am. I am happier than I have ever been in my life.</p>

<p>My story was probably longer than it needed to be, but I hope it helps people realize that your dream school can easily, easily change after post-acceptance visits. Realize that most of your dream schools pre-visit are pretty superficial; even if you’ve done a lot of research or a campus visit and you loved it, it really isn’t even close to actually staying there for a couple of days WITH STUDENTS ON CAMPUS. That’s the real difference.</p>

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<p>These have been wonderful to read. I have enjoyed them immensely. YeloPen, my son and I visited Yale and I was personally blown away at the atmosphere. I absolutely loved it and wished I could crank back the clock 30+ years because I would move heaven and earth to go there.</p>