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

<p>How nice to read some of the posts here.</p>

<p>Ah…the “dream college” question. My S was accepted to the school he had firmly in his sights for three+ years (Berklee College of Music) yet virtually no financial aid was offered. The result? Not willing to allow him to leave this school (or <em>any</em> school) with over $150K of debt, he accepted another school’s offer. A transfer is being considered for next fall yet I will say that the “sting” of being accepted to the “dream school” yet not being able to attend will be a sadness he will carry with him for a long time.</p>

<p>My brother’s story is much like Pianomom12’s S. He was accepted to UPenn Wharton, his dream school, and CMU. However, he didn’t apply for aid and my parents couldn’t afford to pay the fees. He did not realize this while applying, and so did not request financial aid. He is sad about it until this day (this was about 8 years ago).</p>

<p>He ended up going to McGill, then U of Toronto for his Masters, and is now at Cornell working on his PhD. But he’s not really satisfied.</p>

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

<p>My dream school became my dream school while I was applying for colleges and researching about them. I suddenly realized how much I liked their program, the school and the environment, and I was SO determiend to get in. I ended up being waitlisted and then denied.</p>

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

<p>Yes, I’m currently attending another school and I really love the people here, as in a lot! I also like the school itself, but sometimes I feel like it’s not really worth attending when I look at the tuition…but really, I can’t really imagine going to another school either! I feel like even if people aren’t completely happy with their college choice, the college experience grows on people. A lot of people I know end up loving college simply because it’s college.</p>

<p>@sani296 “He ended up going to McGill, then U of Toronto for his Masters, and is now at Cornell working on his PhD. But he’s not really satisfied.”</p>

<p>??? Your brother may need therapy. Is he going to go through the rest of his life dissatified despite have degrees from three prestigious universities?</p>

<p>Of course he has a right to be upset with those 3 colleges. He got into UPenn Freakin’ Wharton - he did everything right for 3.5 years and ****ed it up b/c he didn’t apply for aid (would have taken a lot less than 3.5 years to do that).</p>

<p>He could be making millions with hedge funds right now, but instead he’s at Cornell getting his PhD. I’d be somewhat upset too.</p>

<p>I never really had a dream school. And went to a safety where i was miserable. I am transferring now to what i believe to be my dream school. Hopefully i get in. Or i will be devastated.</p>

<p>If you, too, had a “dream” college, how did it work out for you?
My dream college was Brown University. Its community, location, and philosophy matched my idea of a perfect university. I loved the idea of an open curriculum in which you take classes to learn, and not to finish up requirements and get assigned a degree based on what classes you took. The students of that school are widely noted as the happiest due to not being forced to take tedious classes. Its ivy league prestige was just icing on the cake for me. </p>

<p>If denied, have you been able to be happy elsewhere?
Unfortunately I was denied. And currently, no im not really happy, its just “okay” at UCSB right now. I hate the school’s party culture, the location is boring since I’ve lived in SB all my life, and the curriculum just frustrates me with all of its requirements and tedious GE’s. I plan to apply for a transfer to Brown University, just in hopes of getting in and turning my college experience around.</p>

<p>My dream college was Smith College in Northampton, Mass. I applied/was accepted ED, they gave me a really great financial aid package, but ironically I am now in the minority of students who are not in love with the school. Currently looking to transfer for the fall semester, but many of my other ED-ers are more than satisfied.</p>

<p>Considering I’m a high school senior, I don’t REALLY have a place on this thread. However, I do just want to throw out there my belief that everyone ends up where he/she is supposed to be. To those who didn’t get into their dream schools and are complaining about their current situations-all the hatred and contempt you have may be psychosomatic. Try, when you get back from break, to really throw yourself into your school’s environment-try activities you really wouldn’t have even glanced at, take classes that totally deviate from your norm. Meet new people. To be honest, transferring is nearly impossible these days, a fact i, again, attribute to fate-everyone ends up where he/she belongs. At their core, colleges are quite similar-amazing facilities, fascinating professors, a smorgasbord of interesting classes, great classmates-so how is it really possible to “hate” one? The only differences are size (and the number of academic/extracurricular activities based on that) and campus appearance.
Graduate schools have started to care less and less where your undergraduate degree is from, as have job employers. It is all about what you have DONE at that school. A Cornell slacker who got in through legacy connections and who picked his/her classes based on if he/she could have access to the old tests through a fraternity or sorority and who is “majoring in beer,” as my economics teacher says, is significantly less likely to be considered seriously for anything over a 3.7 EIC from the montana tech.</p>

<p>If after reading this you still think that transferring is completely necessary, then i send my best wishes. Hopefully, though, some of you will think twice about it.</p>

<p>^ I agree that the undergraduate college does not matter as much as people think it does. I also agree that, at their core, colleges are similar. But really, there are much larger differences between colleges than appearance and size. Colleges definitely have different environments, and I believe this is the biggest reason for most transfers: they feel uncomfortable, like they don’t fit in, etc. This usually has to do with the people they are around. I feel like this environment thing is something that is not immediately understood by someone who has not attended college yet; I don’t mean that in a derogatory way, just that you might not have really experienced it yet.</p>

<p>I dont think I had a real dream school (or I didn’t apply to them because I was a chicken… like Yale or something). I did want to goto NYU but that didn’t work out. I didn’t really know about USC until I actually applied… And I had no idea about its cinema school tbh although it’s number one in the country.</p>

<p>I think for me, everything ended up really well. USC’s one of the few universities with an animation major with a really amazing cinema school. I changed my major before from art (which I wanted to minor in because I still love it, but ran out of units!) but is currently double majoring + studying abroad. I think my experience made it sorta my ‘dream’ school… or at least my ‘dream school experience.’ I learned SO much (Alot outside of school), had so much fun, met cool people, and had really cool experiences… and is having it now. I had my share of bad times too, but I think college is really what you make out of it, unless it’s a totally bad fit for you (which then you should transfer immediately - life is too short to suffer through!)</p>

<p>I didn’t really have a “dream” school, I just had in mind state schools that were better than other state schools. My original “dream” schools would have put me in debt for at least the next twenty years of my life. When I was younger I had these dreams of going to places like NYU or California film schools that were the most popular and supposedly “best” programs, but as I got older and had more sense I started looking at things realistically and found an amazing school that is actually affordable. Well, affordable as far as college costs go. I’m extremely happy with my decision, especially when I hear about people complaining about the costs of their schools and when they suddenly start panicking about debt because they just had to go to that perfect dream school- even if the choice wasn’t realistic at all. Hopefully it will work out for them…</p>

<p>neuron39,
I wondered why you say not to apply for financial aid? I’m probably one of the few parents who doesn’t get this. Does it hurt that my dghter said she would be applying? She is interested in music and has been rejected by what she considered a fairly safe school - didn’t pass the audition. I also spoke with admissions or the department more than twice. Do they hate lots of questions?
Thanks for your help. My D is quite discouraged.</p>

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<p>SLightManifesto…Just curious…your location states NC; therefore, I presume the state school you’re talking about that you’d get into with “minimal effort” and have “a higher GPA” and “easier classes” is UNC Chapel Hill. I wouldn’t exactly peg UNC as a slacker school.</p>

<p>I had my whole heart dead set on Stanford since I can remember. I was one of those kids who thought they would die if they didn’t get in. I started the application the day it became available online and applied EA. I got deferred, then rejected. And to be perfectly honest, that 1-2 weeks after realizing I had been rejected was probably one of the hardest things I had to go through. Like many others I was absolutely devastated, bawled for days, threw temper tantrums, and shut everyone out. </p>

<p>But what I hope all future applicants realize is yes, that rejection letter will hurt, it will hurt a lot and it might feel like their world is turning upside down. And yes, it will take them a while to fully recover from it. But what I hope they realize that in six months from that point, they will think back and have so much trouble remembering why school X was “the chosen one.”</p>

<p>Anyway, I also applied to several ivies, pepperdine, and unc-chapel. I got rejected by all of the ivies except my last-choice one, which is where I now attend. And as of now, I couldn’t be happier. There are some days where I wonder what it would have been like at Stanford, but honestly I am absolutely in love with my school and could not imagine going to school anywhere else. My school ended up being the perfect fit for me. Deep down I am almost glad I got rejected from Stanford and my other top choice schools. Sure, maybe I could have attended a school with more prestige and nicer weather, but so what? I just don’t think they would have been as good as a fit. I really think it was meant to be.</p>

<p>I never applied anywhere except to the major state university in the same town where I went to high school. If I had not been accepted, no problem. I would have gotten into a technical college or gone on to an apprenticeship and probably ended up better off than I did from university. I certainly would not have gotten into major league debt for a university degree because it isn’t worth it for those outside of a medical major.</p>

<p>I only wanted to go to one school (UT-Austin) and I was pretty sure I’d get in, but sure enough I didn’t. I was mad, considering it’s the only out-of-state school my parents would pay for since they’re both alumns. I live in Utah, so the instate options aren’t the greatest, and I found myself choosing between Utah State and the University of Utah, and it was a pretty tough decision considering I hated both of the schools and didn’t want to go to either as I was still bitter about not getting into UT. I ultimately chose the University of Utah.
Best decision of my life. I’ve met the greatest people and the campus life and professors are amazing. UT can suck it.</p>

<p>I got first reject from one of my safety school.
Today, I got a mail from my EDII dream school, the decision date should be Jan 15, but anyway, I had to open the envelope and found out I got rejected.<br>
Well, what a way to welcome the new year.</p>

<p>I’m a total looser!</p>

<p>march10success, I’m really sorry to hear that. Fingers crossed for you! Keep your head up and hopefully things will be looking up soon enough. :)</p>