What should I do?

Applying to College
1

<p>Hey Guys,</p>

<p>I have a few problems for which I would greatly appreciate answers! Thanks in advance!</p>

<p>(1) I never applied to some of my top choice colleges (i.e. Oxford, Columbia, UChicago). Is it fine to take a "gap year", perfect my SATs further, and reapply next year? If so, who would be my teacher recommenders? High school teachers or other people (supervisors, mentors, etc.)?</p>

<p>(2) I was waitlisted at Caltech and WUSTL. Do you think that taking the April ACT again, and scoring say... a 34, would give me a pretty good chance of getting in? I was waitlisted with a 31, so maybe a 34+ would give me a good chance?</p>

<p>(3) Assuming I get rejected from HYPSM with a 31 ACT (yes, I can assume that!), what do you think would happen if I diligently work to get a near perfect score, learn two more languages, write a book, start a business, start a charity, etc? I have read CC's post about reapplying after a rejection, but most posts assumed that the application stayed the same. If my application significantly changes, could I have a pretty good chance? In other words, how bad will a previous rejection look on my second application?</p>

<p>(4) What would likely happen if I reapply after a gap year to a college to which I was <em>waitlisted</em>?</p>

<p>(5) My ACT was unbalanced (C:31, E:32, M:36!, R:26!, S:31). Could that reading score have been a cause for my waitlisting instead of acceptance? If yes, then could bringing that reading score up to a 32+ make my application stand out for the waitlist reevaluation? (assuming they have more spots to fill) How much would a perfect score help?</p>

<p>Even answering just one question would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!</p>

2

<p>1) Yes you can as you know from a previous post. Recs would be from your current teachers.
2) You would still be a big reach
3) All those schools are still reaches. Some colleges (i.e. Tufts) specifically ask if you’ve been rejected before.
4) Who knows? You would be competing with a different pool of students
5) The Reading score would have had an effect. </p>

<p>Frankly, it seems as though you have no idea about where you might fit and are only concerned about prestige.</p>

3

<p>^^^ i agree. </p>

<p>going to the “best” school out there might not be the best school for YOU which matters more. I understand that having a name to the school that you attend is important but a lot of other schools out there have a name even if they are not ivy material. but here is my 2 cents</p>

<p>1)These are reaches and if there is no guarantee that you will be admitted so I WOULD NOT suggest to do it because if it does not work out you might find yourself between a rock and a hard place. Also you can alway apply to these school during grad school. I also face the same dilemma. I did not apply to all the school that I wanted to because I was scared I would not get in. But you can’t hold onto the past and there are still pretty good schools at there. </p>

<p>2)ACT is not the only reason why a person would be wait listed. If you got into other school I would focus your energy there while waiting for other RD to come out. </p>

<p>3) again like a stated before but i will put it more directly life does not revolve around getting into the best colleges. All these activities you listed are great but you are doing it for the wrong reason. Also the fact that you only thought of those now means you were not really interested in them before and most likely will be miserable doing them. And again THERE IS NO GUARANTEE THAT YOU WILL BE ADMITTED!!! so this is also unwise.</p>

<p>4)This is not such a bad option. I would call soon and ask what are your options and what do they think. Also after May 1 you might get off the waiting list. But i would not do ti without speaking to the admissions counselor.</p>

<p>5)no one ACT score can keep a person out of college. The people in the admission office dont look at your application and say “oh hey guys he’s composite score was in the high twenties though he did well on everything else on the ACT and he is an overall perfect applicant buuuut his reading sucked so we are going to wait-list him”. There are many factors as to why college admissions make their decisions. Also people with perfect scores and all are still rejected. One of the girls in my class scores a perfect SAT was named an academic all American, got the highest GPA at the school every and was rejected from Harvard, Stanford, Yale, Princeton and Georgetown!!! </p>

<p>I personally would wait to see what you have at the end of the month and accept the options that you have in front of you and if you really don’t like them then it is up to you make these finally choices and take the risks but be prepared for the possibilities. Life is more than just Ivy leagues or top schools!!!</p>

4

<p>Thank you for the in-depth responses, I really appreciate them.</p>

<p>Why do you say “It would be a BIG reach”? I was waitlisted, not rejected. That means I must have been near the top of the applicants. I did have great essays, ECs, national awards, recs, etc.</p>

<p>I think most parents and those who have already been to a great school have a a different perspective than a high school senior looking for colleges. If I visited College X, which happens to be very prestigious, and fell in love with it, I would definitely apply. However, since it was so prestigious, other kids would also be applying. Therefore, I would have a low chance of actually getting in. The strength of my application only plays a partial role in the admission decision, luck being the other part. To account for luck, I would apply to Colleges A, B, C, D, E, F… I would be the best fit at College X, but since admission is not guaranteed I want backup options. I am not just “looking for prestige”. You must not confuse causation with correlation! Schools in which I would be a good match are prestigious (correlation); I am not applying because of the prestige (causation).</p>

5

<p>@with competitive schools most people that get on the wait list are not taken off because barely anyone would reject the offer. Also you don’t know why you were wait-listed so you could have been borderline rejection for all you know. Also competitive colleges reject overall good applicants because they can. I am not saying you are not qualified but top tier schools are unpredictable. I definitely understand that you want to go to one of your dream schools but not to sound cold hearted it does not always happen that way. So i just want you to be open to other options that might always fit your criteria. by your earlier post it seemed like you were so set on a couple of schools you were willing to sacrifice everything. but these days with the crazy college admission no one knows what would happen and if you reapply next year you wouldnt know what would happen either. Sometimes it is better to settle…not saying you shouldnt still overachieve but to be wise!</p>

6

<p>You have no safety schools in your application list? Or is your safety community college followed by transfer to the state flagship?</p>

<p>If you take a gap year after getting shut out, you want to make a more realistic application list the next time around. Reapplying to the same colleges is likely to result in getting shut out again.</p>

7

<p>I’ve already been accepted to University of Florida.</p>

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<p>If I were you, and I did not get in anywhere but Florida, I would just go there, assuming it is affordable. Big state flagships have plenty of good students to associate with, even if they also have not as good students as well. If you are a math major, you may find some of the smartest students among your fellow math majors.</p>

9

<p>How much will going to UF as opposed to Caltech (or similar) affecte access to internships and competitiveness of graduate applications? I know performance is probably more important, but I can imagine that an applicant with an undergraduate degree from Yale and internships at Stanford will be more competitive that one from UF with just community volunteerwork. Agree? Disagree?</p>

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<p>Do you intend to go on to more advanced degrees or to get a job? UF should have some great relations with local and national firms for job placement.</p>

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<p>@ErinsDad: I plan to get an MD/PhD combined degree → Medical School → Medical Research</p>

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<p>^^^ UF is a good school. It is not the best but it still has connections and a good name to it.</p>

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<p>Disagree. Performance is more important than any other factor, particularly when it comes to medical school. It’s interesting that you didn’t mention that you were admitted to UF in your original post. It may not carry the prestige of the long-shot schools you did mention but if you really have the talent and drive to get top grades and top MEDCAT scores, there’s no reason to think that you can’t get an MD/PhD simply because your degree is from Florida. Do you honestly think that no one who currently attends that school won’t be able to do exactly what you hope to do?</p>

<p>IMO, the gap year taken in an attempt to be admitted to a more competitive school (some of which you didn’t even bother to apply to) will move you no closer to your ultimate goal and may only delay your getting there.</p>

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<p>^^^ agreed my mother went to gordon college for undergrad and duke for grad and residency. and she is now the vice chair of family medicine at upenn…she did not go to ivy undergrad and she is still successful and making lots of money.</p>

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<p>That’s strange, I always viewed UF as my safety school!</p>

<p>Are you sure a gap year will in no way help me? I am not doing it because I want to boost my resume. Rather, as an IB kid, I would like to finally have some free time to pursue things I actually want to do (learn languages, write computer books, stock trading, starting businesses, starting charities, etc.). You cannot tell from just this post, but if you met me in person you would understand my passion. How much of a chance will I have at reapplying if I manage to learn two more languages, publish a book, etc.?</p>

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<p>^^^ unless you were guaranteed a spot at the school you are taking a gap year for than no.</p>

17

<p>Please don’t start a charity.</p>

<p>You’ll spend a lot of time on boring administrative things instead of the work that actually excites you. Then you’ll leave for college with no way to keep it going.</p>

<p>Instead, go to an existing organization and ask to do a project. Their insurance and legal and accounting staffs will cover the boring stuff, and you’ll be free to do things you’ll enjoy.</p>

18

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<p>OP, I realise that you are still in high school and as such shouldn’t be expected to know much about how the real world works yet but really? I’ll try to be gentle and just say that you would be very, very surprised at how many truly passionate and committed students happily attend many state flagships (including UF) and that some of them might even have better grades and test scores than you do. In fact, I know that there are many kids in Florida who claim to have 4.0 gpas and good test scores who are shocked to find that UF has waitlisted them or outright rejected their applications. You are actually very fortunate.</p>

<p>Honestly, if you are truly capable of achieving your lofty ambitions you will certainly not be held back by attending UF. Why are you so sure that successful people only graduate from top 10-20 schools?</p>

19

<p>For those expecting to continue on to the post-graduate level like you, I have heard from multiple sources that it’s not so much where you got your undergraduate degree that counts, but where you received your post-graduate degree AND where you did your post-doc. And if you are serious about the MD/PhD plans, if you go to U of F and excel there, then you have 3 more years to fine-tune your credentials (before applying and taking the MCATs) for the bigger payoff of an elite, name-brand grad school. Just be advised that sometimes the elite name-brand school renowned for a particular discipline may in fact, be a state school (!!!), or someplace other than HYPSM. Just saying.</p>

20

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<p>Yes, so just go there if it is your only choice. The safety school should be one that you are happy to attend.</p>

<p>As a large state flagship in a large state, you are likely to find an “embedded Caltech” of academic superstar students among the large student body. PhD programs and employers likely realize this about state flagships, even if the baseline selectivity is not that high. Also, medical schools are generally thought to be much less concerned about the prestige or rank of your undergraduate school than your GPA there.</p>