<p>Wow, that’s scary… SAT could have broken 2300 and being #1 instead of #2 would have helped a ton. How many AP classes did you take?</p>
<p>But obviously you aren’t really screwed because you got into Duke and Berekly, both top 21 Universities. What would happen if somebody got rejected from all of the Universities they applied to, including their safeties?</p>
<p>The problem with our college admissions system is that colleges are always trying to maintain an image. They don’t want to look like they are unjustly favouring one school over another. Therefore, they do at some point compare applicants in one school to other applicants in that school. That is why impressive people like Godat get rejected. There are tons of people that are less qualified that are accepted, but they are probably applying from less competitive schools. Since a person like Godat is applying from a very competitive school, he might be very impressive, but compared to his immediate peers he might not look as impressive. Thus, they reject him to keep a “fair” image, in which the college doesn’t favour one applicant pool over another. Really, its ■■■■■■■■.</p>
<p>t-san: while I will concide that only getting in to a safety school is vastly preferable to gettign in nowhere, it still does really suck. At the very least, you will feel like **** for some period after the decisions come back (I still haven’t really gotten over it, though I tend to brood over things much longer than most people). And there are some sets of decisions that you can pretty much say were wrong for these colleges. It’s hard to do so without sounding like a jerk, but it’s simply a fact that some students are more qualified than others.</p>
<p>Man I feel for you, almost the exact thing happened to be…rejected across the board pretty much…heh, this year it’s competitive for admissions. Just keep it in perspective. It’s not just the college you go to, but what you do at the college. Don’t get jaded by this whole thing and try to move on. One doesn’t need to go to “HYPSMC” to be successful.</p>
<p>Its happen to my D. too.
She got SAT>2300, SAT subject: math II 800, physics 770, chemistry 780, and Chinese 780. All the courses she took is the most challenge course in school. At her sophomore and junior year she took total 12 AP test, most scale 5. At her senior year she is full time at local big flagship U. has taken 8 courses earn 31 U. credits. Her GPA is not that much high only 3.89 ranking 100 0f 800(some kids take most easy classes get A and never takes AP class)
She is national AP scholar and National Merit scholarship finalist. Her art won lots prize. She is Science Olympia team member.
She is captain of speech team. She is in swimming team. Play soccer
…
She involves a lot of community volunteer. She volunteers as teacher assistant at every summer school. She speaks fluent 3 languages also took 3 year French at high school
She is very happy and bright and kinder girl at her school.</p>
<p>She applied MIT, Caltech, Princeton (her favorite), U Penn, Stanford, U Chicago, Berkeley, and local U. She is only accepted by Berkeley and the local U. Tuition $5k*4 Berkeley vs. full-ride at local U.
We dont know why she is not that lucky. Maybe they dont like her essay. She is pretty good at it. Who knows?</p>
<p>sorry berkeley tuition 50K not 5K.</p>
<p>@WaitingForGodot: I remember seeing you get rejected from MIT, but Princeton and Duke also?</p>
<p>Have you read your recommendation letters because I think one of your teachers might have put some thing really bad in it. </p>
<p>Honestly, I really feel bad for you and I hope you will do well at UVA to prove them wrong.</p>
<p>send the ACT score…not the SAT I</p>
<p>LOL. People like you are hilarious.</p>
<p>The first few replies are wrong – there was no one factor that was wrong with you application. There was just nothing about you that was amazing and stood out. </p>
<p>Sorry, there are lots of qualified people out there. (:</p>
<p>P.S.: Excellent job applying to a bunch of big-name schools that have nothing in common. :rolleyes:</p>
<p>I can’t help read this and feel we are in EXACTLY the same position. I was really involved in running, captain of Cross Country, Indoor, and Outdoor Tracks, president of a Political Action Club, Latin Honors Society leader, Eagle Scout, and ranked #2 in class with a 2240 SAT (800M, 730CR, 710W). Plus all SAT IIs were 750+. And I was an All-Division Runner on top of a plethora of awards. Plus I took AP Calc as a junior, which is rare, then took at class at a local college and Yale for a while.</p>
<p>I applied to Harvard, Yale, Dartmouth (Early deferred to Regular), Columbia, Penn-Wharton, Stanford, all rejected…Brown Cornell, waitlisted…accepted to Duke Chicago and Georgetown.</p>
<p>After then entire process, I can tell you I’m ****ed at how things turned out. Like you I worked to get into an Ivy just to get f’d for some unknown reason. Everything looked like a yes just to get nos all around. But I’m headin 2 Duke in the fall, somewhat reluctant, but somewhat hopeful. It will be a great experience and is practically an Ivy with better weather. It will b great and just relax. Good luck with everything and hopefully see you in the fall.</p>
<p>I don’t think you guys get it. It really isn’t only about the test scores. Congrats on your 2200+ SAT, you can be in the group with the other 20,000 applicants who scored that high. Wow, you did a varsity sport? Well, so did thousands of other applicants. Being on a varsity sports team is not a hook by any means unless you’re a recruited athlete. So - not just you andy, but anyone who is still moping - I’m really sorry you didn’t get in to your top choices. But really, only 7% of the people who applied to these top schools did. That gives you no right to whinge and complain and claim that the process is unfair, because it’s not.</p>
<p>“Plus I took AP Calc as a junior, which is rare, then took at class at a local college and Yale for a while.”</p>
<p>^ And by the way, no it’s not. At my school, every year there are 1-2 sophomores who take BC Calc. Half of our BC Calc classes are juniors, and the other half seniors. Actually, sometimes there are more juniors than seniors.</p>
<p>I’m sorry you didn’t get in, but as already stated: it is NOT about the scores. Of the things that you listed, you don’t seem unique to me in any aspect. I’ve seen that list of activities tons of times.</p>
<p>If anything would do it, the essays would.</p>
<p>My Stats:</p>
<p>Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 760 CR, 780 M, 770 W (1540/2310)
SAT II: 750 Latin, 730 Math II, 730 World History, 720 Math I, average to bad on a few others
Weighted GPA: 97/100
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): Top 5%
AP (place score in parenthesis): World History (5), US History (4), Calculus AB (5), Calculus BC, Macroeconomics, Microeconomics, English Literature and Composition, Latin Virgil, Physics B.
Senior Year Course Load: Basically the unscored AP exams above.
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): AP Scholar, NMSQT Commended Scholar, National Latin Exam Gold Medals (3), some statewide Latin competition prizes, etc.</p>
<p>Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis):
High School Classical Culture Society (Treasurer x2, President), New Jersey Junior Classical League (Central Registrar), National Honor Society (Treasurer), Literary Magazine (Assistant Editor in Chief, Editor in Chief), Mock Trial (Witness x2), Students Against Destructive Decisions
Job/Work Experience: None
Volunteer/Community service: Local hospital, making lunches for poor, pancake breakfast for blind, setting up for local art shows and carnivals, etc.
Summer Activities: Film Camp, Summer Rowing Program, NYLF on Medicine, Honors Pre-Calculus Class
Essays: All written at 12+ grade level. Content is subjective.
Teacher Recommendation: Should have been great.
Counselor Rec: Probably bad, actually. I don’t think she knew me very well and probably wrote the wrong information.</p>
<p>Other
Applied for Financial Aid?: Nope.
Intended Major: Classics
State (if domestic applicant): New Jersey
School Type: Private, ~215 in graduating class, gets about a dozen kids to top twenty universities each year
Ethnicity: White
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: Not sure, specifically. But no FA.
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): Classics? Maybe?</p>
<p>Reflection
Strengths: SAT’s, EC’s, Essays</p>
<p>What you tried to focus on in your application - any hooks you tried to make for yourself: Center it around passion for many things, brought it all back to Classics, etc.</p>
<p>Weaknesses: SAT II’s</p>
<p>Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Not valedictorian; guidance counselor related things.</p>
<p>I got rejected at Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Stanford, and Penn; I was waitlisted at Duke, Williams, and Cornell (Cornell! for God’s sake). </p>
<p>It happens. I wonder the same thing you do fairly frequently.</p>
<p>I’m just so happy to be at Brown. I probably would have taken a gap year if I wasn’t accepted there.</p>
<p>But really, people, criticize me. PM is preferred, but wherever.</p>
<p>“Plus I took AP Calc as a junior, which is rare, then took at class at a local college and Yale for a while.”</p>
<p>^ And by the way, no it’s not. At my school, every year there are 1-2 sophomores who take BC Calc. Half of our BC Calc classes are juniors, and the other half seniors. Actually, sometimes there are more juniors than seniors.</p>
<hr>
<p>@ insomniac159</p>
<p>For the record, Im not talking about in general, I’m talking specifically about MY school and what is customary for MY situation. For where you come from, thats great that sophomores take Calc BC. At my school, they dont even OFFER Calc BC. I had to self study it this year. Where I come from, only 2-3 kids a year, if that, take Calculus as juniors due to the fact that my school won’t allow it unless you totally excel in math. Literally I had to drop one of my languages, Latin, just to fit an extra math class in my sophomore year so I could be eligible to take Calculus as a junior with special permission from the principal. Then, on top of that, they made me take another language to compensate for the schedule discrepancy and take two languages for the remaining three years. AND I was the first and so far only kid to EVER score an 800 on the Math SAT I AND a 5 on the AB Calculus exam. I pushed math to areas that no other kid in my school ever has and you have the balls to tell me what is what?! I know that you didnt know that, but watch what you say things because you don’t know what other people have been through.</p>
<p>And to the OP, I totally understand what its like to work your hardest for four years and not get into one of these top schools. It sucks that people will look at those who did get in and think they are the smartest and best kids when in reality they had connections or hooks or minority status that pushed them over the edge when you truly spent four years being the top student and athlete you are. It sucks. But there is a place for people like us called DUKE UNIVERSITY that looks for the most ambitious and hard working and will give us great connections for the future. While the average person may be ignorant to the accomplishment of getting into Duke, the knowledgeable and ambitious will, and really thats who you want to be with, the best of the best. Yes you will get b******s who got into Princeton and Yale and Harvard who think they are so high and mighty for writing a book or being a son of an alumnus, but who cares anyway? You’ll still be successful. I wish you the best of luck with everything.</p>
<p>all this does is make me question how the heck i actually got in ANYWHERE. it just confirms my belief that it must be the essays and that “intellectual vitality”/“whole person” stuff. but here’s my primary question - to the person who said that they worked so hard to get into an ivy… was that your only motivation? because that might be the reason you didn’t get in. if that’s your drive for doing well in school and doing a ton of EC’s without having any passion for them, that could just have done it. i think they can see that kind of stuff on the adcoms</p>
<p>@andy:</p>
<p>With all due respect, I still think you overrate the significance of scoring an 800 on the Math SATI and a 5 on the AB Calc Exam in the eyes of the admissions officers. If this is pushing math to areas that nobody at your school ever has, good for you. However, that hardly justifies you getting into Princeton, as I would argue that the vast majority of Princeton students as well as plenty of other Princeton rejects could have scored similarly, even with the limited preparation that your school provided you.</p>
<p>I say this not to diminish your achievement but because I don’t think your particular achievement demonstrates anything incredibly unique from the perspective of admissions. As far as achievements in mathematics are concerned, yours are not impressive. The fact that you demonstrated initiative is more impressive, but I don’t think what you did is so different than what many other applicants also did.</p>
<p>I’m sorry you worked hard and it didn’t work out. Good luck at Duke.</p>
<p>@FailureAtCollege</p>
<p>There is no offense taken, I was just trying to justify that how hard kids work in their enviornments differs from school to school. Mine is much different then insomniac159’s. Actially the only Ivy that I didn’t apply to was Princeton and the school I really wanted was Dartmouth. But, yea, in retrospect I thought that maybe pushing the math angle as it was my biggest commitment and achievement would help me get into an Ivy. </p>
<p>And btw OP Duke is better then Cornell (except AEM) and Penn (except Wharton), and on par with Dartmouth, Brown, and Columbia, so keep your head up. It really is a great school. People saying “sorry you only got into Duke” are just trying to sympathize, but really it is one of the top schools in the WORLD! Duke is great and you’re going to be happy.</p>
<p>actually, people who are saying “sorry you only got into Duke” are trying to (not so) gently point out the absurdity of the situation. Duke is one of the finest schools in the nation, and it’s a “fall-back” many would kill to have. so they’re (myself included) telling you to appreciate what you have, because it’s really pretty amazing.</p>
<p>I don;t get it…in this day and age the process is random. You need to get into ONE school you love, the aim is not to have a portfolio of acceptances.</p>