<p>Honestly I feel like everyone on here has a 36 (or at least a 33) and perfect GPA with a ton of great EC's. yet no matter how amazing the stats you have you keep complaining! Some people can't get those scores even when they work hard, you guys should be thankful to have gotten those scores and proud of yourselves, no matter which colleges accept you!</p>
<p>“Some people can’t get those scores even when they work hard, you guys should be thankful to have gotten those scores and proud of yourselves, no matter which colleges accept you!”</p>
<p>But the scores aren’t an end in themselves…they’re a means to an end. High test scores don’t mean someone can go to whatever college they want - there are a lot of other things that could prevent that. Why should I be happy if I get a 36 on the ACT but end up a college I hate because it was all I could afford or I had bad grades or something?</p>
<p>@halcyon, I’m sorry to hear about your situation… But a financial/admissions safety shouldn’t be a college that you hate. Still, I’m sorry about your situation. I know how much it sucks - parents almost didn’t want to send me to NU because it’s not YPSM. I hope everything works out. I agree in that people have the right to feel disappointed about their admissions outcome, though.</p>
<p>@Nikki: Lol, I know someone in here who posts like 10 chances threads which all go along the lines of: “PLEASE! HELP ME! I’LL GIVE COOKIES FOR THOSE WHO HELP ME!”
At the notion of cookies, I opened the thread. This CC user had 2350+++ SAT, 35 ACT, a bazillion APs with all 5s, super high GPA, internships, leadership positions, global awards… She helped blind people, deaf people, gorillas, ducks, orphans, etc etc in her free time.
And yet, she’s still moaning about how she’s afraid of ‘being a hobo’ if no college would accept her. This is a girl with no need for fin aid, too - and she’s a legacy at two top 30 US colleges. She also mentioned that her ECs are weak when in fact they are quadruple the amount that an average applicant would have. Didn’t apply to her top choice EA (a HYSPCM) because she’s ‘afraid’.
Last time I checked, she’s going to her dream school, with other acceptances in an Ivy, Cal, and a gazillion scholarship offers. Go figure. She just took away someone else’s spot at the other schools (she has the right to apply, of course. Her attitude is just a turnoff)</p>
<p>I’m not bothered by those who are disappointed by the admissions process. It’s just natural. I AM, however, bothered by people like the CC user that I described. I think it’s just a theatrical and overly dramatic way of garnering attention and praise.</p>
<p>What’s wrong with the people you’re describing, Ni-bunch-of-k’s-i, is that they want something that is in such short supply that they can’t guarantee themselves that they can get it. There are fewer beds in the dorms at Harvard, Yale, Stanford, Williams, et al., than there are students who qualify for them. This makes people antsy because they feel, not completely without reason, that their fate is in somebody else’s hands.</p>
<p>Really, it’s not that different from the kind of anxiety that might afflict an aspiring actor or dancer, or an NBA aspirant, or several people who are up for a promotion in a company.</p>
<p>On the other hand, it’s also true that life goes on for people who go to their state flagship instead of MIT, or who open a dance studio instead of dancing with Alvin Ailey, or who don’t get the promotion. So, yes, there’s a bit of catastrophizing and a fair amount of melodrama, but the people you’re talking about mostly have reason to feel anxious, because whether they’ll get something they really want is basically beyond their control.</p>
<p>“I’m sorry to hear about your situation… But a financial/admissions safety shouldn’t be a college that you hate.”</p>
<p>That was a hypothetical. (I’m still in high school and I definitely didn’t get a 36.) The point was that people shouldn’t be happy <em>just</em> because they got high test scores because the scores by themselves don’t mean anything.</p>
<p>The problem is that people are convinced that if they don’t go to one of the top 25 USN colleges their lives are failures. It’s sad really, but such people can’t be helped until they themselves experience college and realize that rankings don’t mean a full and happy experience in college.</p>
<p>What’s wrong with them? Nothing but a little anxiety. These are the applicants who have always won. They are the ones who have always led the pack academically but suddenly find themselves competing with every other 4.0/36 in the pool.</p>
<p>What’s wrong with them is that they come here looking for affirmation from people who have no influence on their outcomes. A more interesting question is why do you care?</p>
<p>It’s one thing if you can not afford to go to a college that you deserve to go to, but what is beyond anyone is the people complaining about how they don’t think they will get into a school with their perfect scores and grades. </p>
<p>And yes I care, because it is entirely frustrating when people are complaining about something they have nothing to complain about. They are lucky enough to have been born with an intelligent brain whereas others are not. They should be grateful, and realize that just because they don’t get into a certain school doesn’t mean it’s the end of the world.</p>
<p>^^^
First of all, you should avoid the chances threads. They are utterly without meaning and their only value is that it (mostly) keeps the clueless kids who post them out of the other, more useful threads.</p>
<p>Secondly, you (and when I say “you” I mean all high school students) need to drop the idea that you “deserve” to go to any particular school. There are far too many qualified applicants to make admissions to any highly popular school anything other than a risky proposition. Furthermore, even if you are able to be admitted to a very competitive school, cost is a factor. If you and your parents can’t meet the costs then you can’t say you deserve to go there any more than deserve to drive a BMW you can’t afford, even if you are an excellent driver.</p>
<p>In short, do your due diligence before you begin your college search, make sure you and your parents have a good grasp of what is affordable for you and please forget the notion of the “dream school” and you will end up with good and workable choices when the time comes. Please stop worrying about the other posters; people can and do post anything they want on these forums and no one really has any idea what is true and what isn’t.</p>