Where did I go wrong?

Applying to College
1

<p>Hello,</p>

<p>I am an international student (Europe) and this week, I have received my decisions for the five colleges I have applied to and I was rejected from all of them (Davidson, Occidental, Smith, Reed) except for Kenyon where I was waitlisted. Not only are my spirits pretty crushed, but I also don't know what have I done so terribly wrong that I was rejected from all of them. My SAT score is 2210, my GPA is around 4.00 (I'm doing the IB Diploma), my ECs are pretty decent and I spent a lot of time trying to make my essays perfect. I was especially proud of the four supplemental essays for Occidental - I thought I showed a lot of passion for the school, although it is true that I didn't have any guidance or anyone to help me with them. For two of the colleges, I had an online interview. It is true that I need a lot of financial aid and all of those schools are need sensitive for international students, but I still don't understand how my applications could have been so bad that I was rejected from all of them... I really thought I had a chance, and now it seems that I don't. Anyone has been in a similar situation, or has any advice to offer?</p>

2

<p>It is all about the financial aid… “need sensitive for international students” mean you have to be a true superstar to be accepted. You can’t just stack up well against the average applicant, you have to exceed by quite a bit. Sorry this happened… it doesn’t mean your application was bad, but you went into a situation where the odds were stacked against you to start with. So few colleges in the US are need-blind for internationals, and they are only really top colleges (so difficult to get into).</p>

<p>Certainly accept the waitlist spot for Kenyon, and if you have any additional information on accomplishments since the application was put in, send that along. But the odds are not great of getting in, so you need to make some alternate plans. You may need to attend college in your home country or elsewhere in Europe. </p>