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<p>I agree with your message that the OP should stop worrying about the past and focus on the future, but this statement doesn’t make any sense.</p>
<p>different schools want different things this years Vale at my school had a 4.0 UW gpa and 2270 SAT and got completely rejected from MIT she quickly forgot about it once Stanford and Harvard sent her acceptances</p>
<p>Yes it does. It just means from a philosophical perspective, it wasn’t meant to be. Not that he wasn’t good enough. It just wasn’t the right fit for whatever reason. It’s a waste of time to try and figure our the admissions process at the top universities. It’s a total crap shoot. It just wasn’t meant to be so it’s time to move on.</p>
<p>Let’s just suppose it’s true. Let’s just suppose you’re not qualified enough. Let’s just suppose you don’t fit. Let’s just suppose that they rejected you because you’re dumb…</p>
<p>So?</p>
<p>(The suggestions to get accepted to grad school, win Nobel prizes, plot your vengeance etc. remind me that someone once said, “When your back’s against the wall, it’s time to turn round and fight.” … o.0?)</p>
<p>Seriously, go shop for some new clothes and move on. Then think: adcoms are like given an infinite budget to shop for clothes to fill a wardrobe. There are hundreds of shops out there, tens of thousands of pretty clothes out there, and they have limited time to make their pick. Surely, they aren’t looking for the most expensive clothes to pick, although these are sometimes the ones with the best colors, designs, cuttings and fits. And surely too, they might miss out one or two pieces of clothing, or accidentally choose one or two misfits, while they’re shopping.</p>
<p>P.S.: I got rejected by one of my safeties. I bet none of you have more right to feel dumb than me, OK?</p>
<p>^^^^^^
exactly what she said move on and make the best where you at</p>
<p>Just remember, even if Adcoms try very, VERY hard to get to know you, all they have to help them are words on pieces of paper and a ~30 minute record of things you say.</p>
<p>Junhugie is absolutely right. People do not apply to universities, application folders apply to universities. One place where people can and do go wrong is not being able to convey themselves in their applications. Perhaps I have a different perspective on this as an international EC, but every single year I meet truly brilliant, talented, wonderful students who are not going to get in. I had one applicant this year who didn’t get in, but not only is she not dumb, but I would not be surprise if she ended up in the cabinet of her country one day. All I can tell you is that I expect the acceptances each year, if any of my applicants get in, to be a subset of the wonderful applicants that I meet.</p>
<p>Let me comment on this [typical] concern:</p>
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<p>Here, now let me comment. There are people with <em>insane</em> stats who get rejected. Would you have done well at MIT? Probably. However, the definition of “super-selective” says they have a very refined philosophy on what they want. </p>
<p>The real answer to your question is that the admissions system is not transparent. They approach it as an art as much as a science, and depending on the day, you may have been accepted. As you said, there are people who probably achieved less than you in math or science and got in. There are people who may have worked even harder than you who got rejected.</p>
<p>What you should do is focus on developing your own personal view on admissions philosophy, pack up your belongings and move on to achieve. Your situation is far from atypical.</p>
<p>As for Piper’s comment, let me remind that the whole tension here tends to be that not everyone’s terminology interpretation says that “not accepted” and “rejected” are distinguishable, and even if they were, this may not be the answer to the question. Ultimately, it may NOT be the case that if the same application pool were reviewed by the same people with the same philosophy 1000 times, this applicant would have been chosen in a decent number and have had a chance. There could be something in the philosophy which would <em>not accept</em>, i.e. reject, every time. In that sense, there could be something “wrong” but not actually <em>wrong</em>, since the applicant is actually very promising, and clearly isn’t dumber than everyone who gets accepted, except by very contorted definitions of “dumb”.</p>
<p>My advice - remember what sakky said. Read what QuantMech said. Nobody accepts or rejects you for anything in life purely based on how “dumb” or “smart” you are - to discover the true reason for your decision, you’d need to read all the applications, talk to MITChris, etc, on their philosophy, and then review your application in comparison with everyone else’s - this would be a decent starting point. Chances of this happening are slim, which is why you move on.</p>
<p>A real answer to your question - have you looked back at the essay questions for the MIT application? Do they all deal with how smart or dumb you are? Do they not have very different potential answers? Is it not obvious MIT is looking for a certain class dynamic, taking into account these essays?</p>
<p>Even when you apply to grad school - things will depend on how many people are into your research interests at a certain school, particular schools’ qualifying exam requirements, how your preparation promises you’ll fare, funding coverage, etc, etc. If you love math and science, continue doing them for your own satisfaction, and take your achievements in them as valuable in their own right, not as something requiring further validation by a school.</p>
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<p>Might I also add, someone on the same school’s grad adcom may have entirely orthogonal views on admissions to the undergrad committee on undergrad things too. Basically treat grad school as a new school entirely.</p>
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<p>So true .</p>
<p>So where are you going to attend?</p>
<p>I don’t subscribe to the “if you didn’t get in, you were not supposed to get in” theory. There are plenty of people (ex. the alternate classes they could make) that were just as likely to be “supposed to get in”. There is so much to take into account in an application, it’s almost impossible to identify one thing as a cause for rejection. </p>
<p>Think about how you chose the colleges you applied to. You looked at everything (hopefully) and made a decision based on more things than you could keep track of. Some schools are “better” than others, but you may have chosen a school that is not the best. You’re going to Duke, but maybe you got into Harvard or Yale and decided Duke was a better fit. Maybe you were right; maybe you were wrong. I don’t see much of a difference in the application process. Some schools think people with lesser stats/awards/etc. are a better fit, some schools don’t. It is not a reflection of your intelligence.</p>
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<p>That’s not what’s being said. What’s being said is that if you don’t get into MIT (or wherever), it wasn’t MEANT TO BE in the grand scheme of things. That life / God / Mother Nature / Karma / The Big Kahuna / The Flying Spaghetti Monster has other plans for you. That’s all.</p>
<p>The OP is being disingenuous, though. He knows he’s not “dumb” - he’s going to Duke. He knows that MIT rejects 90%+ of applicants.</p>
<p>Thank you Pizzagirl. That’s exactly what I meant. I’m a mom. I’m older with a tad more wisdom then you all. What I have learned as I look back on some of my “disappointments” is that there was a reason for everything. Everything always works out for the best in the end. It’s one’s attitude and approach to life that determines success. This is just how I see it. By the way, as I say this, my son is on the waiting list at MIT and awaiting June 2nd. However, he feels as I do and isn’t stressed about it at all. haha</p>
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<p>Well, the bottom line is that you did better than the people you outperformed (the people with lower grades/scores who got in). MIT’s decision doesn’t change that. </p>
<p>It’s tough for an 18-year-old to ignore feedback like this, but this is exactly what you must do. In electrical engineering terms, consider it noise, not the true signal. </p>
<p>If you must find fault with yourself, then consider the upper 1/4 of MIT, which likely did outperform you (USAMO winners, etc.) But the strategy and approach that you used in high school was the correct one.</p>
<p>There may be nothing you did wrong–it might be your parents’ fault for not living somewhere that would have helped you get in based on geographical diversity.</p>
<p>I’m kidding, of course. If you’re going to Duke, you really have little to complain about.</p>
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<p>My intention was not to be disingenous, I’m sorry if I appear so. I realize I was just being hard on myself. I’m sorry, but I guess I was just depressed that I would be missing out on the amazing MIT culture.
I know there’s grad school, but its like the default answer to everything. I’m not too sure if the grad school experience is going to be as exciting as undergrad…</p>
<p>Being disappointed is understandable, but it’s been a while since the decisions came out. It really is time to move on and be excited about Duke. You have so much to look forward to. Duke is a top notch university and I am sure you will love it once you get there and get going. You are going to change so much between now and grad school. You may not even want to go to MIT for grad school. Who knows? But don’t waste today worrying about what happened yesterday. You should be proud of your admission to Duke. I hope you take my advice to heart and just move on.</p>
<p>By the way, are you going do Duke or did I misunderstand a previous post? If I did, I’m sorry. I am sure you will do great at whatever college you decided to attend.</p>
<p>@Hunt I think you have a point. I think someone attending high school in a place like bay area has many more opportunities to excel or indulge in a wide variety of ECs than say someone in rural Idaho or Wisconsin. I get the feeling that admission people at places like MIT and CalTech do normalize one’s achievements based on the environment in which they are achieved. For example, Wilcox High in San Jose may not be a good school but the region provides plenty of opportunities.</p>