| FWIW, I believe that it serves little purpose to dissect the past and find faults in the guidance the student obtained. It is possible that he -or his advisers- misjudged the difficiulty or the odds of landing a spot at a highly selective school. That is just the way it works, and it helps to think about the 30,000 valedictorians or thousands of quasi-perfect SAT scorers who are left with the inability to understand why they were not chosen. Single digit admission rates are simply ... brutal.
What is important is to move forward and avoid getting caught in a web of unwarranted optimism. Agreeing to work hard --and maybe demonstrate that the outcome was a bit harsh-- is a great step in the right direction. It is, however, easier to recommend setting aside the past and the disappointment than to do it.
Best wishes for continuing success at UofMN. |