Class rank: 4/800
GPA: 4.95
SAT: 2320
SAT II: Math Level 2 (800), US History (770), Chinese (770)
AP: Chem, Calc, Stat, Econ, Psych, US History, US Gov (all 5s)
In-School:
Student Representative of Math League
Founder/President of Chinese Club
Captain of Odyssey of the Mind Team
Political Science Club
Science Olympiad Club
several other awards for Math and Science
skipped 3 years of math
Recommendation Letter from Math Professor at Lehigh University
Out-of-School:
300 volunteer hours
Youth Group Leader
Teen Advisory Group President
Research in Neuroscience Lab at Lehigh University
To those who didn't, I think the stats of those rejected here speaks for itself. It's hard not to, but how can you take it personally or think there was anything weak in your application. A lot of this just boils down to building a class with "x" from this column, "y" from that column, and sometimes you just weren't in the right column at one school and you were at another. Figure that everyone can be happy at dozens of schools. It all works out in the end, even if some days it doesn't look like it.
To those internationals who didn't get an e-mail, I'd check your spam filters. It seems unlikely that Swarthmore would intentionally e-mail some, but not others.
I know this is a very hard time for seniors as they are waiting for their results. Or receiving them.
You have to know, there is a great deal of serendipity in this whole process. That's why the results can seem so strange -- got in to more competitive school, rejected from less competitive school, or whatever.
Some of you will be rejected from your top schools, and end up lower down on your list. Several things to know: first, this is not a judgment of your skills, your intelligence or you as a person. When you have thousands of people going for hundreds of spots -- and 95% of those people are in the same range of skills -- the odds are against you everywhere. No matter your skills, no matter your success. Schools are looking for a student body of wide ranging backgrounds and talents. They're not going to take all tuba players, or everyone from Idaho. So, if you were counting on your sculpting as pushing you over the top -- but they already admitted two sculptors in ED -- then it doesn't help. So again -- serendipity.
But I have one other thing to tell you: For most of you, your first choices are based on impressions -- how you felt walking through the school, what the students you ran into were like, the cache of the school name, the US News ranking (which is really unimportant), reputation of a particular department. You will find, in the end, that NONE of this matters. All of these schools are the tops in the country. You WILL be happy, wherever you go -- unless you don't let yourself be happy because of grumpiness about your results. You WILL make good friends, you WILL get a top-notch education.
So, my bottom line: Feel good about yourself. You are among the smartest, most talented young people in this country. You are on your way to a great adventure. You will get a great education. And -- thought it might be hard to accept this week -- you will be happy.
quicken, that was a very nice statement. I am sending it to my D who has been receiving some bad news lately but received a very nice merit scholarship to an out of state public. She's adjusting very well, but just in case!
I applied to Swarthmore on a whim, didn't interview, didn't really show any interest, so I'm not surprised. At the same time, I'm pretty depressed because I have come to love the school.
@quicken
Thank you for that. I've printed it and pinned it to my wall - I will have to remind myself about that as decisions come back. It looks like only one school thinks I'm good enough.
Rejection letter in the mail today. I really like Swat and know I'd absolutely be at home there, but I suppose there isn't anything I can do at this point.
Rejected - but barely emotional, I'm already in at UChicago at MIT. Just highlights what @quicken said - both of those universities have much larger applicant pools/student spots and significantly lower acceptance rates.
CONGRATS to everyone accepted. I visited campus (uber gorgeous), had an interview (which I thought went well), and I thought I was a good candidate. Probably, my Why Swarthmore? was very generic.
(SAT 2360, subjects 800 Chem 800 USH, rank 1/186 ... just goes to show there's more to life than your stats! =])
rejected. I really liked Swarthmore, but I'm in at UChicago, so it's not all so bad. Congrats to all accepted! Should you choose to go there, I'm sure you'll have an amazing college experience (yes I agree too the campus looks lovely!)
I really like Swat and know I'd absolutely be at home there, but I suppose there isn't anything I can do at this point.
(yes I agree too the campus looks lovely!)
