<p>Just to add about admissions and self-esteem, or feeling “good enough”. So much of this is about demographics, variables outside of one’s control, the needs of the specific college, connections, luck. It is very easy to be good enough, or more than good enough, and still not get in to any one particular school. Hard to have your heart set on it, though, and have to live with the disappointment and remember that you may be more than good enough-- and life isn’t fair.</p>
<p>A college counselor at my high school told us to look at it this way (she held a “rejection” event for kids who were feeling down about rejections, the Monday after they all came in). </p>
<p>You are SHOPPING for a school that FITS YOU, not the other way around. If you don’t get into a school it is a sign that it is not the place for you and therefore you have to find a better fit. You are the “customer” and the school is not the boss, you are simply looking for the best deal out there for what fits you best for the next four years. </p>
<p>:)</p>
<p>How nice that the college counselor held that event!
I do think it’s true that a rejection can be a sign of a poor fit, but not always. It’s an imperfect process. And with the record numbers of applications, there are not places for many kids who might fit well, and would have gotten in easily some years ago. Still, there are many “good fits” for any one applicant. It would be so much easier to not fall in love with just one school!</p>
<p>There is also a lot of luck that goes with the process. A couple of years ago, an adcom from a private school posted on cc that s/he gave bonus points to kids who completed calculus. But s/he also admitted that his/her colleague gave bonus points to applicants who had been involved in theater/fine arts in HS (and didn’t care about advanced math). In the case of this one college, the admissions outcome could depend on who ends up reading the file from the random assorting that goes in the college mail room.</p>
<p>I had a dream yesterday that Dartmouth called my mom yesterday and told me I was accepted. Really random dream.</p>