<p>Just a note: The majority of applicants here are not your “typical” applicants. Most of the people here on CC are extremely focused on college admissions. Their priority throughout high school has been crafting their college resume. And typically, the admit rate for people on this forum is much higher than the actual admit rate of the school. If you compare yourself to these applicants, know that many of them are the best of the best, and that everyone who gets into Stanford or Harvard or any other of the super-competitive schools don’t have resumes that look THAT good. Plus, where you’re from does have a pretty profound impact on the opportunities available to you, and the adcoms know that. The kid who does medical research under some professor at Johns Hopkins would not have had that opportunity if he didn’t live near Johns Hopkins. Your environment does limit your opportunity, and you aren’t directly compared to those who are able to do more simply because of where they live and go to school.</p>
<p>And remember that admissions for these schools is largely subjective and based on other factors besides scores, GPA, and a long list of extracurriculars. Certain things can’t be scored. These top-tier schools have enough valedictorians and 2400ers applying to fill their classes twice over. But they know that if that’s all they accept, they’ll have a very boring school. Potential for success can be seen in ways other than numbers and scores.</p>
<p>That being said, the competition for these schools is still extremely tough. They have to turn down many fantastic applicants that go on to do great things in life. Just remember not to view rejection to these schools as a failure. It doesn’t determine success for the rest of your life. There are many people who go to these schools and never achieve much in life. And there are those who go to less prestigious schools and go on to change the world.</p>