I thought Id join those others whove shared their thoughts and experiences while looking back on the whole admissions experience. Some of my ramblings are reflections, others are specific suggestions.
I would like to offer a bit of background information for reference later: I applied to Millsaps College, Baylor University, Emory University, UNC Chapel Hill, University of Virginia, Washington University in St. Louis, Georgetown University, Brown University, Yale University, and Princeton University, after which I was admitted to all of my selections except for Georgetown and the Ivy League Schools. I will attend Baylor University, on a full-tuition scholarship, and major in a program offered through the Honors College.
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Know your limits. Know what you can afford, and what you cant; where you have a decent chance of being admitted, and where you are a clear reach applicant. Apply to safety schools (schools for which tuition is completely affordable, to which you are nearly guaranteed admission, and at which you will be perfectly happy attending). Theres nothing wrong with dreaming big, but realism is key for dealing with an unpredictable system with unpredictable results.
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Be smart about where you apply. In hindsight, I think applying to more than six schools is a waste of time, money, and energy. By applying to a safety school (that meets the criteria above), you automatically eliminate worrying about being accepted to a good and affordable school. In short, I think that the more work you can do on the front end, in terms of narrowing down your selection to around six schools, the more your work will pay off. For example, in retrospect I probably would/should have applied to Millsaps, Baylor, UNC Chapel Hill, Washington University in St. Louis, and Yale, because I would have chosen from these schools over the others on my list. By reducing the number of schools on my list I feel confident that I would have done a better job on my applications. I also want to take a moment and suggest that you consider applying ED if you can afford to do so it can really save you a lot of trouble in the long run.
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Apply/attend where youll be happy, not where youll be excited. Ultimately, my decision came down to choosing between Washington University in St. Louis and Baylor. For the longest time, I felt like I should go to Washington U because I had visited it during one promotional weekend in the fall, and all of the discussion I had heard about it really made me excited about having it as an option. When my parents finally agreed to support me financially with that decision, I went ahead and sent in my acceptance letter, but I had to turn around and withdraw again within two hours because, honestly, something just didnt feel right about the decision. In retrospect, I felt like I would be excited to attend Washington U, but I was worried that eventually, I simply wouldnt be as happy as I would at Baylor, all things considered. Happiness endures, but the novelty of glamour fades over time. I’m not trying to say that students can’t be happy at a top-tier school where they’ll also be excited, but I am saying that students should be certain about their feelings towards every school they consider.
I know my reflections/suggestions thread isnt as inspirational as others, but I still felt a desire to spread the word to all of you on CC, many of whom have helped me considerably through my admissions experience. Thanks again.
-wittywonka
Thanks very much. My daughter is a year behind you and these posts are very helpful and affirming of other advice we’ve received.<br>
Congrats and best of luck at Baylor!
Thanks for taking the time to share, wittywonka. Congratulations on Baylor; it sounds like you have made a great decision, for all of the right reasons. Best of luck with everything! 
Thanks for sharing. I completely agree with you on #3 - my decision, too, came down to a school I was unbelievably excited about and had researched avidly (think going through about every single CC thread about it in the past year, reading the course catalog like a book) versus one where I knew I would be happy. I visited both, almost committed to the one I was excited about, and now I’m going to the one I’ll be happy at.
Pay attention to your feelings on your visits!! I loved the first one on paper, but when I visited it just didn’t feel like what I was expecting.
And congrats on Baylor I’m sure you’ll have a great time.
I had almost the exact same experience my senior year (2008). I was stuck between WashU and Howard University in DC. I realized that Howard was the place where I would be most happy even though WashU was so fun and exciting that weekend in the fall. And now I have enjoyed getting involved here, interned at the White House, and met my boyfriend of 1.5 years. And best of all, my scholarship makes schooling free. Do what’s in your heart is my best advice to rising seniors.
Thanks for sharing. Congrats on Baylor! I got excited when I saw someone else with the WashU dilemma too.
My final thoughts:
If you’re not black or hispanic or if you don’t have a hook, you’re f**ked.
That is all.
kaekae, the whole point of this thread, and other threads in this forum, is to help people move past holding grudges and get on with enjoying their college experiences. Seriously, keep things in perspective - I assume you’re going to Rice next year - that’s a fabulous school. You could potentially have a great time at Rice, while getting a great education, but if you go in with a “what if” attitude, then none of that will matter.
Lol. However, the nature of a “final thoughts” thread is for one to have a “what if” attitude.
From my school, many of the top applicants were almost the same. I saw a clear distinction of URMs getting accepted at Yale, UPenn, etc., while the white people and Asians (me) were rejected everywhere. I’m just saying that to get in, I would have either had to build a nuclear reactor (one guy on here who got into MIT actually did this), or be a URM.
@kaekae dude, as a fellow asian, just let it go…we ARE over-represented…it is actually (in my perspective) fair that URMs takes our spot at the Ivys (rejected from Brown, UPenn, and Cornell) because they’ll get the same opportunities that we’ve been having for decades…isn’t it time that we loosen up a bit? maybe time will change and our kids can one day become the URMs…who knows?..and what do you expect? of course you have to built a nuclear reactor to get into MIT (your competition are just crazily genius)…the opportunities that Rice offers will be greater than you expect…just go there with no regret whatsoever…trust me, you’ll have a great time in Texas…go in there with a ginormous smile on your face, and you’ll get the benefits that lies behind Rice’s walls
good luck
And not every minority student who gets into an Ivy school or other top universities gets there because of affirmative action. There are some who have the qualifications necessary to get their regardless of minority status. It’s ignorant just to assume.
It really is ignorant to assume. I love how people ignore hard work and the overcoming of obstacles to point out the only “difference” they see in an applicant, and that’s their skin color. If you went into the application process like that @kaekae, no wonder you were rejected. They probably saw a pompous, self-loathing attitude that you’ve clearly exhibited here. So if my being black is, from your perspective, the sole reason for my acceptance into top schools, then clearly you were at fault for picking such biased institutions (if you went into the process with that attitude).
Thank you for posting this
As an update for anyone interested, I just received my bill for the 2010 fall semester, and after a few modest outside scholarships, I will be attending Baylor for free and with several hundred dollars in credit, too. So I guess my lesson is: things will work out wherever you go.