Great expectations...

College Search & Lists
1

<p>I vaguely remember seeing a similar thread (or stories relevant to this subject in other threads), but since I can’t find it, I’m starting a new one.</p>

<p>Have you ever encountered people too ambitious for their own good? Are you such a person yourself?</p>

<p>These questions are inspired by a classmate of mine who applied to Yale, Princeton and a few other schools of similar calibre (MIT and Harvard maybe. I don’t really remember), but got rejected from all of them. Bear in mind that this is an amazing student with excellent test scores, near-perfect grades and serious science awards.</p>

<p>Unfortunately for this person, schools like Princeton receive great applications from more people than they can admit, and somehow this classmate of mine fell through the cracks at each of the top schools she applied to.</p>

<p>The list of schools she applied to was not very long. In fact, I think she had a single safety on it: Bowdoin.</p>

<p>She got a full-ride scholarship to Bowdoin.</p>

<p>Overall, she was very dissatisfied with her results. Her sibling goes to one of HYPS, and I can only assume that she’s always felt pressure (or put pressure on herself, more like) to match her sibling’s success. In this light, going to Bowdoin must look a lot like defeat.</p>

<p>Ultimately, this person decided to take a gap year and reapply to Stanford.</p>

<p>Now–and sorry for making you read such a long expose–maybe I’m approaching the issue from a completely different point of view, but I’d love to go to Bowdoin. From the superficial research I’ve done on it, I’ve concluded that I’d fall in love with it immediately, if given the chance. It’s not Harvard or Princeton, but really, is it so unappealing that you’d put your life on hold for a year (we’re talking about someone who never intended to take a gap year and is very bitter about it) rather than go there? There must be <em>some</em> people who’d choose Bowdoin over HYPS. (This is very hypothetical to me, but personally, I’d rather go to Bowdoin than one of these schools, as amazing as they are.)</p>

<p>Is my classmate’s decision, in your opinion, reasonable, or is her ambition doing her more harm than good? It’s one thing to prefer a large university to a liberal arts college, but my classmate’s decision is largely motivated by 1. her desire to go to a big-name college for the sake of it, and 2. her rivalry with her sibling, which exists largely in her own head. I think she’s making a mistake.</p>

<p>Phew. I’m done. If you don’t wish to comment on my story but have other stories to share, feel free!</p>

<p>And again, sorry for the long post.</p>

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<p>There is a very high chance that your classmate will not get into Stanford, and by then she will have lost out on a year, spending it wallowing in her own misery. She did not get a full scholarship from Bowdoin, they only give need-based aid. Her very low income contributed to her large grants.</p>

3

<p>I think I know somebody who applied ED to Bowdoin and EA to MIT and got into both. He went to Bowdoin, and I think he’s happy about it. (Never talked to the guy except for one lab day in earth science.)</p>

4

<p>It is quite reasonable to choose Bowdoin over any other college in the country. It’s especially so when offered outstanding aid. But because Bowdoin doesn’t offer merit aid of any kind, your friend should be just as likely to be admitted with the same aid package a year from now as she was this year. If she wants another shot at Stanford, that’s fine, and the gap year should do her no harm.</p>

<p>BTW, I’d take Bowdoin over a lot of big name schools too.</p>

5

<p>If I was in her shoes, I would go to Bowdoin on a full scholarship and then do my best to get into a good grad school. Saves a lot of money.</p>