how has the admissions process changed you as a person?

Applying to College
1

<p>Mainly for those of the high school class of 2012 or older – I know most of those younger can’t say anything yet. :stuck_out_tongue: </p>

<p>I can’t say the process has given me grey hairs, but it seems like I’ve aged more these past six months than I have the three years before that. When I watch people only one year my junior list off their desired schools, I now know a little bit of what it’s like to be that cynical veteran in the war movie shaking his head at the idealistic naive recruits who talk excitedly about seeing some action. </p>

<p>Of course, we all went into this knowing our top choices were tough schools, and we told ourselves, “I’m not counting on getting in.” But everyone secretly thought they deserved their choices; we told ourselves how it’ll make everything fall into place; our maverick element that makes us human – individual ambition – didn’t care about statistics.</p>

<p>I don’t want to lessen the gravity of those who’ve fought in a war in making this comparison, but it really feels like I’ve been through a war. If you think the burning of the midnight oil during junior year was bad, oh, how many agonising nights did I stay up doing essays and applications and FA on top of schoolwork, debate constructions and swim practices. Then I would realise, “Oh it’s 6:40 am already?” and the ride on the school bus would be otherworldly and dolourous where the world would pass by around you and talk of how much your schoolmates drank the other night or how much pot they smoked but you don’t even flinch because your mind is too pre-occupied with something else. This year feels like it’s lasted forever, and yet I can barely remember anything of it. It feels somewhat like coming out of a really long dream. Not a nightmare, but sort of like that dream where you’re always on a perpetual search or a constantly interrupted obligation to rectify something; when you wake up, you feel disconcerted somehow.</p>

<p>And then you get your letters of course; the disappointment, the rationalisation, and maybe the euphoria. But then, after you’ve definitively made your choice and investigated further, it suddenly strikes you at how a lot of things you thought would matter when you entered this process, suddenly doesn’t.</p>

<p>But of course the adults will laugh – they’re more world-weary, while I’m only a 17 year old high school senior who’s barely experienced any of the real world yet! And to a certain extent I am still very idealistic, with grand plans and ambitions for what I want to study and want to research. But yet, I can’t help think that it seems that I’ve grown five years older these six months.</p>

2

<p>i have changed in the sense that I now know how competitive the world is.</p>

3

<p>I don’t think that’s really personal development though … but anyway.</p>

4

<p>I know this sounds hippie-like, but I’ve seriously re-examined what I do, especially as extracurriculars, and realized that I have trouble with sticking with things that are harder, like debate. It’s made me want to become more involved and more determined to stick with specific ECs in college.</p>

5

<p>It’s made me think harder about who I am, what I want my life to be like, where I want to go and what I want to do. I know myself much better now than I did in September.</p>

<p>It’s also proven to me that I can take on a project like applying to college, with very little guidance from others (my parents, counselors, etc. didn’t do all that much), and do it successfully and achieve what I set out to do. I’m a more responsible person these days…even if my physics teacher still doesn’t think so.</p>

<p>And, of course, I learned how to deal with disappointment and rejection (oh, Columbia and BC) and how to think carefully about the financial implications of things (oh, NYU). Maybe some CCers (and other people) will see me as something of a failure at this whole admissions process, since I’m headed to my safety school. I’ve learned a lot, though, and I’m ready for an honors program at a very cheap school I love. :D</p>

6

<p>I feel as if Ive gotten a first taste of what adult life is like, since I had zero support from my parents during the admission circle ( not because they did not want to help their son, but because they had no idea how to actually help me). I definitely feel older and more mature now and I think that rejections played a crucial role here. They are my first disappointment in life but also opened my eyes as to how many bright people are out there. Of course it hurts to get rejected, but I keep telling myself that being accepted in a top30 LAC when you are only a junior is something amazing.</p>

7

<p>Things are unfair, but in some strange, unpredictable way, everything tends to work itself out. I leanred to overlook facts such as rank and prestige. Who cares if I’m not going to Penn or Harvard, because where I go to school does not define me as a person or my abilities.
I never was the person to brag about grades/SATs/ec’s, or tell people where I was applying, and am not an overconifedent narcassist. However, I have a better understanding of me and what I am capable of. No, I didn’t study for the SATs, blew off a few classes and missed a fair share of school, and it came back to bite me in the @ss. But than again I don’t think I’d be suited for some pyshco academically obsessed school. I took it easy when I could have given a little extra effort, maybe take Latin another year, join a club and play another sport. And now I realize potential and ability is not enough to compensate for lack of effort.
This process has shown me that you get what you put in. Well, in most cases, and to make the best of the situation, because things are not a random coincidence, the events that unfold in our lives are meaningful.</p>

8

<p>I know now that the world is not a perfect place. Money matters, and often people are judged on factors far beyond their control.</p>

9

<p>Beautiful post by the OP! I feel the same way. I can’t believe that just last year, college seemed so far away. With the past four years being entirely concentrated on getting into my dream school, the sudden loss of that goal really hit me hard. I was working my butt off every day for that goal. I pushed myself and refused to slow down because of that goal. I was telling myself that not getting enough sleep was ok because I was working for that goal, so when one small envelope told you that this goal was gone, that was devastating. One small envelope to negate four years of work. In fact, the bitterness of it all is still so strong that I can’t even bear to look at my dream school’s name. </p>

<p>I remember as an underclassmen and not understanding how some people who I thought were brilliant seniors didn’t get into their top school and some people whom I didn’t admire as much got into Ivy Leagues. I remember seeing that but still being confident that the admissions process was in my favor. Now, I see underclassmen with the same kind of shining eyes that I had last year, confident that their dream school was perfect for them, and I do feel like a veteran. What sucks about all of this is that I’m no longer excited about college anymore. It’s just another school I’m going to in the fall, and that’s it.</p>

10

<p>"
But of course the adults will laugh – they’re more world-weary, while I’m only a 17 year old high school senior who’s barely experienced any of the real world yet"</p>

<p>I don’t think that many if any adults will laugh about your post or about how much going through the college app process affects teen’s lives.</p>

<p>For most teens, their decisions about college are their first time making a major decision about their lives. They have to think long and hard about issues ranging from who they are and what they want out of life to the impact of finances, moving away from home, etc.</p>

<p>The successes, mistakes and disappointments in the process will teach them a lot, and how they react to all of those things reflects their developing characters as adults. They’ll use for their lifetime the lessons they learned through this process, including the lessons learned through disappointments and mistakes.</p>

11

<p>As a parent I also feel the process changed my perspective quite a bit. In my family we were not fixated on certain colleges, or a certain tier of colleges over the last few years. We thought only generally about making sure to build a strong transcript, good grades and test scores, that would hopefully be helpful in whatever schools the kids applied to.</p>

<p>Well, when my son and I started (late in his junior year) to actually think about specific schools, to learn more about them, to visit a few, things started to gather a kind of steam. A variety of factors got us to the point where we were looking at some of the very most selective schools. Then you start to feel that creeping anxiety; can he thread the needle? will they take him in?</p>

<p>As things turned out for us, it was pretty painless. He chose a first choice school, applied ED, and was accepted. All the years of work leading up to it, all the effort he put into his application, everything “paid off” I guess. He’s very happy about where he’s going and I am happy for him.</p>

<p>But even with that fairly seamless process, I come out of it tired of hype, tired of buzz, tired of the desperate longing by parents and kids for certain brand name schools. I don’t have the slightest interest in engaging in that sweepstakes again.</p>

<p>My daughter is next. Last week we went to a “preview day” at the state U. It was really great. Exciting even. It will be a great option for her, even though she’s an even stronger student than my son is, and his strengths got him into a marquee school. But it felt so REAL at the state U, it was intensely refreshing. She felt it to.</p>

<p>So that’s how it’s changed me. All that stuff very smart people say on these boards about how there are a LOT of places where a student can learn, excel, blossom, move forward in their lives… it all makes a much deeper level of sense to me now.</p>

12

<p>It was what I expected, so no major change. However, it was stressful and required much more effort for D than for S who is much older.</p>

13

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<p>Definitely.</p>

<p>I’ve learned that you get out of life what you put into it. Also, like Elastine said in post #8 – money matters. I may not be able to attend my first choice because my family doesn’t have the money, but I’ve slowly begun to realize that it will be okay. I have no reason to complain, really, because my second best school is a fantastic and respected public university.</p>

<p>Happiness is a choice.</p>

14

<p>Up to this point in my life, I’ve been a procrastinating, lethargic, responsibility-avoiding driftwood with a crippling cognitive dissonance concerning what I want from life. My attitude towards the future, for as long as I can remember, has been laughably immature at best; my stubborn mindset derailed any attempts at taking advantage of the present, such that I slipped into a near comatose of hopelessness and acceptance; and my childish disdain for planning, goals, and dreams left my palate with the bitter and lingering taste of past regrets. I was in a mental rut that was so deep it altered my perception of the world, and an emotional haze that was so dark it blurred my perception of myself. The greatest realization was that I have done more harm to myself than the whole conniving world could possibly have conceived, despite my most paranoid inclinations. Having always shunned the cliche mental prescriptions espoused by a weak and simplistic society, I had nonetheless bracketed myself with the stereotype that all those cheerful childrens’ television shows sought to condemn: pessimistic, indolent, and lonely.</p>

<p>All of this changed with college admissions. Thank you, college admissions.</p>

15

<p>I feel like the whole application process knocked several years off of my life. It’s hard to believe that’s it’s all over. I still feel like I’m waiting for decisions, haha.</p>

<p>Anyway, well said, OP. I agree completely.</p>

16

<p>a very humbling experience for both student and parents</p>

17

<p>

QFT</p>

<p>10char</p>

18

<p>I’ve learned that hard work doesn’t pay off.</p>

<p>Yes, I’m bitter.</p>

19

<p>i’ve learned life isn’t always fair</p>

<p>it sounds so simple yet you never really get it until… well… you get waitlisted by seven schools :)</p>

20

<p>Much more cynical… even though I got into all my schools.</p>