<p>yup i’ve looked big picture and am not stressing it much to be honest. I do want to work hard on my essays and at my internship/job because I realized I could regret it years later if I don’t, but I’ve read (and seen the numbers), it’s way more about what one does when they get to college rather than what college they get to. In fact, part of the reason I care is that it would almost be a culmination of many of my efforts for essentially my whole life. Do I want to get in and probably go to some of the super-selective schools on my list? Yes, but I don’t feel that I need to or it would hurt me much not to. I think a study was done showing that those who turned down an ivy league acceptance did just as well in life, and I think I am good enough to be an above average student ability wise at pretty much every college in the country with the possible exception of caltech so I don’t think not going to one of my reach schools will really hurt me much if at all in the long run. </p>