Hey guys. This is going to be personal post and I need your help figuring out how to best deal with change.
As a high school senior, I was in love with Rice. I applied ED but got rejected, which really hurt me. I have never cried so much in my life. To be honest, I was nowhere near being a competitive applicant. 1360 SAT. 800 Spanish SAT II, 610 Biology SAT II. Top 10% of class. 94/100 GPA wieighted.
Ultimately, I applied to 20ish schools. Got rejected to all of my reaches (USC, Princeton, Wesleyan, Tufts, etc.). Waitlisted at Colby, Vandy, and Hamilton. Got into some good schools (Case Western, Brandeis, Occidental, Holy Cross). But in the end decided to attend Williams College. In all honestly, the only reason I chose Williams was because it was the best school I got into.
Coming in, I actually was really excited because during the summer after graduation, I realized that I was more than lucky to have been accepted to Williams. I had been the only one from my school who had gotten in, so my self-esteem went up and I was feeling better. However, because I didn’t choose Williams according to fit, I quickly came to realize that I didn’t enjoy the school at all.
It felt too small. It wasn’t as diverse as I had hoped. And to be honest, I was extremely lonely. Given its location and close-knit community, I had a hard time adjusting to the culture. Especially as a low-income, gay, first-gen, POC at a PWI. My first year was miserable but I still pulled through it. However, coming back, things got worse and I hit my breaking point. At the end of the Fall 2019 semester, I decided to withdraw from Williams.
I’m currently living at home, working full-time, and applying to transfer for Fall 2020.
Despite my personal issues, I still tried to focus on my academics. However, things went downhill. I went from a 3.58 GPA to a 3.46 GPA as a result of one C I got. The majority of my grades are B+, A-'s, and A’s (11/13 total classes). During my time at Williams, I was heavily involved on campus to reduce my loneliness. I received two fellowships, did two internships, and had a couple of leadership positions during my three semesters there. I made the Dean’s List every semester (with the exception of the last one) and created strong relationshis with my professors.
I’ve decided to apply to 20 schools to transfer to. I know it’s a lot. Brown, USC, Emory, Vandy, UVA, BU, Tulane, Stony Brook, Columbia, UMichigan, Rice, Cornell, NYU, Binghamton, CUNY Baruch, CUNY Hunter, Wesleyan, UPenn, Northwestern, and Johns Hopkins. Given my GPA, I know I will most likely get rejections, even though I explained my circumstances and the reason for my C last semester.
I’m so much happier now that I’m no longer at Williams. However, the BIG QUESTION is: how do I deal with the anxiety of waiting for admission decisions? I see some of friends going back to school or getting accepted into top schools and sometimes I feel upset/sad that I decided to drop Williams. By biggest fear is not getting accepted into a school of similar caliber/academic rigor. I’m hopeful that I might get into Emory or UVA or Vandy, but I’m still nervous about all this.
Thanks for any tips/advice/suggestions you guys have!!