Is it normal to have application remorse?

tk21769
Sun, 17 Jan 2010 10:42:49 +0000

I will note, however, that I am in the middle of the middle 50 percentile for SATs at both Duke and Brown



This is admirable but unfortunately, middle 50 is not all that great a position to be in at schools with very low admit rates. If you’re in the middle range for matriculated students at these schools, then you can expect you’ll need to be well above the middle range of applying students in other areas (grades, ECs, etc.) And middle 50 at Brown or Duke does not mean middle 50 at Harvard. You may have all sorts of other great things going for you, but so do many other kids applying to HYPS. Furthermore, since ECs, etc., are so subjective, top 25% can mean that you not only have to perform exceptionally well, but also do it in unusual areas that grab the adcoms’ attention. Yet another varsity sport or school leadership position may not cut it.

So, although application remorse is normal, you probably were wise to focus your efforts on a smaller number of more likely reach schools, instead of spreading your efforts thin on very unlikely ones.