Is it really that hard to get in?

unalove
Mon, 17 Dec 2007 23:06:33 +0000

Adaman, I can tell you exactly what I did on the night I was admitted to Chicago:


Jumped around with glee as my heart raced. 2 min.
Called grandparents (grandmother was still alive at that point, congratulated me, still thought I was going to Princeton). 5 min.
Called other family in tandem to tell them the news. Congratulated me on getting into the University of Illinois. 5 min.
Called a friend or two who specified that they wanted to know. Some had already been deferred/rejected, so I tried to package my news as lightly as possible. 10 min.
Learned a good friend had been deferred. This was not the first time I got something that my good friend did not. Played guidance counselor with her, even though I knew she in part blamed me for her deferral, because I had competed against her for a spot on the newspaper and the literary magazine and had won both times. 30 min.
Looked over housing packet, had fight with mom over dorm I liked the most. Filled out housing form, requested single. 60 min.
Went out for dinner at our usual Chinese restaurant. 60 min.
Stared into space, unable to do work. 4 hours.
Went to bed.


**

I remember telling select teachers and asking my friends not to publicize my acceptance. (My high school is extroadinarily competitive and our year seemed to be the Year of Deferrals). I also remember somebody who was deferred from her first choice school, somebody whom I considered a friend, and somebody whom I had not told of my acceptance came up to me in the hallway:

“So, unalove, I heard you were admitted to the University of Chicago. Chicago’s such an easy school to get into… are you sure you aren’t underselling yourself? I mean, everybody gets into Chicago. It’s prestigious and all, but nobody in their right mind would actually go, 'cuz it’s where fun comes to die.”

Yeah, um, thanks!

For those of you keeping score, my Chicago EA admittance gave me about 2 minutes of unhindered euphoria before reality began seeping in. It further strained relationships with somebody I wanted to consider a good friend and it lost me another.

Great times.



What was actually much more emotionally significant for me was my high school boyfriend’s deferral from Harvard. I just remember sitting on his couch and cradling him while he cried like a baby. After he felt he had cried enough, we started talking about Keira Knightley and Richard Feynman. His deferral was an incredibly humbling experience for somebody so used to succeeding at everything, and I think it’s made him into a better person. (He was admitted to Harvard RD, as it turned out).