My Unfortunate Experience

Applying to College
1

<p>I applied 27 colleges, rejected by 24, waitlisted by 2 and accepted by 1. Why?</p>

<p>Stats:
Major: Physics
SAT 2070 superscore 800 Math 570 Critical Reading 700 Writing
SAT 2 Physics 800 Math II 800
GPA 3.6 Chinese HS
Good ECs
20 Years Old trying to get to college
Cal Resident, rejected from UCB UCLA UCSD, waitlisted at UC Davis
All ivies rejected (applied 7)
CMU waitlisted
Boston U and Boston College rejected
UChicago, Duke, JHU, USC rejected
Accepted: RPI
Do you guys think I am unfortunate? I should probably give up my education or go to community college?</p>

2

<p>RPI’s a good school! Put the others behind you and go there.</p>

3

<p>

</p>

<p>Mainly you were misinformed about how college admissions works.</p>

<p>I will not speak for the UCs, but all of the privates you applied to were either selective or highly selective and your CR score would be a concern for all of them. You were likely WL to CMU based on your science/math.</p>

<p>Also, if you are an Intl. applicant, it’s even tougher.</p>

<p>Finally, IMO that’s too many schools to apply to because there is no way to send excellent applications to all of them.</p>

4

<p>Doesn’t seem like you applied to any middle of the pack schools. Wouldn’t say unfortunate but not very well played. I don’t know what “Good EC’s” mean, good to you could mean something totally different to someone else. You said you’re 20, which also is a factor where those two years went, beings normally 17/18 is the entry college age.</p>

<p>Not to mention, a 3.6 GPA won’t cut it at most of those schools you said, and even a 2070 super score isn’t good enough for the ivy leagues.</p>

5

<p>

I totally agree. Also UCs are getting harder to get into (most need a weighted gpa > 4.0).
You really should go to RPI. It is a good school. </p>

<p>You can try transferring to UC from RPI (if UC is where you want to be)
But RPI is a really good school.</p>

6

<p>And you’re terribly misinformed about RPI as well. It’s a fantastic school. I hope you come to realize that rather than wallow in the effects of your unwise planning.</p>

7

<p>MYOMOO</p>

<p>I apologize in advance for being blunt.</p>

<p>I think you received very bad advice in your college search process.</p>

<p>Looking at your list, I do not see one safety school. To be honest, I’m not sure that I would class many of the schools on your list as solid matches. (Though I am less familiar with some of the California State schools, so I can’t be sure). RPI, where you have been admitted may be a match, but itI don’t think it was a sure thing.</p>

<p>These schools all look to be highly competitive schools. Your 800 SAT-M is perfect as are your SAT IIs andthey show you are very intelligent. The 700 SAT-W is ok, though it is below average for many of the schools you applied to. The 560 SAT-CR just doesn’t cut it for most of those schools. In and of itself, ithis may have gotten you rejected from many of the schools on your list. Add this to the fact that while a 3.6 GPA (I’m assuming this is unweighted, btw) is certainly good, it’s well below the standard for most of the schools you applied to.</p>

<p>Let’s compare your statistics to those at RPI, where you were accepted. 80% of the enrolling students scored above 600 on the SAT-CR. The mean and median scores are about 660. Your other two SAT Scores are in the top 25% of all admitted students. Approximately 2/3 of RPI students finished in the top 10th of their HS class. Though there is a lot of variance from school to school, a 3.6 UW is generally below the top 10%. So your GPA may be below average, though not out of the ballpark.</p>

<p>So, taking into account the fact that you blew the doors off the SAT-M and SAT-IIs, and RPI IS a science-engineering oriented school, I’d have to this school is “Match-ish” and that your application could have gone either way.</p>

<p>I’m not trying to put you down. You are clearly very accomplished for those 800s. With your grades, one would expect you to go to a very good school. However, for the caliber of schools you’ve applied to, the weaknesses on your transcript cannot be overcome.</p>

<p>In the end, A school like RPI seems like a good fit for you. The focus of the school fits your strengths. Also, it is a very highly reputed school. I think you’ll do well there.</p>

<p>So, to answer your questions – no, I don’t think you were unlucky, just ill-advised. And, no, you shouldn’t go to a Community College, you’ve been admitted to a great place.</p>

8

<p>@zephyr15</p>

<p>Thank you guys. I think my critical reading is bad because I AM AN IMMIGRANT FROM CHINA… My GPA is also from my Chinese HS. I graduated from high school in China.</p>

9

<p>Congratulations on RPI. It really is a wonderful school with a great reputation. Nothing “unfortunate” about that whatsoever. Go celebrate!</p>

10

<p>You’ve done a great job and should be very proud of yourself, RPI is a wonderful school and offers everything you’ll need to be successful and happy. Enjoy!</p>

11

<p>However, my family can never afford the tuition… I don’t know how to achieve my goal to become a physics without college…</p>

12

<p>I am a valeditorian and keep it three year in my high school. I think American HS always give people A. But in Chinese HS, if you get a 80+ in Chinese, or a 90+ on politics, you will be No.1 out of 942</p>

13

<p>I know my weakness is Critical Reading… After all it is not my first language. I spent a lot of tough time practising it. I have to work part-time to help my family. I have to do housework at home… I taught myself calculus when I was 14. I learned statistical thermodynamics when I was 17 and quantum mechanics when I was 19. I hope to be a scientist and think US is a good place to do research… But now I know. Maybe I think I should stay in China instead of immigrating… I could have gotten to a top 10 college in China… </p>

<p>I took Chinese College Entrance Examination, and ranked 5,200 out of 320,000. The test is much harder than SAT (except english section) because there is only 30% multiple choices… Math and physics is much harder</p>

14

<p>Did you apply for financial aid at RPI? Hopefully that may be able to help you a little. (sorry if this has already been addressed, but I skimmed through the thread)</p>

15

<p>I think you guys who were born in US are very lucky. I hope you can work hard at college and become useful and successful people in the society, making great contribution to human race. I think I will end up with community college and then become a waiter or a factory worker in the future.</p>

16

<p>Yes. But I still need $14000, which is not possible for my family to afford…</p>

17

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</p>

<p>I know you’re very disappointed, but please try to listen to what people are telliing you. No one here is faulting you for your CR score, heaven knows how we’d all do after a few years of studying Chinese! What we’re trying to do is give you the facts about how US college admissions works. The information you got about admissions here was faulty, and unfortunately there’s nothing you can do about it now except to learn from the experience and apply that knowledge to future endeavors.</p>

<p>Have you considered studying in China and coming to the US for graduate school? It is very difficult for all students, and even more so for Intl. students, to afford the high cost of an undergraduate degree in the US these days. Often graduate programs are supported by teaching or research assistantships.</p>

18

<p>@MYOMOO - You really should calm down.
It is not fair to say American HS give people A’s. You are angry and blaming others.
You have no idea of been in American HS. Everyone has challenges and believe me, the folks who got to the top schools in the US , they have worked very very hard and some of them have balanced other life challenges as well.
Your college list just wasn’t right. If your grades in HS were so good, why are the UC’s not accepting you. They are very familiar with International grade translation.
You got accepted to RPI which is a FANTASTIC school for Sciences.
If you think you are too good for RPI, really you should stay in China, complete your undergrad and then apply to US, If berekely/ucla/stanford is your goal and nothing else.</p>

<p>Also are you in China or US currently? If your income is low and you are immigrant, you should be getting financial aid.</p>

<p>While we sympathize with your situation and trying to help, undermining US education is immature on your part. America is about a ‘can do’ attitude and right now is the time to pull yourself together and count what you have. There are a lot of people that would trade places with you.</p>

<p>Wait…I saw you are 20. When did you graduate high school? Maybe you should have done your undergrad in China. See you are a specialized candidate. But you are writing as if the top colleges should roll out the red carpet for you. There are certain thresholds and requirements that needs to be met.</p>

19

<p>Sorry. I am not undermining US HS system. I know probably I am not qualified for this colleges. I just feel too upset. I think everyone accepted by these colleges are qualified. American students are suitable for American colleges…</p>

20

<p>Maybe setbacks can help me grow up. I wish one day I will succeed, but I never know when it will be…</p>