Wow!
You give up quickly, kid, welcome to the real world. You had NO chance at all your reach schools, but they took your application $$ because you thought you were special. Your GC and parents said, " Let’s apply and see what happens–why NOT you?" The piles of college brochures in your mailbox suggested you were a player. But all they wanted was your money and the chance to turn you down to reduce their acceptance rates.
You don’t have tippy-top SATS and class rank rules. All schools rank-you just don’t understand - every school sends a bar chart with GPA and # of students…it is usually a bell curve except in GPA inflated schools. Your GC COULD have written
“He/She is one of the hardest working leaders in our school” but she didn’t. You are not full pay? Blame your parents for their professional but not ultra-wealthy paying jobs if you must, but plenty of white kids get great merit scholarships. My guess is that you didn’t apply to those schools because of your ego.
Taking a few AP courses (not 8 or more with 4/5 scores) summer college courses, and competing at MUN or Science competitions, not holding leadership roles, or excelling athletically is THE path to tippy top colleges…so what exactly is your excuse? It’s not like you didn’t have access to the recipe.
Entitlement is ugly–grow up quick or you will be shell-shocked in college or in the job market. Mediocrity sinks to the bottom and ends up living in their parents’ basement begging for MORE money to go to grad school because “they didn’t know.” No one will tell you to go to class, study hard, or get in line for office hours. There is no extra credit. Learn to become a leader, otherwise, you are just a follower. Good news is that the world needs plenty of them.
So what to do? Prove us all wrong - game on. You have every advantage if you can put your ego aside, work hard, and realize nothing is coming to you without hard work.
P.S. Harsh, yes…but if you got the stuff, you can get to wherever you want to go–but the world is very different than your parents’ generation, so get a new playbook and learn to be a starter…not a bench warmer. I bet you can do it!