I’m sorry that you didn’t get into your dream school. No use looking backwards. You are into Fordham, which is a good school. I suspect that you might wind up interested in law school, politics, international relations. Being in DC would probably be a very good thing for you, so I’m glad that you applied to Georgetown, American, and GW. I think that you would do well at any of these schools. I don’t know if Cornell would be the right fit for you - it’s not located near any center of political activity/power. Even Albany is too far for you to get to for internships during school. Northwestern? Well, you do have Chicago local politics, maybe not the best place for what you’re interested in. I think that you would do very well at Fordham, or at any of the three DC schools.
My dream school was Cornell, because I had gone there for the summer before senior year of high school. I was a lazy student, and I didn’t get in. I wound up at Penn, which it turned out was a FAR better school for me. Looking back, it was the best thing that could have happened for me. I reassure you that whichever of the schools you wind up at, even if it’s Fordham, you will do very well there, and wind up feeling as if it was the best thing that could have happened for you. Fordham, in addition to being a good school, gives you access to NYC politics, which is certainly a very big playing field.
Don’t beat yourself up about it too much. Shrug it off, and look forward. You’re going to do really well, whether it’s at Fordham, or any of the other schools you’re still waiting to hear from.