rejected left and right. now i have no idea what to do.

Parents Forum
1

<p>I’m looking for anyone who can give me some advice here. College decisions have not played out the way anyone expected them to for me. I have basically had a series of disappointments with a few acceptances along the way. Here are the results I have so far:</p>

<p>Accepted:
University of Wisconsin Honors
Johns Hopkins University
George Washington University</p>

<p>Rejected:
Northwestern University
Georgetown University (this was crushing)</p>

<p>Deferred EA:
Yale University ( I hear about RD tomorrow)</p>

<p>Waiting to hear from:
Yale RD
Tufts</p>

<p>I honestly had my heart set on Georgetown and I just got the rejection from them today. My whole family lives within 20 minutes of the school and I am extremely close to them. Georgetown also offered all the things that I wanted, including a lightweight women’s crew program. I understand that I have been accepted into some wonderful schools, and I certainly appreciate that but I’m not entirely comfortable with the ones that I am into.</p>

<p>Hopkins: I LOVE this school, but I am absolutely passionate about rowing and the varsity crew teams just lost their funding, so there will not be a rowing program in Fall of 2009.</p>

<p>GW: Not the environment I was looking for AT ALL. I applied here as a safety school per the advice of my college counselor and guidance counselor at school.</p>

<p>Wisconsin: I like it somewhat, but I was looking for a school with a bit more academic rigor. This was also a safety school for me. Plus, I am extremely uncomfortable with being that far away from my family.</p>

<p>Even if I were to get into a school like Yale (which, based on my other decisions, I highly doubt would happen), I couldn’t row their because they are national champions and I am not skilled nor strong enough to have a place on their team (I have been talking with the coach). Tufts is not one of my first choices either.</p>

<p>Basically I feel like I have been royally screwed over. I have worked ridiculously hard for 12 years of school and I feel as though I don’t have that much to show for it.
I really don’t mean to sound as though I am whining but can anyone offer some advice?</p>

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<p>First, slow down and take a deeeeeeep breath. Your rejection from Georgetown is, what – like, 3 hours old? I’m sorry that you had your heart set on it and that you didn’t get in, but things really do work out for the best. </p>

<p>I’ll leave it to others to be logical and supportive. I just wanted to be supportive.</p>

<p>You need to sleep on this and let it roll around in your head for a few days. Everything is too fresh. And let’s see what happens with Tufts, shall we?</p>

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<p>You weren’t “rejected left and right.” You were rejected by TWO schools. Two. So right now, acceptances outweigh rejections. Congratulations!</p>

4

<p>saxophonegirl, I’m sorry.</p>

<p>It sounds like you are feeling crushed, shocked, humiliated, cheated, frustrated, and, well, rejected.</p>

<p>I’m really sorry.</p>

<p>For the moment, my advice is to regroup, bask in the warmth of those who love you, feel bad, cry. </p>

<p>There will be time to think about your next steps. </p>

<p>Regarding next year. Whatever you read or consider or think: imho, reread, reconsider, rethink in a few days.</p>

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<p>From the title I was expecting to see a post from someone who was truly rejected left and right, had no acceptances, and didn’t know what to do now. As it is, you already have some nice acceptances in-hand including from colleges close to where you live since you want to remain close to your home. I agree with ‘owlice’ - congratulations!</p>

6

<ol>
<li><p>Take VeryHappy’s advice.</p></li>
<li><p>After you take VeryHappy’s advice, and you are really calmed down, do the following:</p></li>
</ol>

<p>– Investigate what is going to happen with crew at JHU. Worst case, it’s going to turn into a club sport, like lots of crew programs. Some crew clubs are very, very serious about their sport. You might like this a lot, and if your family is all within 20 minutes of Georgetown, they are all within 60 minutes, or less of Hopkins. (Which, by the way, by my lights, is a better academic situation than Georgetown, but it’s not worth debating that.) In other words, Hopkins could be perfectly wonderful. It’s a great university, and you really should be happy about having been accepted there.</p>

<p>– Take a much harder look at Wisconsin. It’s also a great university. Don’t turn up your nose at it. As a large state school, it has a broad range of students, but it has some very strong students in its honors programs. If you look as Wisconsin’s honors programs, I’ll bet they are pretty darn comparable to Georgetown in terms of the students there. (Not so long ago, Wisconsin was considered much better than Georgetown.) There is no way that you are so good that you will run out of opportunities and challenges at Wisconsin – no one, not even whoever the next Stephen Hawking is, is that good. Plus, traditionally it’s one of the Meccas for crew, just a great place to be a rower (if you are good enough to row there). Yeah, it’s far away, but lots of people go far away to college and thrive. This is another really great opportunity you have been given.</p>

<p>I know you are feeling bad, but as an objective, neutral adult who doesn’t know you at all, it’s IMPOSSIBLE for me to feel sad about a girl who has a chance to go to Hopkins or Wisconsin. (I don’t know as much about GWU, except I know it has lots of fans, too.) When you get over your understandable disappointment about Georgetown, it really ought to be impossible for you to feel sad, too, because you have great options.</p>

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<p>Agree with Owlice and your acceptances aren’t chopped liver. Congratulations on the fabulous acceptances!</p>

<p>I’m sorry you’re feeling crushed. Like Very Happy said, you need to take a deep breath, take a walk, take a nap, whatever…</p>

<p>It doesn’t sound like Yale would be a good fit if you don’t want to be far away from your family.</p>

<p>And as for the funding for the rowing team, that might happen even at (gasp!) Georgetown - I don’t think anything is non-negotiable in this economy.</p>

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<p>And you’re still waiting to hear from two schools yet. If you want to feel miserable right now, go ahead and be my guest. But I don’t advise it. You don’t have all the information you need yet.</p>

<p>Far be it from me to advise a HS senior to go have a beer – that wouldn’t be proper, would it – so instead I’ll advise you to go for a jog. A long jog, with the iPod blasting. Come back in an hour and tell us how you’re doing.</p>

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<p>Wow you guys are amazing. I hadn’t even considered the option of crew becoming a club sport. I just emailed the head coach to see if he has any updates on the funding situation.</p>

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<p>alright, im a student - a junior, and im not going to lie, ive got big dreams too! I feel your pain, but at the same time, u HAVE to force urself to believe what has happened has happened only for the absolute best. Plus, come on now, lets be realistic schools like JHU are a DREAM for many of us - including myself. I say, yes its okay to eat some icecream and be sad over goergetown for a little while, but seriously look at the positives too!</p>

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<p>I’m sorry you’re feeling upset and hope that before too long you can come to appreciate all you have, terrific acceptances, a will to succeed and a great educational foundation that will serve you well at whichever college you choose. Keep the glass half full.</p>

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<p>You got into some great schools, at which you’ll learn a lot and have wonderful experiences. </p>

<p>Look forward to that.</p>

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<p>I still can’t understand the selection of safety schools that one could not stand to attend.
Wisconsin and Hopkins are very viable options for you. Agree-check into the status of crew at Hopkins. Usually a program doesn’t just vanish- it turns into a club sport.</p>

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<p>I want to congratulate all the posters replying on this board for biting their tongues.</p>

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<p>What major are you planning on doing?</p>

<p>You are not super serious with rowing as characterized by amenable to “light weight” women crew program at Georgetown and the fact that you don’t think you can progress to the point to be in a top national team at Yale but you totally discount JHU for dropping their crew program. Like previous poster said, JHU will most likely have an intramural or club crew team, or possibly there will be enough push back from the current team to reinstate the program. I may be wrong but it seems to me that this is not a real deal breaker that you seem to suggest. JHU is a dream school for many, it can’t really be that bad even if you can only row in a club team, IMHO.</p>

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<p>Considering there are CC readers who’d give their eye teeth to have acceptances that you’ve already bagged, consider yourself lucky. Time and distance from the rejections will help wonders. Where ever you land, and it sounds like it will be somewhere great, just do so we’ll you’ll “make 'em sorry.”</p>

<p>BTW, I have a friend who’s daughter got in ED to JHU and was estatic. And I know what you mean about crew. I was on the U of Washington crew team in the late 70’s and still carry fond memories of it (just tracked down two boat mates on Facebook!)</p>

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<p>The college admissions process is unpredictable. Your friend got into Georgetown but not Hopkins. You got into Hopkins but not Georgetown. A couple of years ago, one of my daughter’s friends got into Northwestern but not Hopkins. You had the opposite result.</p>

<p>All of these colleges are at similar levels of selectivity (so is Tufts, which you have yet to hear from), but they choose different students. The college admissions officers may know why one person was admitted and another was not; students and parents don’t.</p>

<p>Your college counselor and GC are idiots for encouraging you to apply to a safety school that you don’t like. I think they were assuming that your main reason for wanting to go to Georgetown was that you like Washington, DC, so therefore they suggested another school in Washington as a safety. But it doesn’t really matter now because you don’t have to go there. You have two excellent choices in Hopkins and Wisconsin, and you might have another choice in a day or two (Yale is, of course, a longshot, but Tufts is not impossible for someone with the credentials to get into Hopkins – and it’s easier to travel to from your area than Wisconsin is).</p>

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<p>Doesn’t Yale have several boats, so if you want to row you could just row in like the 3rd or 4th boat (JV)? Most people drop out of crew because it’s too hard, so I think there would be spots open on the lower boats.</p>

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<p>I am sorry about your disappointment but congratulate you on your acceptances.</p>

<p>I think you will find the Wisconsin honors program very rigorous; in fact, if it has the same standards it did when I was there decades ago you will not be permitted to stay in it unless you maintain a 3.0, though of course you will still be at school. You will discover that there are a lot of extremely bright and sophisticated students around you. Rowing would be very strong there, too, I think. And Lake Mendota is beautiful.</p>

<p>If you love Hopkins, then it is a great choice too. Surely rowing would remain as a club sport.</p>

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<p>Sorry…but you have some EXCELLENT choices here. GW and Hopkins are close enough to your family also. G’town is also in DC. Surely one of these schools will work out for you.</p>

<p>You didn’t get accepted at your number one choice. Time to move on to one of the great acceptances you DID receive.</p>