<p>Rejected early from Columbia, even though I was well qualified. What do you think? And money’s pretty tight, so if Yale really is a waste of time and money, I’d be better off saving the $16 from the CSS Profile.</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>:) Natalie</p>
<p>While Yale is, on the whole, more selective than Columbia (though this does not make Columbia a “lower ivy”), admissions is subjective enough that your Columbia rejection does not necessarily indicate a Yale rejection. In fact, your stats definitely make you competitive.</p>
<p>Haha, hours ago I would have killed anyone who dared call Columbia a “lower ivy”. I’m trying to detach right now though.</p>
<p>Thanks, this gave a little confidence, though the Yale supplement is intimidating enough to steer me away. I’m sort of going through the oh-my-god-im-not-getting-in-anywhere-lets-apply-to-20-schools-by-dec-31 thing…</p>
<p>Listen to the silverturtle. He is wise. :)</p>
<p>You look like a steller applicant, apply apply and you’ll end up happy somewhere.</p>
<p>I am sorry for your rejection; I am sure you are hurting. But don’t lose your focus. It doesn’t make sense either to now fail to apply to other selective schools or now apply to 30 out of panic.</p>
<p>You have good scores; you are a competitive applicant. The only thing I might ask is if you could review your application for real depth of passion and personality. Does it really paint a picture of an interesting person that would be a good travel companion with whom to drive across Texas? If not, think about ways to stand out more/give yourself a coherent theme.</p>
<p>Keep swinging the bat at the selective schools, but don’t start flailing wildly.</p>
<p>If you like Yale you should apply. Two years ago one of my sons friends was rejected by Brown, Yale and Columbia but accepted at Princeton, Dartmouth and Penn. It is a bit random for the top kids. Another student I know was deferred by Cornell ED ( accepted RD), rejected by Dartmouth RD but accepted by Williams RD. He ended up at Williams. My son was deferred by Dartmouth ED ( accepted RD) and rejected by Williams RD. He ended up at Dartmouth where he is very happy. It all works out in the end. Take a few days to get over the shock and then think about schools that you love. Apply there!</p>
<p>If you have the time, then definitely apply. I know that you might have financial issues, but a shot at Yale is worth it. I have a friend who got accepted to Yale but rejected from Brown and Northwestern. Because Yale is even internationally need blind, your chances of admission will not be affect by your financial status. Give it a shot. You might get in.</p>
<p>^ agreed! but only apply if you truely want to go there… not just because it’s an ivy</p>
<p>Oh, I most definitely love Yale. I went for an on-campus interview this past summer, and it went great (but I don’t see how it couldn’t go great. The interviewer was awesome and my friends had similarly excellent experiences). </p>
<p>I would have applied to Yale SCEA, but I was intimidated. Wanting to have the college admissions process done by Christmas, I took the selectivity down a notch and applied to Columbia (which I was equally enamored with).</p>
<p>Well, now that Columbia’s out of the picture, I guess I should apply to Yale. I don’t know, I feel like I’ve been burned by Columbia. I invested <em>so much</em> time into visits, essays, re-analyzing my supplement over and over…now I don’t want to LOVE a college before I apply. However, to have any shot at any selective school, it seems as if you need to have your future mapped out and ready to detail it in the supplement.</p>
<p>Ugh. This sucks.</p>
<p>But thank you everyone <3</p>
<p>You said yourself that you are well qualified. If you honestly like Yale, why not apply? If the application fee is a barrier, there are always fee waivers.</p>
<p>BTW - I interviewed on campus as well; the interviewers are really engaging and nice!</p>
<p>Sorry about the Columbia decision, but don’t let it discourage you from applying to Yale and other highly selective schools. Highly selective college admissions have a strong subjective element, and for a student who is not just throwing an application at the wall to see if it sticks, one rejection has limited predictive value. So if you were qualified for Columbia (and by that I mean mid-50% range on grades and scores, rigorous curriculum, strong ECS and recs) then you should have a good range of choices in April.</p>
<p>“Rejected early from Columbia, even though I was well qualified.”</p>
<p>Most people applying to Ivies are “well-qualified.” Example: Brown rejects 3/4 of the Valedictorians that apply and 80% of applicants who got an 800 on their SAT math.</p>
<p>Many applicants believe that if they are qualified they should get in; hence the “I feel burned” feeling." </p>
<p>But for the most selective schools sterling qualifications put you in the mix; they don’t determine that you will get in, because there are too many OTHER well qualified applicants.</p>
<p>So . . .
<p>Kei</p>
<p>Ah. The classic “Love Thy Safeties.” I never really understood that… Ugh, however I put this is going to come out arrogant, which is completely opposite of my intention.</p>
<p>Anyway…I want/need my future university to be full of people who reflect the same values I hold dear; that is, the student population must embody hard work, intelligence, humility, etc. If I go to one of my safety schools, such as UConn or Syracuse, the majority of kids there will not be of my caliber. (SEE I KNEW IT WOULD SOUND ARROGANT!!! I just don’t know how to put it any other way…)</p>
<p>Hoping I don’t sound like too much of a ******. But you guys get what I mean, right?</p>
<p>EDIT: Ooh, I found a good way to put it: I enjoy my nerdy friends, nerdy humor, etc. I feel that I’m in that perfect situation where I’m a sociable nerd (and I’m loving it). How am I supposed to find this at Syracuse, where you have to bleed orange to even get in the door? Socially, I think/know I’d best fit in with Yale, Brown, etc. They’re the laid-back yet still competitive and naturally intelligent ivies.</p>
<p>(and please don’t slap me on the wrist for wanting to go to an “ivy” so badly; financially, I’m almost limited to applying to ivies or bust because of their newly implemented generous financial aid packages)</p>
<p>If UConn and Syracuse (which is a pricey private university) are poor fits, the key is to find some safer schools that share some of the qualities that draw you to Yale and Brown. Between your state flagship and Yale, there is a vast universe of colleges out there, some that offer generous merit aid to top candidates.</p>
<p>Be aware that Brown does not offer the sort of need-based aid to middle-income families that Yale does. And Syracuse certainly doesn’t. I’m not even sure Syracues offers any merit-based aid.</p>
<p>Many kids think they are reviewed solely on the basis of some mythical performance standards. (Isn’t that how high school seniors “chance” each other?) But, each U has it’s own pool of applicants and its own review process- and the particular needs it’s trying to fill. CC history includes plenty of kids who got rejected from one school and accepted by a better one. </p>
<p>Review the qualities that you think set you apart. I know you don’t want to sound arrogant, but what makes you think only an Ivy has students with the “same values I hold dear…hard work, intelligence, humility…?” Any school with great math, science, engineering, etc, depts is going to have plenty of kids wih the positive nerdy qualities you want. </p>
<p>As for costs, there are also a few CC posts (plus web info) about how Ivies calculate all that media-hyped Ivy “need based” finaid. Make sure you are not making assumptions based on hype. You should know that many non-Ivies have equally generous- or better- policies. It’s worth the time to explore.</p>
<p>Re UConn: A large state university with upwards of 20,000 undergrads will have all kinds of students. You will certainly find a group of “smart and nerdy” peers.</p>
<p>I don’t understand all of this talk (crap…) about LOVING a school so much that you’re heartbroken after you’re rejected. The lesson learned from this should be to never invest so much of yourself into such an unstable subject as college admissions. You’re obviously suppose to like the school you apply to and see yourself being happy there, but just keep it on the sane side would you…</p>
<p>^ Everyone tells kids that, but it doesn’t make a difference. Irrational? Yes. But teenagers, in case you haven’t noticed, can sometimes occasionally maybe be the tiniest bit irrational.</p>
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<p>Everyone is different. Some people buy into the hype of a perfect school, some don’t.</p>
<p>@OP, I know someone who was rejected from Cornell and accepted into Harvard. It’s definitely still worth a shot.</p>