<p>Here’s a thread for those rejected everywhere, or those who plan on taking a year off, due to the number of rejections they have recieved. </p>
<p>I figured, maybe having some people to talk to this all about would be great, I am not sure about anyone else.</p>
<p>Improvements, did you have safeties where your stats were above the 75%? Where did you apply?</p>
<p>I tried to send it to you in a private message, but it says your quota is full</p>
<p>I suppose on this forum we share little tidbits of data.</p>
<p>My contribution [well, my first one at least]: it might help to get involved in one of your country’s academic Olympiad programs. Mine only has one, but many readers should have access to more in theirs. For the Math Ol., you do not need to be in high school - just under 20 and not enrolled in a tertiary institution. You should have plenty time to pick up on the needed information. Some first round competitions are up to half a year away. If you’re clueless about your country’s methods, check Wikipedia [a couple dozen countries’ worth!] or call a close guidance counselor. NB: bad idea if you eschew working hard/creatively. Good idea for demonstrating zeal, concentration and resilience. </p>
<p>Point 2: There are still openings available. There have been several posts about rolling/late deadline colleges. If you were pondering about opening your eyes to the world over the year off, try it now: Canadian universities still have possibilities. There’s been a post about this, too.</p>
<p>As for me, I’m trying both of the above [Ca: Waterloo]. You might want to look through your contacts and see who can help you now. I did, and I’m indebted and very grateful - I might not even have to take the year off.</p>
<p>All of this post is in my own humble opinion, but I’ve been informed by sources.</p>
<p>Point 3: Get your act together now, RIGHT NOW if not before. Good to come to CC looking for help. If you’re at night, write a letter. Compose a careful e-mail. Last-minute searches for openings might not work, so be very prepared in the way you present yourself. But part of preparation is getting over it. It’s horrible, but don’t break down if a caring-but-distant old mentor asks you how it happened. [Hopefully he/she won’t.] Look back at all the amazing activities you did out of school and appreciate that now you have to continue them.</p>
<p>Note that the above are by no means listed in order of priority.</p>
<p>Point 4: Ignore the temptation to kill your academics for a year. You might in fact want to do something university-specific to show the particular uni that you will enroll if admitted next year.</p>
<p>Point 5: If you get an opportunity to do work, take it. If you end up as a slob over the next year, you might end up as a slob for the rest of your life. You will need a really good explanation of what you do this year, so make sure you make a really good year.
[NOTE: everyone can do something. [maybe free] teaching, volunteering, “real” work, programming and making timely submissions so the observer knows you weren’t just staring at a computer screen, coaching some athletes, getting involved in a small organization, etc.]</p>
<p>Point 6: Work on your communication skills. I can’t stress this enough, but since this is what has been rammed through my head from all directions, it’s pretty easy to see that I don’t have a firm grasp of details.</p>
<p>Nothing in this whole post is mainly made-up. I know some persons who, like myself, aimed too high into the uncertain mists without checking more visible targets. Advisors too. Other people just plain know me. You should have access to all these people if you look.</p>
<p>Failures:
Cornell
CalTech
Duke
Harvard
Mudd
Northwestern
Rice
Yale
UPenn
Stanford
Georgetown
WashU- wait list
Berkeley- Bobcats to Bears
UCLA- Bobcats to Bruins
Success
Fresno State(I don’t consider 98% acceptance a success)
Cal Poly
UCSB
UC Davis
UCSB
Uc Irvine </p>
<p>Lots of failure and if I can convince my mom I’ll do a year off.
I better get my grades up. They’re not bad but I let the safety zone between B and A slide a little bit.</p>