Without any hope of Recovery...

Chance Me / Match Me
1

Just about finished with high-school… Were I to provide a brief summation of my secondary education, I can think of no better caption besides, “Catch-22”… Since the beginning of my edjumacation, my options were limited, my opportunities were taken away, and I’ve had to absolve myself of the consequences… I was never allowed to join extra-curriculars, the reason being that I’d never taken them before… I was never allowed to participate in AP/Honors classes, reason being I’ve never indulged them before… Not much I can really add to that…

My SAT/ACT scores are abysmal, but what else would I expect considering my abhorrent education? Most of my friends got 33+/2100+ their first sitting, but they were allowed to take advanced curricula, so I’m disinclined to believe that my awful scores had anything other to do than my pitiful situation… I can’t improve my scores, not because I found the questions difficult, but rather because it’s a knowledge test: And how might I prepare for such an exam when the knowledge is outside of my reach?

For instance, I recently took the BMAT when applying to Oxford med (Got an slightly above average score, but there wasn’t a DAMN thing on that test I learned in school; it was all self-taught, meaning that there were students who took all advanced courses whose performances were worse than mine) and the results are illustrative of my point: My worst performance was on the physics portion… For instance, how could I have possibly have known Faraday’s law…? How might I be familiar with the constant involved in Newtonian’s law of gravitation, If I’ve never even heard of it before? And how could I have heard of it if I never even took the courses?! It’s a positive feedback loop:

In order to prepare myself for such exams, I must obtain the knowledge, which is given to those who take particular classes, which I was never allowed to take (Catch-22), etc… Should I have sat there, meditated on it, and somehow derive the constant:

(6.67408 x 10^-11 m^3 kg^-1 s^-2)?!?!!?

While it was literally handed to you on a golden plate, I had to learn from my myriad failures…

I’ve maintained a 4.0GPA, and am currently self-studying 7 AP exams (AP Calculus BC, Physics1/2, Micro/Macro Economics, Chemistry, and Biology) and truthfully I’m unsure how well I’ll do, considering that I have limited access to books, no access to proper instructors… I have to learn by taking practice exams, intentionally failing them, and correcting those mistakes; my method of instruction is quite literally the equivalent to throwing clay at a wall and seeing how much of it sticks.

That’s it… That’s all I could provide to whomever reads the sorry story of my academic career… where can I possibly go with such abysmal stats? I mean, it’s not like I had a chance?! How could I possibly argue with the administrators who threatened to expel me for “insubordination”?! Top of my class, in whichever crappy class they put me in, and when it finally comes time to take advanced curricula, I find that it’s just as facile…

I’m just appalled by the fact that you guys can just ask to take advanced classes, and can join in whichever activity you may choose… You’re knowledge is handed to you on a golden plate, and I have to Scavenge whichever scraps of information I can find, and I’m ridiculed for doing so…

So here you all are, valedictorians and wonderful individuals who’ve been able to contribute to their respective communities, yet all I can do is lament the fact that I never even had a god damn chance…

I got accepted to some mentorship program at American University, which begins in the fall, but most of my friends went to Columbia, Oxford, or Harvard, and how might I possibly address the Dean of Admissions at such universities…?

I just don’t know what to do… What can I do… I’m completely powerless to change my situation… Would it even be possible to Transfer to Ivy-League…?

2

There are plenty of people who graduate from Ivy-Legue universities and don’t accomplish much in life professionally speaking. There are also Harvard dropouts who become billionaires. Character matters more in life than Harvard degree. Complaining will not accomplish much, perseverance will get you much further in life. Give it some thought.

3

@Ethanvolcano21 : When I graduated high school, I hadn’t taken any advanced classes. I didn’t even take chemistry, opting for a vocational class instead. My friends were headed off to big name schools, some of them Ivy League while I wondered whether I’d even go to college.

My parents barely finished high school and didn’t know what to do with me. I was in the top 15% of my class and had 1110 SATs (out of 1600, which was good enough to get me a NY state Regents scholarship) with no studying or prep. I was accepted to Syracuse’s Engineering school, but we couldn’t afford it so I went to Stony Brook, a state university, instead. I majored in physics and was accepted to grad school where I got my masters in mechanical engineering. I could have stayed for a PhD, but marriage and work were calling so I decided to start my career.

You may think your situation is bleak now, but you have a chance to go to a great university in American, so make the most of your opportunity. The big name colleges are not the be-all and end-all.

I wish you way more than luck.

4

@Ethanvolcano21 -Your posts reflect your determination, individual strength, and deep intelligence. Crap happens to everyone, at different time and in different ways. Congratulations on your opportunity at American University. Count it as the beginning of things falling into place for you.

5

Allow me to reiterate: When I say that I’ve had every possible opportunity stripped from me, I mean that, for example, I was one of the highest Biology scorers in the state, yet my school administration refused to let me participate in any such competitions… Throughout my academic career, I’ve tried to join Debate, Math League, Science League (Along with sub leagues, such as Bio&Chemistry League), and despite the fact that my peers whose performance rivaled my own, (and earned national recognition), they still vehemently opposed that I should even have the chance…

I lament my circumstances, not necessarily because of the horrid outcome, but because I was never even given the opportunity… The chance… You can’t imagine how humiliating it feels to be rejected from a dozen universities, all of which provide the same vacuous sentiment, “…Despite your impeccable talent, we’re unable to offer-”…As if giving me a certificate of participation for a race I never entered should somehow ameliorate such humiliation… Having been relegated my whole life, the last thing I want is your sympathy…

You act as though such a scenario isn’t lamentable, but what I find most shocking is the fact that I was never even given a chance- Had I been able to at least participate, I would have no complaints- But no, every opportunity has been rejected, every recommendation had been declined (For some asinine reason I can’t delve into on such a forum), and I must absolve myself of this relegation.

How humiliating it is to witness students gain national recognition in academic competitions, gain access to some private scientific mentorship, have the opportunity to study in laboratories with scientists, list their myriad of successes in Debate, etc… And there was absolutely nothing I could do about it.

I felt as though the defining characteristic of my application was my Essay: It revolved around my experience self-studying Philosophy/Epistemology over the past two years. I’ve been in a multitude of debates, with countless individuals, and have written dozens of Essays regarding a myriad of phenomena.

My initial inquiry was genuine: Would it be at all possible to transfer to such universities…? I can very easily maintain a perfect GPA, and given that I’ll no longer be restricted to my circumstances, I intend to participate in as many internships/groups related to my Major (Which Is Biochemistry/Pre-medicine). How might I improve my circumstances?

6

@Ethanvolcano21 : Go to the place you’ve been accepted and do your best. That’s about the best advice you can get right now.

7

Be a star at AU, which is a very respectable school. Stand out, and seek out any and all opportunities. And cheer up…at least you will get a college education. Envying friends who got into “better” colleges is totally pointless. And of course it’s possible to transfer. Get high grades and be active and involved. Those colleges are looking for the same kinds of transfer students as they are freshman applicants.

8

OK, I’ve read your other threads.

  1. Please quit speaking and thinking in generalities. (No one questions anything, only me).
  2. Quit dwelling on what you couldn't/didn't do in the past and take ownership of your actions and future today.
  3. Don't exaggerate. Your four threads are spread across time and same chain of thought so I give you benefit of the doubt on being serious but other threads talk about you taking honors classes before you moved to online classes only. Here you say that you couldn't take honors/AP. You didn't like the honors class. That's not the same as not being allowed to take honors classes.
9

" Envying friends who got into “better” colleges is totally pointless"

I don’t envy them at all; I couldn’t feel happier for them, and hope that they’ll be successful in all of their endeavors. I don’t mean to deprecate them in any regard, but instead lament that I didn’t share in their opportunities.

“2. Quit dwelling on what you couldn’t/didn’t do in the past and take ownership of your actions and future today”

All you’ve done is add insult to injury; as if such a vapid sentiment would somehow absolve me of my humiliation… I’m well aware of my circumstances, and do indeed intend to participate in as many opportunities as I can in the near future, but this doesn’t negate the fact that my academic career has been nothing but a series of unfortunate events… You can’t imagine the asinine situation I’ve had to deal with: Having to retake multiple classes which I aced for seemingly no reason, being unable to take advanced courses on the basis that, “I’ve never taken them before”, and the same "reasoning"was used to justify my relegation. It’s a textbook example of Catch-22…!

So of course I’m frustrated having to somehow escape from an inherently illogical scenario… You can’t imagine how painful it is to see such opportunities being taken away from me for such an asinine reason… It’s not a matter of “coulda, shoulda, woulda”, I never even had a chance. Most students on this website have advanced curricula handed to them… You could just “ask” for advanced placement, and receive it no problem, but I’m derided for it?! I’m ostracized by the school administration for wanting to improve my education?!

“3. Don’t exaggerate. Your four threads are spread across time and same chain of thought so I give you benefit of the doubt on being serious but other threads talk about you taking honors classes before you moved to online classes only. Here you say that you couldn’t take honors/AP”

I was only in those classes for a relatively short period, about two months. Afterwards, the online equivalents were inferior, usually riddled with errors/inconsistencies, or otherwise being no different from the standard class. The only reason I managed to maintain my high grades were because I abandoned the textbooks they gave me, and bought higher quality ones. Truthfully, even though it would say on my Transcript that I took such advanced courses, it’d be far more accurate to say that I’d self-studied them.

“You didn’t like the honors class”

Didn’t like? I did fine on my exams, being one of the top students in my classes before my departure, but afterwards it became obvious that the online substitution was inferior.

10

All you can do is move forward.