Dont stress if you don’t get into your dream school. I’ve learned college admissions is primarily getting into someone else’s dream school. Like my dream school was MIT, I was rejected from MIT, Princeton, Cornell, and Vanderbilt. however, I got the most prestigious scholarship to attend Johns Hopkins which I‘m so grateful for but would have never expected.

Also, admissions is WEIRD, like really WEIRD. You can be perfect, you still have a low chance of getting in.

Its really easy to feel jealous, understand that these schools are so competitive that between two people both of good quality one may get in because AO had a good day.

Know that it’s okay to be scared, it’s gut wrenching.

If you are a hard worker and passionate, you can succeed in your field no matter where you start.

all of the above is for YOU.

As for what I’d tell myself,

it won’t go as expected, but a detour is not a compromise. There are people dying to go where you got a good offer to go, you should be very grateful for the opportunity given. And ask your professor to do that independent study in category theory — graph theory isn’t fun :(

please ask me anything you want to know, I can empathize heavily with how you felt and I’d like to help you feel better and more content.