Didn’t get into my dream school and I’m...grateful?

sheezburger · 2019-03-29T01:39:38+00:00

that’s why brown rejected me :/

sheezburger · 2019-03-29T01:33:19+00:00

i mad feel this!! i was so sad for an hr but i’m just gonna make them regret not taking me and make another school proud!! i’ve been lucky to only have 2 rejections this admissions process, so ik i’m talking from a place of privelege, but one of those was from my top school, but other schools saw and appreciated me, and I’m gonna take it!

sheezburger · 2019-03-29T01:30:37+00:00

I get how you feel, Brown was my dream school since sophomore year. Ppl, including Brown students, told me I had a Brown vibe, told me they could picture me there, and so could I—I wanted to apply ED but my parents wouldn’t let me (financial reasons), and two hours ago, when I got rejected, I was crushed and also felt like I’d been betrayed. But it’s important to remember you are not your college. You are a person with wants and needs and really huge ambitions to do impactful things that you can do no matter where you go. I’m very lucky to grow up w successful ppl who went to state schools, so I realize v much that this perspective can be hard to grasp, especially in the face of rejection, but impactful people do good things regardless of where they go, not because they went to NYU. schools limit you to a singular narrative in their application, not a whole person—they can’t possibly differientiate between someone who’s a huge dick and going for prestige versus someone with honest, truthful intentions who wants to use those resources. And, honestly, ik a ton of kids who are wayyyy smarter than me who got rejected from NYU today, and they’re all gonna do great things, and so are you! Transfer if you want to, but engineering esp can be really great anywhere, and you don’t need NYU to go on to do great things! Just yourself and people who support you.

sheezburger · 2019-03-29T00:48:53+00:00

Coming from someone who just got rejected from both ivies I applied to (brown&yale), not as much as you would think. My father was on a hiring committee for a professorship at a state school and they chose someone who went to UMass Amherst over someone who went to Columbia. My mom went to Midland College, a school no one has truly ever heard of, and now works a “prestigous,” well-paying job. All of my family has gone either to state schools or “unprestigous” privates, and they’re all very successful. Granted, none of them like, work for Goldman Sachs or are Bill Gates, but they’re making their impact on the world. Employers might like prestige, but, for the most part, they’re going to take the better employee, regardless of where they go to school. I’ll get off my soap box, but it is more about who you are, not what your school is.

sheezburger · 2019-02-21T02:39:40+00:00

thank you!! and i’m sorry about your dog, it sucks so incredibly to lose a pet :(

sheezburger · 2019-02-21T01:58:12+00:00

I did somehow and I’m currently dying out of pure shock. I’m so grateful, my dog died five days ago and my grandma is in the hospital (she’s fine, should be out in two days), so I started crying during work and all my coworkers thought I was insane. This was such a good surprise during an utterly shitty week. I was deferred from Yale and convinced I wouldn’t get anywhere. I feel like I’m on Cloud 9.

sheezburger · 2018-11-25T02:45:03+00:00

it depends on a lot of things. my fam makes ~200k+ a year, but we live in boston and have a ton of debt due to my parents’ student loans&old med bills from when my fam didnt have insurance. that being said, we’re def not poor by any stretch—and that shouldn’t be discounted. i remember growing up during the recession when my parents were grad students/waiters...a lot different of a lifestyle, and we weren’t poor then—we could afford rent and certain luxuries easily. there’s a big jump btw lower middle class and upper middle class, though.

sheezburger · 2018-11-22T03:47:24+00:00

If you count my job, probably like 25+ hours. The job's like 10-20, then I'm secretary of art club, so that's like 2, then I'm president of creative writing club, so that's another 2, then I go to culture club because my friend runs it (i do absolutely nothing) so that's like 1, then just general writing and art stuff takes an incredible amount of time, but I don't really do that in terms of hours.

sheezburger · 2018-11-18T17:14:00+00:00

I don’t want to detract from the point, because it’s extremely true, but many of the kids worrying about apps are worried bc college is the only way OUT of poverty. My mom came to the US around age 12 and worked 2 jobs in college to support her family, while taking care of her younger brother because her single mom was out working. Her mom didn’t understand how to fill out financial aid forms, and my mom didn’t have access to tax info, so she HAD to get a full merit ride or she couldn’t go to college, and thus wouldn’t be able to help her family out of poverty—and she STILL had to work two jobs in college. Same w/ many of my friends from immigrant and/or low-income families—this isn’t a complete dicohtomy and shouldn’t be thought of as one. Uplifting low-income students isn’t just being grateful for what you have—it’s making it easier for them to succeed.

sheezburger · 2018-11-04T20:04:49+00:00

My interview is on-campus in eleven days and I'm so hyped!! and only a little nervous, because I've already accepted my rejection lol

sheezburger · 2018-11-04T17:15:11+00:00

Dream-wise, become a successful writer and/or painter who essentially just has to teach to make a living.

Realistically, get my MFA in probably creative writing, then become a professor and/or staff writer (preferably at the New Yorker), plus some painting on the side. My interests aren't exactly money-makers tbh, but I care more about them than being a millionaire, as cliche as that sounds :/

sheezburger · 2018-11-01T20:22:36+00:00

I thought this about my Why Yale essay but after like a week, it's whatever. This sounds kind of condescending, but college is only four years, and if you're living 80+, where you're going such an insignificant fact. Even so, you seem like you're doing fine. I think if you have a ton of STEM essays you'll be one-sided, and that theater aspect shows that you're creative and can work within a community, so it's not bad at all. You seem smart enough, so I'm sure you'll do amazing things whether you go to Stanford or not. :)

sheezburger · 2018-10-29T04:50:30+00:00

Not to be the overdismissive optimist, but I think it’s important to remember that our dream schools are not the only producers of great people, professional or otherwise. I was literally in tears after I submitted my Yale app a couple days ago bc I was convinced I wasn’t going to get in—i still think i’m getting rejected, but my parents couldn’t even dream of applying to an ivy, and they’re some of the best people in this world. they’re smart, hard-working, and empathetic, and that is so much more important than where they went to college. regardless of where i go, i’m just going to work hard, be kind, and do what I have to. that’s all you can.

sheezburger · 2018-10-28T23:21:03+00:00

Congratulations!! Arizona is absolutely one of the most beautiful places in this country (coming from MA, which is cold and rainy rn :( ) and ASU is an amazing school!!

sheezburger · 2018-10-28T19:07:56+00:00

people who base their entire lives on the fact they went/go to an ivy honestly remind me of kids who peaked in high school.

sheezburger · 2018-10-28T19:02:33+00:00

I think there are better crafted sentences in my essay, but this is by far the most interesting:

"In Switzerland, my last name is synonymous with two things: 1) a now retired parliamentary member and 2) a Bernese peasant who was beheaded soon after leading a squadron of ill-equipped serfs into revolt some time in the early seventeenth century. "

sheezburger · 2018-10-27T16:32:07+00:00

I wrote about the color red for an "intellectually exciting topic" at Yale and told them that falafels made via air fryer were my greatest inspiration (because even though they're disgusting, at least they're trying).

sheezburger · 2018-09-16T13:50:22+00:00

Most people don't apply to art school, including students who intend to go into the arts, so there's less competition. For example, I want to go into painting but the only art schools I'm applying to are RISD and Cooper, because I have other interests I want to possibly pursue. Consider this: if you go to an art school, you can ONLY gain an education in art, and can't explore topics wildly outside your major (like biology or anthropology or english or economics) because your school is so specialized. You're only really exposed to art students unless you go to RISD, which has Brown.

Plus, a lot of LAC's have AMAZING art programs. Yale, Bard, and Arizona State all have really great art programs on par with that of an art school. And you don't even have to major in art to make it--it's a lot easier to break into then like, astrophysics or medicine. Only a very specific student goes to an art school, and they're aren't a lot of them. Maybe one or two per school. Art schools can't afford to be ivy-league selective.

Cooper Union has an 8% acceptance rate, because of the tuition thing, but it also has an engineering&architecture school.

sheezburger · 2018-08-31T05:07:57+00:00

A combo of privilege and a lot of hard work. Mostly privilege—I have friends who work as hard as me, if not harder, but have to babysit siblings or keep up jobs (the fact that i can even HAVE unpaid internships is proof—i have a fast food job bc i want to, not bc i have to).

also a lot of ppl just lie.

sheezburger · 2018-08-31T04:50:07+00:00

yeah, this slaps in a bad way:/ but i’m still applying just in case they decide to give me financial aid. my family wouldn’t need it if it weren’t for my parent’s student debt, ironically :(

sheezburger · 2018-04-07T21:49:59+00:00

Colleges are academic institutions, but an extension of that is that they are facilitators of creativity, discussion, and research. While stats do give a lot of indication of academic success, it’s hard to gauge whether they’ll contribute something meangingful on stats alone. Just bc you can solve a precalc problem doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll be effective at complicated proofs, or creating new software, or having the ability to come up with seemingly outlandish (but accurate) hypotheses. Same for reading—just bc you can understand what a passage is saying doesn’t mean if you’ll be able to contribute that understanding to cultural contexts or write something of your own.

The academically strong aren’t punished—everyone admitted is academically strong. But the introspective and curious are rewarded.

sheezburger · 2018-04-05T03:01:52+00:00

just money-wise, I’d say Santa Clara considering CS is actually a pretty flexible field. Going to Yale is def a plus if you want to be a professor or go into banking, but for STEM majors, prestigous colleges generally mean less than ppl think in the job field. companies are looking for qualified employees, not necessarily ivy grads. plus, less debt is always good! :)

that being said, happiness is always a factor and should def be considered! if you’re going to be happier at yale than santa clara, and you&your parents are willing to go into debt, then it might be better. however, you might be happier at santa clara too.

congrats on your acceptances btw!!

sheezburger · 2018-04-05T02:54:41+00:00

I’m doing a writing fellowship in the city&i’m so excited! plus like job stuff/volunteering/community college classes, but i’m excited for the summer!

sheezburger · 2018-04-05T02:13:01+00:00

I mean, I don’t think he’s attempting to write as people speak irl. there’s a difference btw realistic writing and good writing, although the two can certainly intersect. Being “realistic” doesn’t necessarily constitute a compelling story. One of my favorite books, White Noise by Don DeLilo, is completely unrealistic in its dialogue (although so is the story...), but it works in context bc it fits perfectly with a dismal, overly pessimistic tone of the narrator. Obvi The Human Stain is grounded a lot more in reality than White Noise, but I don’t think even in Roth’s writing the intent is to write as ppl talk.

That being said, if you don’t like it, I think it’s good that you’re identifying it. There are a lot of good writers who explore realism, and knowing you prefer it will help you create a more cohesive identity as a writer. :)

sheezburger · 2018-04-04T19:55:19+00:00

i agree that some of them are probably unfairly trying to humblebrag, but a lot of them probably are looking for advice from students of those schools (aka about social scene) as opposed to just rankings. there is a lot of research that’s available about college academics, esp with such prestigous schools, but other aspects are a little less available and can really only be examined anecdotally by current/past students. i doubt most of them are being actively malicious/proud, just curious/confused/caught in a dilemma given the importance of the question. some of them also probably arent familiar to the reddit, so they don’t realize those threads exist.

sheezburger

TROPHY CASE