I am finishing my second year at my safety. All you who are facing rejection after rejection need to read this.
I was just like y'all two years ago, I went through the motions throughout high school, completely tryharding everything, and lost perspective of what matters most. Here is the deal, many people on this forum will say "oh just do community college if you can't get into a t20, and I know every single one of you reads that line and thinks "oh that does not apply to me because xyz," and that is ok, I agree that CC isn't the place for most people on this sub. Anyways, here is my story.
I come from a somewhat well off family, and my sisters both got into great schools ~10 years ago. My oldest sister went to MIT, and my other sister went to UC hicago. If you tell me that your parents have expectations for you, I know what you mean, trust me. My father was so convinced that because of everything I did in high school I would be accepted into at least one reach school and would bring pride to the family. Here are my stats and all:
W GPA ~ 4.33, UW - 4.0
10 AP classes,
4's and 5's on most, anything regarding my major I got a 5 on.
ACT: 36 SAT II: Math 2 : 800, BIO/E: 700, PHYS: 680 (dont worry that phys score never saw the light of day on my apps)
EC's: I was the captain of my schools Mock Trial team, winning the state championships senior year, I was the co founder of the esports club and the president of the math club. I played in the marching band all my years of high school and had an internship in NYC (I live in the west) researching molecular biology. I also worked a part time job, about 20 hours a week, at my local taco bell (live mas amirite).
As you can see I was somewhat competitive for many schools out there and I thought I had a chance at many. here were my schools: Harvard, Stanford, Carnegie Mellon, Colby, Tulane, Duke, USC, Caltech, MIT, UC hicago, and Princeton. Oh, and my safety state school -- the University of Utah -- of course. I applied for a math major at all of these institutions. Well guess what? come decision week, I was rejected or waitlisted and then rejected from EVERY. SINGLE. SCHOOL. (except my safety).
I KNOW that many of you are also going to, or already have, had something similar happen to you in the next few weeks. It will be ok. Trust me. I was crushed. my family was crushed. I was not going to be going to a prestigious school that would give me an extra fancy piece of paper. I was sad about it all summer long until my first week at the U. I have read about people saying that "oh a safety will be fine," and I think most of you read that and think "oh, other peoples safety will be fine but that does not apply to me cause I'm going to HYPSM, when you likely aren't". Just remember that you are not the main character. None of us are.
Here are all the things that I have come to love about my safety, and had I known, I would not have even bothered applying anywhere else.
My state school's honor college. Yes, honors colleges can be a scam, but if I want to go to a cool grad school, might as well graduate with honors. BUT the people I am surrounded by are kids like me, that did well in high school and chose to attend a state university. I love the people I am with, and the honors college has facilitated those interactions.
money. MONEY IS SO FUCKING HARD AND YOU ALL KNOW IT. It's expensive. I would have been spending $80k a YEAR to go to harvard. times four thats $320k. You guys want to know how much I am spending a YEAR at my state school due to scholarships? $3k. math says thats about $12k for all four years, 320-12=308. that is THREE HUNDRED EIGHT THOUSAND FUCKING DOLLARS. Thats how much I'm saving me and my family. THANK FUCKING GOD I did not try to go to an expensive school. I saw a post earlier today saying they could by a mclaren instead of going to college. bitch I get both! Many of the people in this sub will be getting crazy good scholarships to their safeties. TAKE THOSE SERIOUSLY. I made enough money at fucking taco bell in high school to PAY FOR MY ENTIRE UNDERGRAD. how crazy is that?
As well as I did in high school, the sheer work load and shitty mental heath of students at these top universities scares me, and I still want to have fun in college (turns out weed is fun). Guys, I know that we are all stressed out in this month as your futures will be decided in the coming weeks. Trust me, no matter what happens, what schools you get/got into or rejected from, you will be ok. Please don't feel like having to attend your safety is shameful like I thought in 2020. Think that you will be a big fish in a little pond at your state university, and if you try, your education will be just as good their as a t20. I am glad I am going to my safety, and if I have the knowledge I do now, if I had gotten into all the schools that I applied to, I would still choose my "safety" because it is more than that now.
Just want to leave with this. The most depressed I have ever been in my life was in college app season, and its not close. I was miserable and awful. I am now HAPPY with my life. Seek in college what makes you happy in life. thats what's important. At least for me, Math is the same everywhere. its not like going to a fancy uni is going to teach me **secret math**, its all the same. This is also true for a lot of other majors. CS people, guess what, code doesn't care where you are going to school. Bio people, those amino acids are gonna keep doing their thing, who cares if you are at your state school.
If you have any questions, feel free to ask. I will be doing my best to reply to every comment as long as you can see this line. I'll edit it out when I am done.