College rejection isn't the end of the world

College rejection isn't the end of the world Record numbers of applications leave many high-achieving students without a seat at their first-choice school. But in some cases, second-best ends up being a winner. By Seema Mehta Los Angeles Times Staff Writer April 14, 2008 With nearly perfect grades at a prestigious Los Angeles prep school and high SAT scores, Emily Podany should have nailed a spot at Stanford. But when she applied early to study astrophysics at her dream school, the Palo Alto university flat-out rejected her. Podany was crushed. "When you see the small envelope, you just know it's not good news," said Podany, 18. "I just felt very sad for a couple days. Then that turned into anger at myself for not doing better." Podany, now a freshman at Washington University in St. Louis, is not unlike hundreds of thousands of high-achieving students who failed to get into their first-choice school in recent weeks. It's also the first time many of them have faced rejection, leaving them devastated, depressed and angry. But today's high school seniors who received envelopes thick and thin this spring from the likes of Harvard, UC Berkeley and USC can learn a thing or two from their brothers and sisters in rejection. Their worlds did not crumble, and their lives largely worked themselves out -- many grudgingly attended their second choices and surprised themselves by falling in love with campuses they once sneered at. Some immediately began plotting transfers to their first-choice school, and others, such as Meena Madan of Long Beach, decided to work hard for four years in hopes of attending their top choice for grad school... Complete story: College rejection isn't the end of the world - Los Angeles Times

i read somewhere else that alot of schools nowadays turn down people who may otherwise be OVERLY qualified because they think that they are only applying to the school as a backup. it looks bad for a school to reserve all these spots for people & then they never show up. that could be a reason for not getting into a school you shoud be a shoe-in for..maybe.