After a rejection letter from MIT, and probably the most stressful month of my life, I got waitlisted by my #1 school, Johns Hopkins.
But for everyone out here who is still in High School (technically I am, but I’m basically done), some words of advice from someone who’s been through it:
- Get straight As. Really, in my experience, the students who do this aren’t neccessarily the amazing super geniuses, they’re just regular kids who know how to get along with tough teachers, and they do their homework every night.
Getting straight A’s is something that is within your control (more so than SATs or letters of recommendation).
- Do what you love - but don’t **** the rest
Seriously, try everything. I never thought I’d enjoy art, but I was basically forced to do free-hand drawing for an engineering class, and let’s just say that it’s very fun. My drawings are still pretty awful, and I’m not even considering a liberal arts major - but it’s still fun as anything.
- Send in supplements when you apply to college
Don’t send in worthless junk, but if you’ve done anything that is important to your or feels worthwhile, go ahead and send it in. I really believe that me getting waitlisted at JHU but rejected at other similarly competitive schools came from me sending my Flash portfolio to JHU.
