Frustrated

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There's a disturbed poster who's been active on SDN and Reddit for 15 years now after having failed out of med school at UVM in the '90s and Ross in 2007ish. She is now 58 years old, unemployed, a quarter of a million dollars in debt, and keeps retaking the MCAT (and getting terrible scores) because she is pathologically unable to accept that completing med school is never going to happen. Because she got a decent MCAT score in 1990, so she reasons that the "next time" will be when it finally all comes back together. She has completely destroyed her entire life and achieved nothing, with her pathological inability to move on to Plan B after a setback three decades ago. I follow her ramblings out of morbid fascination but it's actually very depressing and pathetic.

I've always wondered how she ended up like this and this thread seems like the same sort of seed. Don't let this happen to your DD. At some points in life we have to turn away from the closed doors and accept that the open window leading to multiple other paths should be pursued with optimism and commitment. You sound bitter and fixated and it's probably damaging your daughter. You can do better, for her sake.

Can you please provide a link to this person's posts? I'm so curious to read them.

Same! I’m fascinated by this.

PP. I don't want to link directly but if you google "slowlybutshelly" (all one word) you can see some of the old mess on SDN. She deleted the Reddit account under that name recently but Google still has some artifacts. She's resurfaced as "scooterann" on Reddit very recently--same avatar pic. A known character on the MCAT and premed subreddits. But the old SDN stuff dates from 2010-2018 and is a train wreck.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Honestly, this place is MUCH less helpful and friendly than it used to be.

Come on, folks, let’s be the enablers of her fantasy of having a “Georgetown Mom” sticker in her back window. It’s the least we can do, however unrealistic it may be.

Meanwhile she can go back to screaming at her DD to do better like Faye Dunaway in Mommie Dearest.

Never seen someone better demonstrate another person’s point.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There's a disturbed poster who's been active on SDN and Reddit for 15 years now after having failed out of med school at UVM in the '90s and Ross in 2007ish. She is now 58 years old, unemployed, a quarter of a million dollars in debt, and keeps retaking the MCAT (and getting terrible scores) because she is pathologically unable to accept that completing med school is never going to happen. Because she got a decent MCAT score in 1990, so she reasons that the "next time" will be when it finally all comes back together. She has completely destroyed her entire life and achieved nothing, with her pathological inability to move on to Plan B after a setback three decades ago. I follow her ramblings out of morbid fascination but it's actually very depressing and pathetic.

I've always wondered how she ended up like this and this thread seems like the same sort of seed. Don't let this happen to your DD. At some points in life we have to turn away from the closed doors and accept that the open window leading to multiple other paths should be pursued with optimism and commitment. You sound bitter and fixated and it's probably damaging your daughter. You can do better, for her sake.

Can you please provide a link to this person's posts? I'm so curious to read them.

Same! I’m fascinated by this.

PP. I don't want to link directly but if you google "slowlybutshelly" (all one word) you can see some of the old mess on SDN. She deleted the Reddit account under that name recently but Google still has some artifacts. She's resurfaced as "scooterann" on Reddit very recently--same avatar pic. A known character on the MCAT and premed subreddits. But the old SDN stuff dates from 2010-2018 and is a train wreck.

This is sad. I hope she got the help she needs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There's a disturbed poster who's been active on SDN and Reddit for 15 years now after having failed out of med school at UVM in the '90s and Ross in 2007ish. She is now 58 years old, unemployed, a quarter of a million dollars in debt, and keeps retaking the MCAT (and getting terrible scores) because she is pathologically unable to accept that completing med school is never going to happen. Because she got a decent MCAT score in 1990, so she reasons that the "next time" will be when it finally all comes back together. She has completely destroyed her entire life and achieved nothing, with her pathological inability to move on to Plan B after a setback three decades ago. I follow her ramblings out of morbid fascination but it's actually very depressing and pathetic.

I've always wondered how she ended up like this and this thread seems like the same sort of seed. Don't let this happen to your DD. At some points in life we have to turn away from the closed doors and accept that the open window leading to multiple other paths should be pursued with optimism and commitment. You sound bitter and fixated and it's probably damaging your daughter. You can do better, for her sake.

Can you please provide a link to this person's posts? I'm so curious to read them.

Same! I’m fascinated by this.

PP. I don't want to link directly but if you google "slowlybutshelly" (all one word) you can see some of the old mess on SDN. She deleted the Reddit account under that name recently but Google still has some artifacts. She's resurfaced as "scooterann" on Reddit very recently--same avatar pic. A known character on the MCAT and premed subreddits. But the old SDN stuff dates from 2010-2018 and is a train wreck.

Thank you!!!

[Anonymous]

You are being unrealistic. She needed mostly A's and higher level classes in HS and straight A's in college.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You are being unrealistic. She needed mostly A's and higher level classes in HS and straight A's in college.

If she’s applying for junior year admission, high school grades are less important. If anything, high school junior and senior grades are reviewed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Long time lurker needing to vent. DD (20 years old, finishing her sophomore year) has applied to more competitive schools three times (two times as a college student one time as a high schooler) and gotten rejected all times. She’s currently at a private I never wanted her at in the first place.

Back in high school, she was a decent student (mostly B’s, a few A’s, not a good test taker) but not great, so I knew the Ivies and top-tier schools would be a stretch. But I thought for sure she could work her way up once in college. She’s poured her heart into her first two years at this lower place, taking challenging classes, getting decent grades, volunteering, clubs, etc.

Yet every single “higher” school she applied to has shot her down. Northeastern, Georgetown, UCLA, Tulane, UVA, Wake Forest, William and Mary, USC (dream school), UCSD, Irvine, UT Austin, UFlorida, Georgia, BostonU, BostonC, etc. She has one more chance to apply to transfer before she hits the credit limit that makes transferring impractical not to mention the additional semesters of tuition it would cost us. If this last try doesn’t work out, she’ll be stuck finishing at the same no-name place. This feels like the end of the road for her future possibilities, and I’m heartbroken, and honestly, kind of furious.

I understand maybe this is just “how it is,” but I see other kids in her high school class who breezed into brand-name colleges left and right. We spent thousands of dollars on tutoring, SAT prep, extracurricular camps, you name it. She’s a bright kid but apparently not bright enough for the pretentious and sadistic admissions committees.

Has anyone else gone through a situation like this? I’m trying to figure out if we have any last-ditch strategies, or if I just have to come to terms with the fact that my daughter may have to remain at a school that, in my heart, I believe is beneath her potential. I just want honest opinions and some glimmer of hope. Thanks for reading, everyone.

My DD graduated high school with a 4.0 UW GPA, Summa Cum Laude, every possible honors class, AP's, dual enrollment, varsity sports letter, volunteer hours, tutoring, EC camps, etc. and she got denied at USC. Pitzer and waitlisted at Occidental. We didn't even shoot for the Ivies. She got accepted at 10 schools like Pepperdine, Santa Clara, Baylor, etc. Your DD is likely where she needs to be and making her go through this constant rejection is not going to help her, it will only make her feel like she is letting you down. Help her bloom where she's planted instead of making her feel bad for being there.

Test score? Major? Any hook or pointy narrative?
Note the varsity letter and volunteer hours aren’t really valued by schools anymore unless there’s something “more”…

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Long time lurker needing to vent. DD (20 years old, finishing her sophomore year) has applied to more competitive schools three times (two times as a college student one time as a high schooler) and gotten rejected all times. She’s currently at a private I never wanted her at in the first place.

Back in high school, she was a decent student (mostly B’s, a few A’s, not a good test taker) but not great, so I knew the Ivies and top-tier schools would be a stretch. But I thought for sure she could work her way up once in college. She’s poured her heart into her first two years at this lower place, taking challenging classes, getting decent grades, volunteering, clubs, etc.

Yet every single “higher” school she applied to has shot her down. Northeastern, Georgetown, UCLA, Tulane, UVA, Wake Forest, William and Mary, USC (dream school), UCSD, Irvine, UT Austin, UFlorida, Georgia, BostonU, BostonC, etc. She has one more chance to apply to transfer before she hits the credit limit that makes transferring impractical not to mention the additional semesters of tuition it would cost us. If this last try doesn’t work out, she’ll be stuck finishing at the same no-name place. This feels like the end of the road for her future possibilities, and I’m heartbroken, and honestly, kind of furious.

I understand maybe this is just “how it is,” but I see other kids in her high school class who breezed into brand-name colleges left and right. We spent thousands of dollars on tutoring, SAT prep, extracurricular camps, you name it. She’s a bright kid but apparently not bright enough for the pretentious and sadistic admissions committees.

Has anyone else gone through a situation like this? I’m trying to figure out if we have any last-ditch strategies, or if I just have to come to terms with the fact that my daughter may have to remain at a school that, in my heart, I believe is beneath her potential. I just want honest opinions and some glimmer of hope. Thanks for reading, everyone.

My DD graduated high school with a 4.0 UW GPA, Summa Cum Laude, every possible honors class, AP's, dual enrollment, varsity sports letter, volunteer hours, tutoring, EC camps, etc. and she got denied at USC. Pitzer and waitlisted at Occidental. We didn't even shoot for the Ivies. She got accepted at 10 schools like Pepperdine, Santa Clara, Baylor, etc. Your DD is likely where she needs to be and making her go through this constant rejection is not going to help her, it will only make her feel like she is letting you down. Help her bloom where she's planted instead of making her feel bad for being there.

Test score? Major? Any hook or pointy narrative?
Note the varsity letter and volunteer hours aren’t really valued by schools anymore unless there’s something “more”…

Not pointy at all. Test score was 1430 and we knew the volunteering and sports were nothing special. No hooks and was undecided major when applying - if a major was needed to apply, she put anthropology (she was fascinated by the TV show "Bones"). She understood the math on Ivy admissions and decided not to spend money and time to apply. Her one long shot would be to throw her hat into the ring for USC with the idea that she would likely not get admitted. She was pragmatic and didn't fall in love anywhere till admission letters were in hand. She ended up at a school that she loves, got a great merit scholarship, majors in accounting, and makes awesome grades. Will have 3 terrific internships under her belt, including a B4, by the time she is finished. My point to OP was to loosen up, there are many paths to success and to focus on helping her DD succeed where she is instead of going through a 4th round of rejections.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Long time lurker needing to vent. DD (20 years old, finishing her sophomore year) has applied to more competitive schools three times (two times as a college student one time as a high schooler) and gotten rejected all times. She’s currently at a private I never wanted her at in the first place.

Back in high school, she was a decent student (mostly B’s, a few A’s, not a good test taker) but not great, so I knew the Ivies and top-tier schools would be a stretch. But I thought for sure she could work her way up once in college. She’s poured her heart into her first two years at this lower place, taking challenging classes, getting decent grades, volunteering, clubs, etc.

Yet every single “higher” school she applied to has shot her down. Northeastern, Georgetown, UCLA, Tulane, UVA, Wake Forest, William and Mary, USC (dream school), UCSD, Irvine, UT Austin, UFlorida, Georgia, BostonU, BostonC, etc. She has one more chance to apply to transfer before she hits the credit limit that makes transferring impractical not to mention the additional semesters of tuition it would cost us. If this last try doesn’t work out, she’ll be stuck finishing at the same no-name place. This feels like the end of the road for her future possibilities, and I’m heartbroken, and honestly, kind of furious.

I understand maybe this is just “how it is,” but I see other kids in her high school class who breezed into brand-name colleges left and right. We spent thousands of dollars on tutoring, SAT prep, extracurricular camps, you name it. She’s a bright kid but apparently not bright enough for the pretentious and sadistic admissions committees.

Has anyone else gone through a situation like this? I’m trying to figure out if we have any last-ditch strategies, or if I just have to come to terms with the fact that my daughter may have to remain at a school that, in my heart, I believe is beneath her potential. I just want honest opinions and some glimmer of hope. Thanks for reading, everyone.

My DD graduated high school with a 4.0 UW GPA, Summa Cum Laude, every possible honors class, AP's, dual enrollment, varsity sports letter, volunteer hours, tutoring, EC camps, etc. and she got denied at USC. Pitzer and waitlisted at Occidental. We didn't even shoot for the Ivies. She got accepted at 10 schools like Pepperdine, Santa Clara, Baylor, etc. Your DD is likely where she needs to be and making her go through this constant rejection is not going to help her, it will only make her feel like she is letting you down. Help her bloom where she's planted instead of making her feel bad for being there.

Test score? Major? Any hook or pointy narrative?
Note the varsity letter and volunteer hours aren’t really valued by schools anymore unless there’s something “more”…

Not pointy at all. Test score was 1430 and we knew the volunteering and sports were nothing special. No hooks and was undecided major when applying - if a major was needed to apply, she put anthropology (she was fascinated by the TV show "Bones"). She understood the math on Ivy admissions and decided not to spend money and time to apply. Her one long shot would be to throw her hat into the ring for USC with the idea that she would likely not get admitted. She was pragmatic and didn't fall in love anywhere till admission letters were in hand. She ended up at a school that she loves, got a great merit scholarship, majors in accounting, and makes awesome grades. Will have 3 terrific internships under her belt, including a B4, by the time she is finished. My point to OP was to loosen up, there are many paths to success and to focus on helping her DD succeed where she is instead of going through a 4th round of rejections.

Key point here is your daughter is extremely bright (1430 is high) yet fell well short of the second tier of national universities that OP believes her B student in marketing at an obscure college deserves.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Long time lurker needing to vent. DD (20 years old, finishing her sophomore year) has applied to more competitive schools three times (two times as a college student one time as a high schooler) and gotten rejected all times. She’s currently at a private I never wanted her at in the first place.

Back in high school, she was a decent student (mostly B’s, a few A’s, not a good test taker) but not great, so I knew the Ivies and top-tier schools would be a stretch. But I thought for sure she could work her way up once in college. She’s poured her heart into her first two years at this lower place, taking challenging classes, getting decent grades, volunteering, clubs, etc.

Yet every single “higher” school she applied to has shot her down. Northeastern, Georgetown, UCLA, Tulane, UVA, Wake Forest, William and Mary, USC (dream school), UCSD, Irvine, UT Austin, UFlorida, Georgia, BostonU, BostonC, etc. She has one more chance to apply to transfer before she hits the credit limit that makes transferring impractical not to mention the additional semesters of tuition it would cost us. If this last try doesn’t work out, she’ll be stuck finishing at the same no-name place. This feels like the end of the road for her future possibilities, and I’m heartbroken, and honestly, kind of furious.

I understand maybe this is just “how it is,” but I see other kids in her high school class who breezed into brand-name colleges left and right. We spent thousands of dollars on tutoring, SAT prep, extracurricular camps, you name it. She’s a bright kid but apparently not bright enough for the pretentious and sadistic admissions committees.

Has anyone else gone through a situation like this? I’m trying to figure out if we have any last-ditch strategies, or if I just have to come to terms with the fact that my daughter may have to remain at a school that, in my heart, I believe is beneath her potential. I just want honest opinions and some glimmer of hope. Thanks for reading, everyone.

My DD graduated high school with a 4.0 UW GPA, Summa Cum Laude, every possible honors class, AP's, dual enrollment, varsity sports letter, volunteer hours, tutoring, EC camps, etc. and she got denied at USC. Pitzer and waitlisted at Occidental. We didn't even shoot for the Ivies. She got accepted at 10 schools like Pepperdine, Santa Clara, Baylor, etc. Your DD is likely where she needs to be and making her go through this constant rejection is not going to help her, it will only make her feel like she is letting you down. Help her bloom where she's planted instead of making her feel bad for being there.

Test score? Major? Any hook or pointy narrative?
Note the varsity letter and volunteer hours aren’t really valued by schools anymore unless there’s something “more”…

Not pointy at all. Test score was 1430 and we knew the volunteering and sports were nothing special. No hooks and was undecided major when applying - if a major was needed to apply, she put anthropology (she was fascinated by the TV show "Bones"). She understood the math on Ivy admissions and decided not to spend money and time to apply. Her one long shot would be to throw her hat into the ring for USC with the idea that she would likely not get admitted. She was pragmatic and didn't fall in love anywhere till admission letters were in hand. She ended up at a school that she loves, got a great merit scholarship, majors in accounting, and makes awesome grades. Will have 3 terrific internships under her belt, including a B4, by the time she is finished. My point to OP was to loosen up, there are many paths to success and to focus on helping her DD succeed where she is instead of going through a 4th round of rejections.

1430 is low for top 25 schools. It shows that 4.0 is probably deflated.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Long time lurker needing to vent. DD (20 years old, finishing her sophomore year) has applied to more competitive schools three times (two times as a college student one time as a high schooler) and gotten rejected all times. She’s currently at a private I never wanted her at in the first place.

Back in high school, she was a decent student (mostly B’s, a few A’s, not a good test taker) but not great, so I knew the Ivies and top-tier schools would be a stretch. But I thought for sure she could work her way up once in college. She’s poured her heart into her first two years at this lower place, taking challenging classes, getting decent grades, volunteering, clubs, etc.

Yet every single “higher” school she applied to has shot her down. Northeastern, Georgetown, UCLA, Tulane, UVA, Wake Forest, William and Mary, USC (dream school), UCSD, Irvine, UT Austin, UFlorida, Georgia, BostonU, BostonC, etc. She has one more chance to apply to transfer before she hits the credit limit that makes transferring impractical not to mention the additional semesters of tuition it would cost us. If this last try doesn’t work out, she’ll be stuck finishing at the same no-name place. This feels like the end of the road for her future possibilities, and I’m heartbroken, and honestly, kind of furious.

I understand maybe this is just “how it is,” but I see other kids in her high school class who breezed into brand-name colleges left and right. We spent thousands of dollars on tutoring, SAT prep, extracurricular camps, you name it. She’s a bright kid but apparently not bright enough for the pretentious and sadistic admissions committees.

Has anyone else gone through a situation like this? I’m trying to figure out if we have any last-ditch strategies, or if I just have to come to terms with the fact that my daughter may have to remain at a school that, in my heart, I believe is beneath her potential. I just want honest opinions and some glimmer of hope. Thanks for reading, everyone.

My DD graduated high school with a 4.0 UW GPA, Summa Cum Laude, every possible honors class, AP's, dual enrollment, varsity sports letter, volunteer hours, tutoring, EC camps, etc. and she got denied at USC. Pitzer and waitlisted at Occidental. We didn't even shoot for the Ivies. She got accepted at 10 schools like Pepperdine, Santa Clara, Baylor, etc. Your DD is likely where she needs to be and making her go through this constant rejection is not going to help her, it will only make her feel like she is letting you down. Help her bloom where she's planted instead of making her feel bad for being there.

Test score? Major? Any hook or pointy narrative?
Note the varsity letter and volunteer hours aren’t really valued by schools anymore unless there’s something “more”…

Not pointy at all. Test score was 1430 and we knew the volunteering and sports were nothing special. No hooks and was undecided major when applying - if a major was needed to apply, she put anthropology (she was fascinated by the TV show "Bones"). She understood the math on Ivy admissions and decided not to spend money and time to apply. Her one long shot would be to throw her hat into the ring for USC with the idea that she would likely not get admitted. She was pragmatic and didn't fall in love anywhere till admission letters were in hand. She ended up at a school that she loves, got a great merit scholarship, majors in accounting, and makes awesome grades. Will have 3 terrific internships under her belt, including a B4, by the time she is finished. My point to OP was to loosen up, there are many paths to success and to focus on helping her DD succeed where she is instead of going through a 4th round of rejections.

1430 is low for top 25 schools. It shows that 4.0 is probably deflated.

It is a bit low for those schools which is why she didn’t get in. One gets the sense though that OP’s daughter is nowhere close to 1430.

[Anonymous]

OP is delusional. No target school she’s mentioned would accept a kid with mostly B’s. And, if the student is not getting straight A’s at a low-tier college, there is no way they’re going to a higher-ranked one. OP doesn’t seem to understand that elite schools are for elite students. Most of the target schools mentioned have a 25 percentile SAT of 1400, which is the 93rd percentile of college-bound students. OP’s kid isn’t close. Not trying to be mean, but OP needs to get realistic.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How about University of Colorado Boulder? A good friend’s daughter who was a decent not great student is thriving there. Is a communications and marketing major or something like that. Also consider where her courses will transfer.

How do you make a school recommendation when you really know nothing about the field of study/location/finances/preferences? OP is seeking T25.

[Anonymous]

You do well in the no name college and get into a name grad school OP.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DD is a Marketing major with a 3.6 or so GPA (above the recommended GPA for many programs) , lots of volunteer hours, club involvement, the whole nine yards and yet every time she tries , the door gets slammed in her face. Those so-called “flagships” that you are talking about are insanely competitive now, too. In state in Virginia and rejection after rejection. Meanwhile, community college students get priority at the same in state schools that keep turning her down. It’s infuriating to watch other kids with slightly better test scores or 0.05 better GPAs waltz in while she’s left with rejection after rejection. We’re tired of being at a college everyone looks down on and want a shot at better internships. But no matter how hard she works, she’s always overlooked.

BTW I’m not forcing her to do anything. Stop trying to force your narrative onto me.

You really need to get a college counselor for an unbiased opinion on why she's getting passed by.