OP- name your mistake.

We all have things we reflect on and could have done differently

Anonymous wrote:OP is thinking about, for example, getting multiple C or D or even Fs senior mid-year grades. That could be a fluke.

Bombing senior year is senior slump, not a fluke. OP’s teachers didn’t flub the grade entry, OP just didn’t do the work. Or had some legitimate crisis that affected grades, but that would not be described as a fluke or a mistake.

Not a fluke…but a friend’s son got into Yale. He also got into University of Toledo on full ride plus direct admit to their med school (didn’t have to take MCAT, get clinical hours, research, all the hoops kids need to do to make a strong med school app). He took Toledo. Yes, it’s a third tier college and med school, but med school is med school. It really doesn’t matter where you go. He’s in surgery residency somewhere now, doing well.

Anonymous wrote:One silly mistake is what? Forgetting to apply and be accepted to this mythical higher ranked school?

Happened to my son. There was indeed an error (no fault of ours or his) that could not be corrected in time.
He ended up at a lower ranked college, who gave a free ride, and is graduating early. Off to next level of education.

Anonymous wrote:I know I can’t change the past, but I can’t stop thinking about how much more prestigious a college I could’ve gone to if I hadn’t made that one silly mistake.

What was the one mistake?

OP is thinking about, for example, getting multiple C or D or even Fs senior mid-year grades. That could be a fluke.

A mistake is not the same as a fluke, no matter how silly the mistake. A fluke is a stroke of luck — good or bad — and a mistake is something that went wrong that you had control over.

I could have married a gorgeous woman who became a doctor but I said the wrong thing trying to be funny. Ouch. Still hurts

One silly mistake is what? Forgetting to apply and be accepted to this mythical higher ranked school?

Anonymous wrote:I know I can’t change the past, but I can’t stop thinking about how much more prestigious a college I could’ve gone to if I hadn’t made that one silly mistake.

No. There is no such thing.

I did. I think ultimately it doesn’t make that much of a difference in most fields, if you’re at a school that is on some level “too easy” for your intellectual gifts you should end up doing super well there, which positions you pretty well for the next step. In my case, I got a lot of attention from professors who enjoyed working with a student that was way more talented than usual for them, so my education didn’t suffer that much other than that my inherent laziness meant i could mail it in in classes that I wasn’t interested in. Grad school can clean up any prestige deficit, in fields where that matters. You can push yourself arbitrarily hard in the extracurriculars you have extra time for because the classes are easier. You take a bit of a networking hit because you aren’t surrounded by a bunch of high fliers, but there are smart and capable people even at lower tier schools, and you end up finding them. And if you are a bit of a late bloomer, being a large fish in a small pond can have some benefits from a developmental perspective.

Hindsight is 20/20. I got into a top college and I floundered there, I wasn’t prepared. I think I would have been more successful in my career had I not felt dumb for 4 years. It really took a toll on my self esteem.

Perception of where you think you can go can mask the reality of where you should go. I was rejected by all but one of my schools “back in the day.” Why? Because I was wildly unrealistic about my chances and capabilities at the time, and nobody around me knew any better. But it’s all good — went to a T300 school, made lifelong friends, enjoyed time with amazing professors, matured, had a great career and retired early. Once you start down a professional path, nobody cares where you went. Enjoy life.

What are you calling a "fluke" or a "mistake" here?

I know I can’t change the past, but I can’t stop thinking about how much more prestigious a college I could’ve gone to if I hadn’t made that one silly mistake.