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Edit-1:
Bennington Rejection:
How do I feel?
Well, Bennington was one of the colleges I really loved and it also was probably one of the only colleges where I might have had a shot. Applied to some very risky colleges and only a handful of LACs. Got the rejection email in midst of my classes (yes currently enrolled at a local uni) and my friends had to watch me sulk for an entire day (cuz classes continue till 5:15pm and it started on 8am that day). So, yeah massively depressed cuz I literally felt like I lost whatever shots I had.
Things I did?
=> Communicated with my admission counselor
=> Attended multiple Info sessions (I honestly know at least half of the international admission officers by name now)
=> Spent a good amount of time on my personal essay.
=> ECA history: 3 Nat Camps (unfortunately no Int'l), IYMC Bronze, Club Presidency, yada yada, the usual stuff.
=> Academic background: Topper of class throughout Class XI-XII and top 5 throughout class VII-X (though colleges only got transcripts from grade 9-12)
Things I did not do?
=> SAT. I went SAT optional. And there's no easy way to explain why so. I have had some unfortunate familial issues one of them being my mother who's a frontline health worker and the main bread earner of the family, her health being severely damaged post COVID and I was the only one who could take over the responsibility of taking care of her cuz my parents aren't together anymore. Besides, also responsible for my sister's education, etc. A lot more on the plate but that would make it sound like a sob story and I am not a sob story :3 Also, additional essay does mention about my mother's health and why I couldn't take SATs or apply for ED.
=> Not EPT. I have done my schooling at English version schools throughout my life and basing on that all of the colleges I applied to were willing to waive my EPT.
=> I was late in submitting my CSS (though Bennington doesn't even need CSS still mentioning it). Due to some technical issues I was unable to access my CSS portal until Feb2 and I had emailed all of the colleges that required CSS about this issue, alongside screenshots of my complaint mail to college board.
Where did it go wrong/ Why do I think I was rejected?
=> During the info sessions one of the things I noticed was that most of the applicants this fall were actually interested in very similar major choices as mine. At least applicants for the LACs. That really takes away a lot from the unique factor out of a student's overall application I guess.
=> I did not spend as long as I probably should have writing my Bennington supplementary essay. Looking back, the essay could have been much better.
=>EFC could be a probable reason. Considering I applied RD and my application went through pretty much an hour or so before deadline, by the time my application was reviewed chances are the college already had accepted a lot of students which meant they were comparatively running short of resources to provide and my low EFC might as well have played a factor in it.
What did I take away?
=> Well, for starters, I just relearned how to face rejections. Been a while since the last Olympiad, so yeah xD.
=> When I told my mom about the rejection, she had a far more positive attitude than me and a far more positive attitude than I am used to from her xD. She said, "It's just the first rejection, you can't expect to get into all 11 of the colleges. You just need to get into one." Even though I did explain to her that this one was one of the ones I was more hopeful about. She also reminded me that there are other countries I haven't even tried yet. So, there's that.
=> Rejections hurt. But this wasn't the first one (though first from a college )I ever had and certainly won't be the last. But, as my personal essay says, sorry is not stopping me. Idk how but someday In sha Allah I will turn this sorry too.
Peace.
Edit-2:
Amherst Waitlisted.
How do I feel?
I was totally expecting a rejection from Amherst considering it is one of the five need blinds and is undoubtedly a very competitive college. So, getting waitlisted, felt different. Not really happy about it but also can't complain because I had lower expectations. Specially since Bennington rejection I guess I have far less expectations.
Things I did:
- All things same as Bennington application.
- I spent more hours writing or refining it then I did for Bennington's, both were pretty much last moment submissions. But I did spend more years just exploring the topic I wrote my Amherst supplemental essay on then I spent years on my Bennington essay topic. Given the approach I took and the fact I still haven't seen anyone use/mention this observation (it's a mathematical series observation regarding the table of seven), it probably was an unique letter of it's kind and perhaps a bit nerdy too. (Which I have been told Amherst prefers nerdy ones for the prompt I had specifically chosen)
Things I did not do:
- All things same as Bennington application.
Where did it go right or wrong/ Why do I think I was waitlisted and not rejected or accepted?
- EFC. Given, that my Bennington application didn't really have much stuff that was too different from my Amherst one. I am guessing the fact that Amherst is a needblind played a factor in "not getting me rejected".
-Uniqueness. Compared to my Bennington application if I was compare my Amherst application as an overall package, Amherst application showed/talked more about my diverse academic interests. (in this case the Maths based supplemental essay probably helped round up my application more than my health based Bennington essay)
-Applicant pool. As sad as it sounds, I have to factor in the fact that this year there will be and there are applicants from three batches from our country alone and probably multiple batches from other countries as well. For most international students who want to attend a LAC, Amherst will be a top choice, meaning it probably had a very "talented" (I would rather say well rounded application) pool of applicants. And that definitely takes way a lot from my individual chances/shot at getting in.
-Late submission. Now I did submit within deadline. But as far as I am aware, the application review process order is based on our submission time. And given the excessive "talented" pool of applicants (specially this year) by the admission officers got to my application they probably already had read about 2 or 3 more "Rabeya"s (applications very similar to mine or might as well be applications identitical to mine). And as we all know, the same amazing story doesn't feel as amazing the second time. Which might as well have been why I wasn't accepted rather waitlisted.
- I went RD. Adding on the application pool+ late submission is the fact that during RD, a lot of the seats have already been filled up by ED students. So, during RD, AOs have lesser seats to offer and more applicants to review and it makes it very hard on the AOs to pick students for acceptance. This might have also been a factor behind not getting accepted.
What did I take away?
- Same as Bennington. (XD)
Peace.
Edit-3:
Bard Rejection:
I don't really have to analyze much on this one because they did it for me.
Colgate Rejection:
Yeup, two rejections in one day. Was expecting this low-key.
Feelings: I don't know, probably upset but also numb. Was expecting Colgate and was hoping Bard will have a different opinion. But yeah.
Why?: Well, Bard sums it up themselves in the rejection letter. Low EFC. And Colgate probably had similar reasons as well.
Takeaway: At this point, I am waiting for tears to actually happen cuz man have I shed enough of them in the past two years to run out of them. So, biggest takeaway from this double strike is I need to let out my emotions, through crying or screaming or somehow (legally and logically safe for everyone).
Peace.
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