Dwelling among affluent families in an affluent neighborhood, I realized that most high school students are very spoiled. Yes, I repeated the word "affluent" just to emphasize really, how spoiled most of us are. We are able to afford many college/SAT institutions in which we high school students attend for our own benefit. We then feel confident that we will do well since we attend to some of the most prestigious (but the most expensive) places to prepare us for the exams. Some of us also follow a legacy of attending to the most outstanding schools in the country. We become so spoiled and over-confident and we lose the sense of reality.
The reality that most of us won't get what we want. However, that's the thing that most teenagers don't understand around here. We don't get what we always want. We can afford the latest technologies and afford the nicest clothing, but we cannot impress the colleges with our fortune.
Some of us add, "Why? Why can't I get into the school that I've been wanting to go to for __ years?" (you can fill that in yourself). We continue to state this rhetorical question and read the rejection letter a few more times, just to make sure that our eyes didn't trick us.
It's amazing how overconfident people can be. The day after the UCLA decisions came in, seniors who applied were either ecstatic or groggy the whole day. Some believed that they should have been accepted and felt degraded that this school, full of glamor and prestige, should accept them as well.
There were times when I would just want to mercilessly smack them across the face. They seriously need a reality check.
Despite the fact that I didn't get into UCLA (oh boo hoo), I was in fact very grateful that I was. Throughout high school, my parents' dreams were for me to get into UCLA. Through all the institutions that I went through to either prepare for the SATs or for colleges, my mother would always come in and tell everything that I wanted to get int UCLA and it was MY dream school.
Oh really now? I could have said that if it was my dream school.
From dinner tables to meeting with college counselors, my mother would always ask questions if I was ever able to make it to my "dream school." Not only was it extremely annoying and embarrassing, but it also made me feel rebellious to whatever my mother said. I asked her, "If I get into LA and into the privates (Northwestern, Johns Hopkins, Wellesley, and USC), which ones Too bad I killed her hopes?
Sure, UCLA is a great school. However, I think this whole "OMG, I DIDN'T GET INTO LA" is getting too dry. Maybe people should be grateful of what they got into so far rather than living on the edge of false hope.
Life goes on. There's always transfer or graduate school. Doors are opened to you, it's just the matter if people would walk into those doors.
By the way, if you REALLY want to know what I got into, here it is.
Accepted: UC Riverside, UC Santa Barbara, UC San Diego, and USC
Waiting on: UC Berkeley, Northwestern, Johns Hopkins, and Wellesley
Rejected: UCLA
