Reflection on College Admissions Process: How to Think About the Whole Thing
I’ve received the last of my college decisions. I didn’t get HYPSM, but I’m truly happy. This article will be a reflection about my mindset and how I coped with this highly emotional process. This will contextualize the next few articles in this series, which will cover the specifics of my journey (including how I got USABO Top 125, Regeneron STS Top 300, and ISEF Finalist).
Before I begin, I’d like to point out that the information contained in this series of articles is pretty personal. I’m explaining my journey in-detail in hopes that someone can relate and benefit from hearing about my experiences and perspective. Don’t do anything stupid.
I’ll start by explaining my background. When I was young (5-9 years old), my mom gave me extra “home-homework” (the Scholastic Achievement books from Costco or something lol) to do in addition to school homework. I was always one grade level ahead at home. Things happened, and my dad took over when I was 10. This is when I had my first serious grind: the Placement Test. I would rush home from school to study for this math test held at the end of 5th grade, which, if I passed both levels, could promote me to do 8th grade math in 6th grade. Every day, I’d study for hours and hours. I passed. I started to believe I was gifted. 💀
I’m telling you this to set the context. I was a promising kid, and I was always forced to be ahead. This made me feel like I was HYPSM material. As a result, in elementary and middle school, I developed some toxic and VERY incorrect notions about college. For example, I thought UCs were not “prestigious enough.” LIKE HUH?
But in high school, my family and I started researching colleges, and we found some influential resources. I’d recommend reading “Who Gets in and Why” by Jeffrey Selingo. That probably triggered my biggest mindset shift. I learned that college admissions is messed up, and institutional priorities take precedence over student merit. The takeaway: you can’t control institutional priorities, but you can control your merit. So work on that and do your best, but don’t expect results. This way, you’ll learn and grow, and prepare yourself to be successful wherever you end up. In my junior and senior years, I worked hard. I did my best. I bagged all of my biggest achievements (USABO, STS, ISEF) as an upperclassman.
But I forgot to not expect results. 5th grade Vaishnavi was still driving my mind as I applied to colleges. I had no real safety schools. I was so confident, I thought UCLA was a safety for me 💀 (ended up waitlisted lol). Don’t do what I did. I’m thankful that it all worked out and I’m going somewhere I love, but it could have been scary. The takeaway: have an actual safety school that you genuinely love.
And “genuine love” shouldn’t be based on “vibes,” although it often is. Make it concrete. Choose safeties that have programs you like, or clubs you like, or a location you like. Be specific. I wasn’t. But now, I love the school I’m going to for specific reasons, and it makes me feel a lot more confident that I’ll prosper there. Having that confidence before you get your decisions is so valuable, and will save you from a lot of stress. Don’t think that you’re “above” this step. It WILL hurt you. I was spared because I got into my college early, so I had this confidence walking into UC decisions and Ivy Day. (And thank God for confidence, because I may have internally combusted if I didn’t have that acceptance already lol.)
I want to conclude with some broader sentiments.
First: An acceptance to college, while an achievement, shouldn’t be primarily viewed as an achievement. Rather, just see it as an invitation to continue your education in a certain place with specific opportunities. The way you visualize yourself at a university is way more important than how impressive it is to get in. I’ve gotten into schools with lower acceptance rates than the one I’m committing to, but this college fits my goals better.
Second: Don’t equate your self-worth or intelligence with the colleges you get into. Don’t think you “deserve” to get in anywhere. Don’t think you got in anywhere as a “fluke.” College admissions, while messed up, are ALWAYS purposeful. If you got in, you fit that school’s purpose. If you didn’t, you didn’t fit their purpose. Viewing it like that makes it easier to avoid feeling insecure, and to avoid believing you’re a genius.
Third: The thesis of this article is not “HYPSM is overrated.” HYPSM is not overrated. It’s worth the hype and the price tag, especially for preprofessional degrees. “Harvard Graduate” just holds a certain vibe that is impressive to anyone who sees it, including employers. The thesis of this article is to work hard enough to earn HYPSM so you can build the skills and mindset necessary to be successful wherever you end up.
Hope that helped. Even if it didn’t, stay tuned for the next articles in this series because I’ll move away from the wishy-washy into the concrete. This will be valuable advice for anyone who wants to do well in USABO/STS/science fairs.
Send me any other questions you want answered in this series.
Thanks!
