April 28, 2005
rejected @ yale
as a junior in high school, i suffered from what my sister termed to be "behavioral problems." i threw a pen at my gorgeous, ex-model french teacher (later, i would destroy her in arm wrestling). i failed that class, chemistry, and english. my parents cursed at me and threatened to throw me out of the house. so, i decided, it was time to go to college. i applied to two schools: carnegie mellon and caltech. ding! ding!
carnegie mellon was the school that i had wanted to attend for awhile because it housed the top computer science program in the country. i decided that i would attend their summer program, show them how smart i was, and then they would have to accept me on the spot. while i was there, i pulled top grades in my physics and computer science courses, so i applied again. they interviewed me, then told me that if some people withdrew before classes began, they would consider me. during the first week of september, i received a letter. ding!
so during the fall of my senior year, applying to college again, my parents wanted me to give carnegie mellon another go. no, i said, i can't apply again, having been rejected twice—i've got too much pride. they tried to offer me financial incentives. i laughed.
fast-forward to the present: my parents begged me to apply to yale. they offered financial incentives. i said, mom, i've got no chance of getting in, plus it's not really my idea of true love, anyway. she said, your sister has a friend who goes there and you're smarter than she is! i said, duh mom! but it's not about who's smarter!!
Posted by foxes in rejections at 09:08 PM | riffraff (47) | trackback (878)
April 12, 2005
rejected @ nyu
i was a bit surprised to receive the big ding! from nyu law. i am hoping that this is not an indication of dissatisfaction toward my fall semester grades, which are a bit strange. if that's the case, it may not bode well for my other holdouts (chicago, columbia).
i must admit, though, that nyu's letterhead seriously impresses. the torch recalls a bit of classicism mixed with a touch of muscular randian modernity, successfully disassociating nyu quite plainly from prior mental connections with theo huxtable. but it doesn't matter anyway—i would've chosen hillman over nyu in a heartbeat.
Posted by foxes in rejections at 06:08 PM | riffraff (125) | trackback (944)
February 23, 2005
harvard mon amour
the truth hurts, don't it?
harvard, ever stately, chooses a serif font to break the bad news (unlike stanford: hip, cool, relaxed, and inevitably, sans-serif). however, like their california peers, harvard regrets that they must "deny admission to many candidates whom [they] would like to have at Harvard"—which of course, is a lie, but an effort worth applauding nonetheless.
Posted by foxes in rejections at 03:50 PM | riffraff (166) | trackback (725)
February 10, 2005
cali-forni-hates-me
After reviewing thoroughly your application for admission to Boalt Hall, the Admissions Committee has decided, with regret, not to offer you a place in the Class of 2008.
apparently, california hates me. stanford uses a similar wording except they "sincerely regret". whew! hey stanford admissions peeps! "well qualified" should be hyphenated! ohhh, snap!
in my mind, the meaning of 'regret' encompasses a degree of self-reproach—a desire to undo what's been done. berkeley takes this approach by somewhat classlessly inviting me to apply as a transfer applicant at the end of my first year. honey, if you feel that bad about it just shout me a holla! shoot, i don't have any pride!
surely dictionary.com's definition of 'regret' will show its prescience.
n : sadness associated with some wrong done or some disappointment; "he drank to drown his sorrows"; "he wrote a note expressing his regret"; "to his rue, the error cost him the game" [syn: sorrow, rue, ruefulness] v 1: feel remorse for; feel sorry for; be contrite about [syn: repent, rue] 2: feel sad about the loss or absence of 3: decline formally or politely; "I regret I can't come to the party" 4: be sorry; "I regret to say that you did not gain admission to Harvard"
Posted by foxes in rejections at 11:57 AM | riffraff (177) | trackback (1431)
February 01, 2005
ce n'est pas un rejet
putting the real in surreal.
already a long week and it's only tuesday. rejected at stanford—that's right. also, rejected for the fulbright. to top it off, i got a concussion while snowboarding in a terrain park called "the learning garden".
i'm going to recuperate by heading to chicago tomorrow until sunday. hopefully, i'll get to visit all of the landmarks from my last windy city romance—the beach, orange, the backseat of a honda civic... in this situation, it's probably not out of line to quote degas who wrote, "girls are preeeetty."
even magritte wouldn't have the huevos to solider on amidst such unknowable mystery. got some dirt on my shoulder; could you brush it off for me?
Posted by foxes in rejections at 09:28 PM | riffraff (232) | trackback (1011)