Rejected.

Nora Flood is the pseudonym of a high school senior in a suburban town near New York City....read more

Are you kidding me?

I actually got rejected.

After all that, they have the nerve to tell me that though it was a difficult decision it was a very competitive applicant pool this year and unfortunately they were unable to find a place for me at their university. Best of luck with my undergraduate experience.

First they misfile me. Then they lose me. Then they put me in the Early Decision Two applicant pool. End of the story: they reject me.

My mother is an alumna. A family friend recently donated $40 million to the school and he wrote a letter on my behalf. The rabbi of the Hillel on campus wrote a letter on my behalf. My alum interviewer wrote a glowing letter.

Side note: my grades are phenomenal, I have 47 extracurriculars, and I wrote a kick ass essay. And did I mention that I spent a semester in Spain, living with a host family and attending the public school- unquestionably the best and most difficult thing I have ever done?

My test scores: abysmal.

And that's apparently all that counted. At the end of my interview, the alumna told me "Nora, it was not only a pleasure to speak with you, but inspiring. Know that you have someone fighting for you."
The night I got the letter, I ate my weight in chocolate, and went to the high school play, not so much for the quality theater, but because I took Andrew home with me from there. He changed some light bulbs for my mom while I tied a scarf around my head and ran in circles in my living room singing until I collapsed. I have never felt more like Ophelia.

The evening continued with me hiding under the covers and Andrew being very sweet and tolerant and joining me as I went through swings of putting hexes on the school, determining that I in fact never wanted to go there at all, and weeping. And chocolate. Lots and lots of chocolate.

And then it was over. I decided that it wasn't worth my time and I wanted to pretend like it never happened.

Over.

So who should call the next morning?

My interviewer.

It was truly the best thing that could happen. "I have been interviewing for the university for 15 years. Never have I received a call from the admissions office to explain a decision about a student, and never ever have I called a student after a decision was made. I am a psychologist, so I believe in standardized tests," she started out. "However, the first line of my recommendation letter about you was ‘I believed in standardized tests until I met Nora Flood.'"

On and on she said how she was impressed with my description of why Hamlet was Shakespeare's strongest work, my semester abroad in Spain, my comparison of the political and economic atmospheres of Spain and the U.S., and my "passion for what [I] love. Nora, you would be a wonderful addition to the campus."

It's ungracious to say "damn straight" so I didn't.

And then she told me that it was the test scores -- those damn test scores. Tufts, she explained, has not had a focus on scores in the past. This year she said she has been appalled by many of their choices, all of which have been based on test scores.

So here's my Pollyanna look on this: fine. Take the scores. I don't want a school of 800s, I want a school of people.

I can't believe I got rejected. ...read more blogs