The easier it is to get into anything, the less value it has. If you do get into a good school, you’ll be working damned hard – so work damned hard now. Good luck.

I think a lot of students today (and perhaps their parents) put this on themselves. A couple of generations ago, most people just went to their local universities. The SAT was an aptitude test, so you weren’t expected to “prep” for it, you didn’t take college classes until after you finished high school, there were no AP options at most schools, and everything was graded on a 4.0 scale anyway. Summers were for fun, not piling up things which would look good on college applications. Suddenly everyone seems crazed. Everyone wants to go to an Ivy League school and they hire consultants to help them put together the perfect application. The funny thing is that I don’t see much change in the overall approach of most colleges; it is mostly the students who seem to have changed.

It depends on what you mean by a good university. I got to a college in state. It’s not the best when it comes to academics, but it is pretty darn good. Undergraduates get published internationally, we host national conferences, a lot of students study abroad, the honors program is great and students can even write an undergraduate honors thesis. There are so many opportunities. There are so many internships, and they don’t have one that you like, they’ll make one for you. My university is great. It’s not Ivy League but it’s just right for me and I’m getting a good education. I’m challenged in my classes and I work hard and I enjoy it, but it’s just a college of 7,000 students on the Delmarva Peninsula. It’s not incredibly difficult to get accepted, but if you use your resources around here, you can do a lot while getting a degree.

if you really have what it takes, it wont be hard. it sounds like you have been working hard, getting excellent grades, have extracurricular activities – you will get in