Rejected from Oxbridge : The Bright Side

The main reason I'm getting down from this is mainly my image. I've been numerously embarassed and had blows to my self-esteem by many peopls that claim to be "smarter". I was simply 'one of the smartest' in High School and sub-average amongst the higher than average, and now in Sixth Form they've all gone to more 'prestigious' centers. But now everyone has labelled me as smartest in Sixth Form (which of course, is subjective. I may be getting the best grades in Mathematics so far, but from a general viewpoint I'm rather out of my league to many other folk.)

But I know, comparatively, I'm not special. There were those that back in High School just would not recognise my opinions, and state their superiority, because I BELIEVE in Astrology and Spirituality, I LIKE religion, I am a pacifist, a communist and have strong opinion on the human race's initiative.

And I just can't argue. They'll probably go to Oxbridge, whilst I've been rejected. And it's a simple statement that I can't argue that they aren't superior. I feel completely unable to say anything to stand against any of their points of view.

I liked Cambridge. It looked nice and so did the course, but I did want it to show that my opinions were valid and that no one should think they are better than me...

(Note: Sorry if you take offense, I do not refer to that I am better than everyone, but rather we are all part of a subjective spectrum and that no one is superior to anyone, no matter what; everyone has some quality they excel in. I stand by that principle and I find it distasteful the Atheists who proclaim Christianity as false and vice versa; the scientific minds versus the manual labourers; the millionaires and fat cats running business, thinking they are above the common man.)

I got rejected today from Cambridge and i'm not going to lie, i'm absolutely devastated. I don't know what to do with myself. I know that sounds pathetic but I had my heart set on Cambridge and they've just chewed me up and spat me out with a pathetic letter saying 'unfortunately there was a really high level of competition this year' blaaahh just basically i'm not good enough for them.... but just yehh... this is really rubbish :'(

I got rejected from Oxford twice. I still don't have a place at university despite a string of As throughout my academia, what do you say to that? It's a lot worse knowing you can't take a gap year or as it stands, you don't have somewhere to go to. I take full responsibility for it and certainly not blaming anyone else.

Just be grateful that you have a place at similarly top universities at all. Don't ever be bitter, not worth the time/effort. At the end of the day, you didn't quite make it, could be down to a number of reasons and we will never truly know why.

No admissions system is flawless, they may have let a gem go and another university may have uncovered that rough diamond. What I am saying is keep your chin up, persistence can break down a lot of barriers. You often need to take one step back to go two steps forward.

98% UMS, 7A* Predictions, for the Irish Leaving Certificate, not even pooled. Average/bad interview, must have done me out a place I presume. It is pretty annoying with everyone I know attempting to comfort me, they don't have to put up with the feelings of failure and rejection, they don't have to put up with looking at all the people who got offers celebrating, they don't have their career hopes pretty much shattered, their confidence is not laying in ruins, they don't have to deal with spending the next 3/4 years of their life at university you know you should not be at because you are better than it and the people there, they have not spend several hundred on transport to interviews.

I highly doubt LSE, UCL and Warwick will give me a offer now, if Bristol rejected me what chance do I have at any of them.

this is probably small fry for you atm, but bristol rejected me and i got offers from warwick and durham (i see you're not applying to the latter but it's a similar level of uni)
also, if you work well at whichever uni you go to and get a good degree and place yourself in the best possible position cv wise, i'm sure you'll achieve great things in your career hopefully as time goes by you'll begin to see you can still succeed

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My uni is filled with so-called "Oxbridge rejects". Trust me when I say that you will soon stop caring about your rejection from Oxford/Cambridge, especially once you actually start uni. You will be just as happy at whichever uni you do go to- be it UCL, Durham, Imperial or wherever- and do just as well as you would have done.

The "Bright Side" is that it doesn't matter, life goes on. You can have a good time at uni, get top grades, make mum and dad (and yourself) proud, get a kick-ass graduate job; whatever it was that made you want to go to Oxford, Cambridge or any other university in the first place. It's up to you from here on now.

I was rejected by Cambridge for Law. Again, all were platitudes and cold comforts in the letter. I think what makes some of us hard to get over ourselves is that we've paid a lot of effort in the application process. I had been reading widely about my subject and actually believed that I would come out as one of the most knowledgeable candidates before the interview. I did well in my interview and the Law test; I wrote a brilliant personal statement; I had high intellectual capabilities and I really thought that I was making it into Cambridge.

It was definitely painful to be rejected after so many things I did to lick myself into shape before the test and the interview. Teachers were putting pressure on me, hoping that I'd get an offer. And after the interview, I spent a lot of time wandering about in the university site every day and dreaming what would happen to me after I got in.

And frankly, even though I'm trying to forget about the rejection, I still think that not being able to get an undergraduate degree from Cambridge means that there is less chance of success in my future (I'm not saying there's none, but less). So far, Warwick and Durham have accepted me for Law and I am feeling 'okay' about it, but definitely 10 times not as happy as I would if I got into Cambridge. People said that most employers consider the level of your degree, but still an applicant with post-initials BA(Cantab) or BA(Oxon) will give a better impression to the employer than an applicant with LLB(War) or LLB(Dunelm). And yes, getting in Oxbridge is all about laying hands on their prestige and fame, at least that's why I chose Cambridge.

Still, if you force me to think about any bright side of my rejection, I'd say that as long as you have money after finishing your undergrad degree (unfortunately my family doesn't), you can always apply for post-graduate studies in Oxbridge. If they reject you, reapply again year after year until you get in (you may be working in a firm or something by then) because eventually you'll get in.

But it's terribly painful to get the rejection. I was really shocked when I read in the letter 'we've given your application very careful consideration, but...'. The word 'but' still lingers in my mind every day and I keep reading the rejection letter again and again to make sure I didn't miss anything. I can now memorise the entire letter. I'm sure everyone like me will be thinking: "how come an applicant as strong as me is not accepted?" But we've got to admit and accept that it's because there are even stronger people out there.

Well, would someone care to give me some warm comfort? And how should I get over myself before getting into university?