Ah, that does make more sense, and I'm sorry for your stepmother's death. Although I do not personally believe that I judged you based on this short article (and I am plenty mature!), I think that you DO have to understand that because attending a women's college is a choice that has to be justified to many people, we probably tend to get more defensive to criticism of women's colleges more quickly then is probably warranted. I'm sure your college counselor is a lovely person, but I do have to stick by my assertion that for someone with a tricky financial aid case, personally, I would have suggested applying to more schools. However, I understand that perhaps your financial situation was not as tricky at the beginning of the process...at least I can say that Wellesley was appropriately generous to you! (Also, I did not mean to imply that you were unqualified for the three reach schools, only that they were probably reaches that couldn't be counted on. I speak from no high horse, as I applied to 4 reach schools and received no acceptances (2 rejections, 2 waitlists)). At any rate, I think that it is probably better that you not end up at Wellesley, because it seems like a poor fit and that is bad for all involved. Well, from my vantage point in Chicagoland with a large contingence of friends who will be headed down your way (well, your HS's way...you'll be in South America, I suppose :)), I'm less of an outsider than most! However, at least a couple of us outsiders followed a link (posted by a third party that I don't recognize here...although it *could* be Eliza) on the aforementioned college admissions website. Incidentally, the tone of the posts on that website tend to be a bit sharp, so to our ears what seems normal may seem somewhat harsher than desirable to you. We are also a nosy bunch, and feel little compunction in digging into the other poster's personal affairs, so don't be too put off by that, either. Anyway, I feel that while a bit unpleasant--on both sides--at times, these comments have lead to a greater understanding and have placated my outrage :), so I wouldn't feel that this blew up in your face, but that it ended up being a better, more clearer picture of the vagaries of the admissions process.