Failure of the family

My family is full of prodigies where all 3 ofmy brothers have studied from top schools- Harvard, Yale and Rice.
i recently graduated from high school and applied to about 20 top colleges. i didnt get into any of the ivys and will now have to go to UT Austin.
I feel so inferior to everyone in the family and feel like an absolute disappointment. I often get panic attacks and depression phases because of this. I avoid all family dinners and meetings. IDK how i will ever look anyone in the eye ever again.
I am a failure and will die one.

Dear Um0810,

I do not think you are failure at all. Your post here helps me and will help so many others who use these Forums to feel less isolated and alone with their own personal grief and pain. That is not only a healing gift, but often a life saving gift. So many people on these Forums are living day to day and on the very edge and your honest and heartfelt post will help them to keep going. That is every bit as life saving as the work done by critical care professionals.

There are orders of greatness. All the physical strength in the world cannot equal intellectual greatness. But all the intellectual greatness in the world cannot equal a single act of helping others. There is an old saying that says: "Whoever helps to save a single life has saved the entire world." I think you are such a person. Such heroism is infinitely beyond academic accomplishments. I hope you will continue to post here on the Forums. In so doing, you will help so many, many people. I think you are a great person!

Sincerely yours, Yao Wen

Dont worry about not being in an ivy league school. My son went to community college and transferred and he is graduating with a 4.0 and received an award in his department. He is applying to law school after a year. My youngest is going to go the same route. Its much more affordable and you have the same basic core classes the first two years anyway.

This will look much different ten years from now. In the meantime, welcome to PC and I hope you find information and support here that will let you know that going to a great school is not the be-all end-all of anyone's life. There are so many things you can do, and in the end smaller things mean much more. Again, welcome!

UT is one of top universities in Texas and not that easy to get into itself. Nothing to be ashamed of.

Please don't feel bad about your acceptance into a UT school. It is not where you go to school but what you do afterwards that is more important. Yes, an ivy league school can allow you to have important connections, but what you major in and what you do after graduating matters more than just graduating from an elite school. Please be proud of your achievements.