Choosing a college
tsally: Meh.  I was similarly crushed when I was rejected from the Ivy league schools I thought I would be going to.  The most important thing to do is realize that most of it is ultimately irrelevant.  If your department is top 10,  the school wont make much of an impact past that point.  Once you're in a decent department the rest is up to you.More importantly, you actually have no idea which one of these schools is a best fit for you.  My focus was Columbia in highschool.  You know what I realized now?  It would have been a horrible fit for me.  UIUC is pretty good culture wise (mostly because of the CS department) and it has far better Computer Science.  I didn't even apply to the school which I realize now would be the best fit (Berkeley).  But I had never even heard of Berkeley outside of the CS rankings because it's not an Ivy.Recognizing that you have very little chance in correctly reading your own needs, try narrowing down the college by obvious criteria:1.) Place yourself in a top 10 department in the subject you want to study.2.) Make sure the campus culture is at least a decent fit for you (i.e., don't go to a big 10 school if you have an aversion to sports and partying.  I personally think the hardcore party people here are jokes, but I have no problem dealing or even being friends with them.).3.) Minimize the amount of money it takes you to get there.  Only make a concession if your upgrading yourself from a bottom half of the top 10 to a number 1.4.) Make sure the campus is a place where you see yourself living for four years.Academics + Culture + Minimal Money + Location.  It really is that simple.  I doubt more than one of the colleges on your list fits into the above criteria.EDIT: Also, don't beat yourself up over not getting in.  It's essentially a coin flip when it comes down to it.  I thought I had a pretty kickass profile too, but there you go.  As PG has written, it's not in the best interest of the admissions committee to spend the time picking the exact best candidates.  And believe me, this type of rejection will keep happening.  I just got rejected from a NASA scholarship I thought I had a pretty good shot at.  In the rejection email, they suggested if I reapplied to improve on pretty much every aspect of my application!  I know my app was better than that.  Like I said.. meh. :)