I actually sort of agree; it comes out that he did, in fact, get in to a number of schools and he concedes that even if he'd gotten into one of his desired schools he would still have written something like this.

It might make sense to do this kind of thing as a personal reflection or inducement to growth, but the article itself makes the author seem mostly self-aggrandizing and smug.

But I was a real shit -- probably worse, honestly -- at 18, so who am I to judge the form that this reflection takes?

Yeah, a part of me agrees because I did it and never intended to go to an elite school (I was never good enough!) but at the same time it's still a more constructive way of handling rejection than I did so I can't really complain.

You could even go to a community college then transfer to a posh university for your final year or two.

What an absurdly unhelpful comment.

There's nothing abnormal about you Ryan. I hope you find something interesting and educational to do. I'm excited to see where you end up.