When I was first applying to colleges while I was still in high school, I felt like a pretty average, slightly-above-average student: 4.5 GPA unweighted, 5.6 GPA weighted, mostly A’s but a sprinkling of B’s, about 9 AP classes on my record and the rest honors, involved in a couple clubs and one sport, 33 ACT score, 2000 SATs, good-but-not-great essay-writing skills, and no “easy” ins: I didn’t know any admissions officers or anything and my parents weren’t rich enough to donate money and make a name for ourselves.
From this information, I gathered that I didn’t need to worry at all about getting into A college; I knew I’d be able to get in somewhere. However, I lacked confidence about my glaringly average high school accomplishments and although I’d been interested in schools like Barnard, Columbia, Stanford, etc., I never felt good enough about my record to apply, so I never did.
So, rather than applying to Columbia as my reach school and NYU as my main school, and maybe somewhere in NC as a backup, I only applied to schools in NC (to this day, I don’t know why I stuck so close to NC - I hate this state and am currently doing everything I can to one day claw myself out), and applied to NYU as my reach school.
All my teachers who I was closest to agreed to write me recommendations, but gently broke me the news that I would probably not be getting into NYU. I didn’t dare dream of telling any of them that I’d once thought of applying to Columbia, or oh God, even Stanford.
But, lo and behold, I ended up getting in everywhere I applied - yep, even NYU. You can imagine how dumb I continue to feel about not even trying for Columbia, or Barnard, or even Stanford. Yes, it would have been a long shot, but what if they’d liked my essay? What if, for some reason, I’d gotten in?
To this day, I regret not applying to more “reach” schools. I wonder how my life might have ended up differently if, fresh out of high school, I’d gone straight up to NYC to attend college at NYU or Columbia, surrounded by the brightest minds.
Instead, after high school, I chose one of my back-up schools - Appalachian State University - because why? Because my boyfriend and two other friends had chosen it.
Let this be a lesson to anyone reading this: APPLY for your reach schools, even the most seemingly unreachable! DON’T choose the “safe” path and go to the same school as all your friends, just because they’re going. Go where YOU want to go.
I’ve now been through 2 years of school at Appalachian (3.0 GPA (because of pure laziness)), 1 year of school at NCSU (not even going to mention my GPA because it’s that bad - again, pure laziness), and am now taking community classes online, and am moved back in with my parents.
I can only wonder what might have happened differently if I’d gone with my gut and gone up to NYC, as scary as it might have been.
Don’t make the same mistakes I did. Do what you know is best for you.
Good luck,
Gia