My college story

Applying to College Admission Stories
1

Hello CCers,

I know that many people are worried about where to go to college and what to pick in their searches. I will tell my story and put my final list at the end of this post.
My initial college list began as:
Stanford
UCB
Hopkins
Northwestern
UChicago
Dartmouth
Brown
Georgetown
Yale
Pomona
Amherst
Williams

Sophomore year:
My college search began at Northwestern University. I toured campus and got a feel for the school. I didn’t really enjoy the campus or academic setting. I think the quarter system went too fast and that grade deflation was too prevalent. I didn’t like the fact that it seemed mostly academic. Cross off

I then toured University of Chicago. I didn’t enjoy this campus at all. It seemed like it was really where all fun went to die. It seemed way too academic and intellectual for me. Crossed off

I then started to research schools more. Most of my schools were too unrealistic and the truth is that I didn’t even want to go to any of those schools. I didn’t end up applying to a single one.

Junior year:

I added schools like WashU, Penn, Vanderbilt, Wake Forest, Emory, UVA, UNC, Michigan, Wisconsin, USC, UCLA, Boston College

I visited Michigan and it was way too big for me. I hated my visit a lot. Not the right vibe.

Then I visited Vanderbilt. I fell in love with Vanderbilt. It was my #1 choice and I had it as my ED1 school at the moment.
The academic and social atmosphere was perfect.

Then I thought long and hard about going to Vanderbilt and what I wanted in a college. Would I even survive at Vanderbilt even as a premed and would I really enjoy my experience? Maybe? But not the school for me.

During the winter of my junior year, I talked to my counselor a lot and I realized that I really wanted a small school really bad more than anything. I would survive mostly because of the close student faculty relation. I added a whole bunch of liberal arts colleges and got rid of all my research universities.

My new list was:
Claremont McKenna College
Bowdoin College
Bates College
Middlebury College
Wesleyan University
Washington and Lee
University of Richmond
Bucknell University
Gettysburg College
Lafayette College
Colby College
Occidental College
Pomona College
Whitman College
Davidson College
Hamilton College
Colorado College

After generating this list, I went on a whole bunch of college visits. My first visit was at Washington and Lee University. I loved the school. I loved the honor system and speaking tradition and well as the Greek atmosphere. I also loved the rich tradition on campus as well as the size and academic setting.

My second visit was to the University of Richmond. Another school that I absolutely loved since it was D1 and in a city. Great vibe.

My third visit was to Wesleyan University. Not really a big fan. Too hipster for me.

My fourth visit was to Boston College. Not a big fan. Just not the right place.

My fifth visit was to Bucknell University. I LOVED THE PLACE. It was a place to call home. Great family vibe and collaborative community as well as D1.

My sixth visit was to Bates College. I enjoyed the college. Great place. Super small. I hated the town of Lewiston though. Made me feel like I was in the slums of Maine. Too cold also.

That was one of my road trips.

The second road trip I went on was the summer of my junior year. I visited Claremont McKenna. THIS WAS MY #1 choice. I thought I was going there as in I dreamt about the college everyday after I visited. The people there are the friendliest and most genuine people I’ve ever met. Just for the record, this school was on my list since mid sophomore year, but there wasn’t a place to put it. I loved this campus so much and the people and the relaxed social scene. It’s really inclusive. I wanted to go here so bad. I visited once over the summer and once overnight during the fall of my senior year. I was in contact with the school for 2 years. I’ve kept contact with 3 different admission officers for my area(since there was a change in regional officers), I had a professor write to the college about how I was an impressive student, I knew a student intern in admissions, I had an interview, video prompt…you name it. Basically I did everything in my power to get in. I did not get in.

The second school I visited was Occidental College. The campus was not right for me. I got a hipster vibe from them and it was too politically active.

The third school I visited was Santa Clara University. I loved this school so much. It was perfect academically and socially. Beautiful campus and nicest dorms I’ve ever seen.

Those were all my visits.

I visited Gettysburg and Bucknell(again). I loved both the campuses so much. I knew one of them would be by ED2.
Gettysburg is just like Bucknell honestly. It’s so hard to tell the difference. I flipped a coin.
My final list ended up being:
Bucknell University(Accepted)-ED2
ASU-Barrett Honors College (Accepted-13K scholarship)-Rolling
DePauw University(Accepted-19K scholarship)-EA
Claremont McKenna College(Rejected)-ED1
UMiami(Deferred->Waitlisted)-EA
SMU(Waitlisted)-RD
Santa Clara University(Deferred->Rejected)-EA
Whitman(Withdrawn on behalf of ED2)
Bates(Same as above)
Washington and Lee(Same as above)
University of Richmond(Didn’t finish application)
Gettysburg College(Withdrawn on behalf of ED2)
Tulane(Deferred->Rejected)-EA

I AM GOING TO BUCKNELL IN THE FALL OF 2020. My advice to all of you in the CC forum is to value experiences and memories at a college as well as academics, but please don’t pick colleges only based on the name of the school. Find a fit otherwise you may be miserable. Try to figure out what you actually want.

I am the kid who always struggled in school without personal attention so I knew I wanted an LAC. My GPA was a 3.38 UW and a 4.02 W. My ACT was a 27 with a superscore of a 29. I had extracurricular experiences like no other though as well as a built resume and amazing interviews.

Please take this advice. Know what you want in a college because I thought I wouldn’t get accepted anywhere, but I’m glad I did and made the changes in my list because I’m so much happier with my choice. I’m at the point where I would rather go to Bucknell than an Ivy League school if I had the option.

Note: All I say about these colleges is personal opinion. Please go for a school you are passionate about.

2

Great post! As I will be a senior next year, I found this really helpful!

3

I would love to hear some more feedback and your thoughts

4

Great story, thanks for sharing. Have a great time at Bucknell!

5

I forgot to mention I am a no hook student.

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Hello JHUSoccer! I loved your story and how your school list evolved from the “names” to what worked for you. You’ve done a great job finding your fit!. I am bookmarking it for when my daughter (HS 2019) gets to this point, as you’ve mentioned some schools she may be interested in. Just winding down on my son’s application season. He, loved U Rochester on his first visit way back when and as luck (and a lot of work) would have it, he will be going there. Thank you so much for your post!

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@Momofmrb Thanks so much for your kind words. I spent a lot of time in my search. It really takes time to get over those name brand schools, but you have to remember, in the long run, the name will only give you attention from your peers and praise from your peers, but you may end up going to a school where you’re miserable because you only looked at the name.

8

OP I really really like this post. You did a great job of being honest and thorough and figuring out what works for YOU. Definitely instructive for those who are just beginning their own search. Thanks for taking the time to share this. Best of luck to you!

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@momcinco Thank you! I spent a lot of time for this search and I’ve enjoyed all the schools I applied to. I’m so happy to be attending bucknell

10

Well written-
Here are two important things that all parents should notice
The use of I not we - the parents are not going to college but rather the kid - “we” might go visit the school but support your kid to let him/her make the decision - don’t tell others that “we” are looking at X but rather my son/daughter is looking at X not you
also notice the maturation process of the student - letting them own the process - even in the smallest of ways makes a huge difference
I am sure that these decisions were not made in a vacuum and you parents were part of it but they let you steer the car

11

@swampdraggin my parents are foreign and have no idea about colleges and how it works so they really just let me do the researching. Financial aspect of it was also figured out by me. We got close to what we needed.

12

I hope more people can see this to be inspired to spend time in their college search and pick the right school instead of the best one.

13

Just did an overnight at Bucknell last weekend. Greatest time ever. My student host was part of the outdoor program and was super friendly and welcoming. I sat in on a psych and Spanish class. The 2 professors were amazing and the class sizes are so small. Best lectures ever. I also went to the lacrosse game which was intense and fun because it’s D1. After that, Bucknell has this thing called canoe battleship and I did that for like a social activity. I also went to a fraternity mixer which was super fun too. Super Saturday’s definitely are fun too since I went to that the next day. Admitted students day was that Saturday too so I actually met some kids just by going up to them and introducing myself. They were so friendly and we are all making a friend group for the fall! Walking around campus was so pleasing too. Everything about the campus is amazing.