<p>where did you end up goind illmatic?</p>
<p>Well I neglected to go to Northwestern or NYU because at the time (18 years old) I was extremely immature, had alot of problems in my life in the aftermath of 9/11, and didn't even really want to go to college. The only reason I applied was so that I could prove to myself that I was actually capable of getting in and it gave my parents some degree of happiness as well.</p>
<p>I did move to New York (originally from Maine) about 4 months after being accepted, and lived and worked in Brooklyn for two years doing random things...bellman for a hotel, truck driver, assembling pool tables etc.</p>
<p>I moved back to Maine when I was 20 and started going to a no name state school there. I went for 3 semesters and just transferred to Tufts this January but am trying to transfer to Georgetown for the fall.</p>
<p>The thing is I was very talented in high school. I was in alot of advanced programs, gifted programs, honors, talented programs that went on outside of school. I went to NY one summer and was mentored by broadway playwrites, I was even asked to do a book. </p>
<p>However I was never really interested in the grading part of high school...I had decent grades, a few C's here and there, but that was just to keep my parents off my back. I kind of got in with the wrong crowd in high school as well and in my youthful ignorance I did alot of stupid things, and felt like I had to prove myself to these "friends" by showing them I didn't care about school.</p>
<p>Actually I never even planned on ever going to college. My mom actually had to trick me into taking the SAT!!! (long story).</p>
<p>I was always one of the smartest people in any room I walked into, I'm not saying that to brag, I'm saying that as fact. Its just I never really had any motivation, absolutely no direction at all, and most importantly no desire.</p>
<p>What it basically boils down to is just that: desire. Anyone can do absolutely anything with their lives and if anyone tells you different, than that person is a fool. If you got passion, nothing is going to be able to stop you...especially since things like GPA and SAT's aren't really a measure of intelligence, but rather an assessment of commitment (i.e. anyone who puts in X amount of hours is going to get a 4.0, period)</p>
<p>Condoleeza Rice grew up dirt poor in the Jim Crow south...now shes the highest diplomatic figure on the planet.</p>
<p>Do what you want and don't think you have to go to school to be happy</p>
<p>My best friend got into Princeton ED on a 1300 (800 V, 500 M) Her talents lie, as do mine, in the literary realm. Her accolades aren't really "tangible" - she hasn't published - but beginning with freshman year, she was active at the University of Washington and the Evergreen State College, creating individual tutorials with professors there and founding a literary magazine. She presented herself well on her application, had an oustanding interview (I was sitting at the table behind her in Starbucks :)
She wasn't URM, a legacy, or an athlete. Some admission officers there must look kindly on "well lop-sided applicants" - or she was lucky (I know I'm not getting into Princeton)</p>