Wow. Where can I possibly begin? Ever since I read An0malys post that was actually the precursor to this forum, I have wanted very badly to make my own thread after D-Day (March 30th for the HS class of 2011) and post it here. I planned on doing one regardless of whether my ultimate admissions outcome was positive or negative, just because I wanted to share my experience and hopefully it can help some random college-obsessed freak like the junior year me.
First of all, DONT be a college-obsessed freak like I was. Dont spend all of your free time on this site, going through every single chance thread and poring over which Ivy League you want to go to. Its not worth it. What I do recommend is using the SAT/ACT/SAT Subject Test/AP Prep forum. Ultimately, doing well on those things is something tangible that actually gets you into college, and the resources available on this site are worth more than many overpriced prep courses.
Before I start my story, let me preface it by saying that this isnt the story of a more or less average high school student that took a chance and was accepted to his or her dream school. I had the stats and the resume to go to a top school, and Im not going to make light of that fact. However, I am also an ORM (over-represented minority, a glorified way of saying Asian) from an over-represented state (NY), with absolutely no hooks. Anyone that is familiar with this site knows that pretty much all of the replies on chance threads go something like this, Great stats! But, youre an ORM with no special abilities or experiences, so its a crapshoot! Dont get me wrong; Im a strong proponent of affirmative action, but after the time I spent on this site, I realized that it would inevitably work against me, and truthfully, I was very discouraged by this fact.
Seeing all of the posts from users EXACTLY like me, I realized that there was no possible way I could stand out in any competitive applicant pool, especially with no unique ECs. In hindsight, thinking of the many users that are like me, I thought it would be appropriate to address all of the severely discouraged URMs out there.
The first college I visited was Columbia University, back in the 10th grade. I fell in love with it as I did with every subsequent college I visited throughout the course of the next two years. I think I was just in love with the idea of an independent lifestyle, so no particular college really stood out to me as my #1 choice.
On the topic of the super-mega-dangerously-important junior year that everybody seems to warn you about, just try your hardest. Accept the fact that youre going to have to cut down in the social life a little and genuinely make an effort to study. I dont want to dwell on what you have to do to be accepted by a top college, because this thread is already getting a little long-winded, and because Im sure most people that will read this are already competitive for top schools if theyre on this site. I want to talk more about the application process, and what your mindset should be.
So, senior year. In my opinion, the TRUE hell year of high school. Sorry to disappoint the current juniors who thought they had already traversed through the most difficult time period of their 4 years. Applications literally never end. Seriously, Ive already been accepted to colleges and Im still going through paperwork and financial aid stuff and trying to make deadlines and balancing schoolwork at the same time. Its daunting. My college list was pretty decent-sized (about 8 schools), and I decided to apply SCEA to Yale as I didnt want to bind myself to any school, but still wanted an early decision from one of them, just to spend the rest of my senior year hopefully in comfort. I was deferred EA, much to my disappointment. I quickly panicked and applied to more schools before their deadlines. The full list turned out to be:
Harvard, Yale, Columbia, Brown, Cornell, University of Pennsylvania, Johns Hopkins, NYU, Northeastern, RPI, Boston University, Stony Brook, Binghamton, Drexel
So yeah, a LOT of Ivies, and a lot of colleges in general. However, after I was done applying by about January, I truly realized that it was better to just relax and not think about the college process in general. I didnt log onto this site for a good 4 months, and by the time March 30th rolled around, I wasnt even as close to how anxious I was on December 15th. I had already been accepted to all of the other schools on my list besides the Ivies (full ride to Stony Brook), so needless to say the pressure was off until the week or so before the 30th.
I started stalking CC again going through every post in every hopefuls thread, etc. Unfortunately, I had a mock trial meet on March 30th (my school went 4-0 :D) and I didnt get home to my horribly nervous wreck of a mother by about 9 pm.
Cornell Accepted
huge smile
Brown Accepted
speechless
Yale Rejected
eyes roll
thanks for keeping me waiting?
Penn Waitlisted
such is life.
I didnt get my Harvard e-mail until about 12 am, and at that point, my parents had reluctantly gone to sleep. I opened it, and much to my surprise, I was accepted. I was too exhausted after a long day to even think about what had just happened. Next morning, Columbia e-mail came in with the password I had forgot to request a few days earlier. Got accepted there as well.
My journey was a long and difficult one, but the one thing I made sure to do was stay true to myself. --Everyone groans-- No, seriously, thats the most important thing to do. Ignore everyone that says you have nothing special on your resume, and that you need to do something that stands out to the selection committee. That doesnt make a difference. Be yourself. Write honestly, and if youre really interested in particular school, the rest will fall into place. It seems like age-old advice, and youre probably wondering why you read through this loooong post to get to this piece of advice, but its the truth.
I was stuck debating between Harvard and Columbia, but the Harvard financial aid stuff just came in the mail, and its about half the price of Columbia. The decision, I think, has been made for me. Who would have thought?
P.S.
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/harvard-university/1112322-official-harvard-university-2015-decisions-thread-6.html#post12308985[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/harvard-university/1112322-official-harvard-university-2015-decisions-thread-6.html#post12308985</a>
^My stats, in case anyone is interested.
now if I could only achieve the same results…anyways, congratulations on your acceptances and good luck at Harvard and beyond!