<p>It's been over a year since I made my first</a> post on the College Confidential boards, but I certainly haven't forgotten about the influence this website has had on my college search. For any parents or others reading this, I'd like to thank everyone for all their wonderful help they have given me. I hope my own "success story" will inspire other high school students in situations like mine. Perhaps others can learn from my story and apply it to their own college search. Here it goes:</p>
<p>By the beginning of the school year, I had "narrowed" (cough) my college list down to 9 schools: MIT, Northwestern, Cornell, Carnegie Mellon, Case Western Reserve, University of Rochester, Rochester Institute of Technology, RPI, and Cleveland State. In hindsight, therein lies my first mistake. Since even now I'm not entirely sure of engineering or a technology major, I would easily rule out RIT, RPI, and probably University of Rochester because I feel Case is a similar school but it's closer to home.</p>
<p>Anyway, the first college acceptance I got was from RPI. I got to apply there early as a Medalist. Later came my deferment from MIT to the regular admissions cycle; I certainly saw that one coming. Also at this time, I was accepted to Case Early Action with a Presidential Scholarship.</p>
<p>By the end of December (all at the last minute, of course), I finished up the rest of my college applications. The worst one was definitely Northwestern. I don't think I put the right amount of time into their essay questions, and I even used the same essay I used for MIT and the Common Application for them. It certainly did not answer any of their essay topics, and a "topic of your choice" was not available either. I feel bad about the whole thing, but I at least wanted to complete my Northwestern application so at least my teachers' recommendations wouldn't be "wasted."</p>
<p>In no particular order, I was accepted to U of R, RIT, and CSU and denied by MIT sometime after January. Weeks went by, and still I had heard nothing from CMU, Cornell, or Northwestern.</p>
<p>One day after driving home from school, I got the "fat envelope" from CMU. I was excited! It certainly took long enough. But unfortunately, I was waitlisted into CMU's Electrical and Computer Engineering department. Basically, I could go there and major in any other engineering discipline but computer. From what some people have told me on these boards, I wasn't particularly shocked due to the ECE department's prestige and excellent applicants. I was actually a bit thrilled that CMU even accepted me, but it still felt like a slap to the face.</p>
<p>A week or so later, I got a letter in the mail from Northwestern. Uh oh. I wasn't too excited about opening this one, but I did notice that I got a very large envelope...somehow, I was accepted! I was and still am extremely shocked. Does their engineering school assume kids can't write?</p>
<p>The very next day, on April 1, I had to attend a Physics Olympics with my school. We even took first place out of 15-some schools! It was a blast. When I got home, my mother handed me an envelope I got in the mail. It was inside of some FedEx packaging. I calmly opened it and saw a letter from Cornell's Dean of Admissions, congratulating me on being accepted to Cornell (great April Fool's Joke, don't you think? :)) I shook my head and chuckled to myself, wondering how I could possibly afford going there. Immediately my mother and my visiting grandmother began discussing going to Ithaca. We took it very seriously.</p>
<p>Throughout all of these admissions decisions I also received my financial aid packages. If you read my first thread, you'll learn that I have no father in my life, and my mother makes very little money. Just to make the point, our EFC is 0. Basically, anything short of a "full ride" from a school just might not be good enough.</p>
<p>Just to quickly show the awards, here are all the schools (these figures are all per year):</p>
<p>CMU: Worst financial aid package. Over $10,000 in loans and another $12,000 to pay out of pocket.
RPI: Bad, like above. About $10,00 in loans and $9,000 out of pocket.
RIT: Good. $2,000 out of pocket and about $6,000 in loans.
CSU: Honors program. Full ride.
Northwestern: Easily the best award I got. I would've graduated with little or no debt. I couldn't believe how great NU was with financial aid, due to how much people bash it on these forums. I guess it is true that the middle class gets hurt the most, and perhaps people at the bottom get excellent awards from schools like this.
U of R: Nearly as good as Northwestern.
Case: A little worse than U of R, but still doable. I was originally almost set on going here, until...
Cornell: My mother called Cornell from work one day to ask about my financial aid award, as May 1 was fast approaching. The woman over the phone said that my original financial aid package had been revised due to left-over money from the end of the financial aid cycle. Apparently, getting my award late in the cycle must have helped. I had feared Cornell's award for a while because I've seen so many kids on these boards get about $10,000 a year in loans, among other things. My mom brought the award home and let me study it. I was very happy about it. It's about equal to Case's award, and I'm proud to say that I'll be packing my bags for New York in a little over a week. :)</p>
<p>In short, for all those students out there who think they can't make it into their top school--look at me as an example. I would probably be at Case now if it weren't for this website. My college list would've been a lot shorter and my headaches less frequent. :) And for those who are afraid of being able to afford a top university--I have a feeling that these schools love us applicants at the bottom. Lastly, I can't begin to explain how great and useful these forums are. Do not take them for granted!</p>
<p>Also, I want to thank many of the parents who helped me in my search, especially sybbie719. Her private message gave me great advice about where to apply, mostly because she understands my situation first-hand. Thanks, sybbie. :)</p>
<p>I hope someone will take something away from this (and please don't assume that this is just about me bragging, because I don't even compare to some of the kids in these forums). College Confidential is an excellent place for college-bound seniors, and it certainly made my dreams come true.</p>