This, Too, Shall Pass

Parent Cafe
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<p>I hope the wonderrrrful parents here on CC have had Happy Holidays and a fantastic start to the New Year..</p>

<p>Remember me? The Hopeful Hoya? Well, I just wanted to update the parents here on CC and wanted to welcome any other students who've been constantly on CC like I have to share their updated college story with the parents..</p>

<p>It's 2:11am in the morning, I'm bound to make grammatical errors..</p>

<p>As a recap..</p>

<p>I applied to Georgetown with 1320 SAT I, 780-740-700 SAT II scores, 3 teacher recommendations (1 ROTC, 1 Social Sciences, 1 English), my Midyear and Secondary School report already submitted due to the incredibly erratic nature of our schooling system. (We're on the yearround cycle.) At the time, I was 29th out of 808. ROTC and the Los Angeles World Affairs Council have been my strongest extracurricular activities.</p>

<p>Unfortunately, I was deferred. However, the deferral was cushioned by several things..</p>

<p>(1) The parents here have made it easier to face the deferral than it would have to go it solo. With the advice I took from them, the deferral.. wasn't as bad as I would have expected it.</p>

<p>(2) I had gotten back together with my ex-girlfriend in early November.. (we're now BF-GF again).. she's helped cushion the deferral greatly..</p>

<p>(3) My dear mother, who told me to go apply elsewhere the moment that deferral letter came.. :)..</p>

<p>(4) With the advice of parents from the PF, (Don't want to name names because I might forget someone), I submitted other Early Action Applications and Rolling Applications in the unfortunate worst-case scenario event (not deferral from Georgetown, but rejection from all my EA schools).. Taking the parents' advice, I started early, and here are my results:</p>

<p>** Deferrals **
Georgetown University</p>

<p>** Acceptances **
Purdue University
Auburn University
University of Michigan - Ann Arbor
California State University - Northridge
Fordham University
University of Notre Dame</p>

<p>** Rejections **
None, so far.</p>

<p>I am now in the process of completing my FAFSA and CSS Profile applications.. </p>

<p>In December 2004, I received two unexpected gifts.. although my SAT scores did not soar like some have -- I jumped from 1320 to 1360, finally reaching the 700 mark on verbal (the mathematics had stayed the same). This had come without intensive studying, but I have been reading more, and the dictionary has become my best friend. I also received a Christmas gift from the University of Notre Dame -- I had received my first acceptance letter from a private school (the idea of going to an out-of-state public was quite frankly, out of my income range..) For now, I have been researching the possibility of attending the University of Notre Dame..</p>

<p>I will be taking one additional January SAT II, but this is for.. morale purposes. My girlfriend, who is planning to go to a Cal State, needs to take the SAT I in January. The testing will be held at my high school, and it's a perfect way to spend some time together afterwards.. (I will uhmm.. patiently be waiting for her for the two hours following her examination.. lol.. maybe call an ROTC meeting?). </p>

<p>However, I did not wholly take your advice (parents).. I procrastinated.. <em>gasp</em>.. I had a glimmer of hope in my eyes for Georgetown, but reality set in when the deferral letter came..</p>

<p>Despite this, however, I sequenced a schedule for me to complete my applications.. Today, I completed my final one -- to Princeton University. I did not want to feel rushed. Although Princeton is probably a uber-super reach for me, I applied partly because I owe it to my mother (who is a volunteer director for a foundation preserving the memory of Korea's first President, who attended Princeton), and also because the Woodrow Wilson School is excellent for issues of a political nature. (I'm babbling here.. lol).. I actually heard Anne Marie Slaughter, Dean of the Woodrow Wilson School speak at a World Affairs Council.. </p>

<p>I've applied to Bowdoin, American, Princeton (dream-reach), Northwestern (application that I sent a long while back but never got around to finishing as far as sending scores, et cetera), WUSTL (I was nominated as a Danforth Scholar), Brown (the New Curriculum sounds incredibly interesting and appeasing.. I like the locale.. even though it is a complete 180 from the metro politan atmosphere of Los Angeles..) Vanderbilt .. (to be honest, I've always wanted to live in the South.. plus it has a reputation for unusual research projects. Evil_Robot only convinced me more to apply).. Tufts.. (international relations, excellent).. Occidental and Claremont McKenna..</p>

<p>Whew.. that was a long list.. I pray the recs arrive in due time..</p>

<p>I am thankful for all of your assistance and all of your guidance.. I have not lost hope on Georgetown, and it is still my number one choice.. but I prepare to return for my second semester on Monday.. feeling prepared to take on the challenge ahead -- college admissions.. I am currently in the 2nd draft phase of writing a letter to Georgetown.. and if accepted there.. I will most definitely go.. </p>

<p>Once again parents.. you have a mighty big THANK YOU from me..</p>

<p>Sincerely Yours,</p>

<p>Andrew (Tlaktan)</p>

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<p>Hey, Andrew, congratulations on all your acceptances!!!!!!!!!!!!! YAY!!!!!!!!!!!! </p>

<p>You are a great kid and a lot of good things await you.</p>

<p>Happy New Year to you.</p>

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<p>all of that sounds very promising and exciting. I sounds like you'll have some wonderful (but difficult!) decisions to make in the spring. Keep us posted.</p>

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<p>You have shown great maturity in handling the college admissions process. I applaud you. Good luck, and in April you will be back here asking us all to advise you when all the acceptances roll in!</p>

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<p>Achat: Thank you. :)</p>

<p>Texas137: Thanks a lot. I think I might have a custom dartboard made for all the colleges I got into, then start throwing darts blindly.</p>

<p>Err -- then again, maybe not. I'm bad at darts anywhoo. I'm currently in the processing of prioritizing my colleges by order in which I want to go. Unfortunately, I don't have a clue as to where to start. All the colleges I've applied to are great. </p>

<p>Kinshasa: Thank you! I like to consider myself somewhat more mature and ready than I was back in the 11th grade, where I saw my first college guidebook and started dreaming about where I could go. I think I could fill out an application with a blindfold on, no less (now).</p>

<p>I'll actually be working on another project of mine. The juniors in our magnet program are going to become seniors next year, I'm going to ask permission from our coordinator if I can start working with them, getting them ready for college admissions. (There's very little individual contact in our school, due to the... ever increasing size of it.. I hardly step into our College Office because well.. there are reasons, I have my disagreements with the College Counselor, and since my coordinator serves as the official guidance/college counselor for the magnet anyway) There's a whole world out there -- from what I've learned -- and I like to begin changing the direction of the tide of where students from my school are going.</p>

<p>Most of the student population at my school thinks that for them, it's the UCs, CSUs, or bust. I hope to change that. Little by little, of course. Also encouraging some freshman, sophomore, and junior kids to start looking into some summer institutes, not for resume padding but rather for the experience. My life was changed by one of the summer programs I went to (the California Boys State), I think they should be able to embrace a similar opportunity.</p>

<p>Okay, I've rambled on for quite long enough now. :D.</p>

<p>Thank you!</p>

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<p>CSUN!!! Go matadors!!!! Congrats on your great choices so far.</p>

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<p>Congratulations on Notre Dame - it's a great school to have in your pocket. I have no doubt that you will have many more excellent choices before all is said and done.</p>

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<p>Good job, tlaktan! I am glad that you explained about your district being on a year-round schedule, as that always confused me on your posts. You are a very busy young man.</p>

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<p>Good job, Tlak. I didn't know that you had been accepted to so many places! And Michigan and Notre Dame really are nice to have as "backups." I am glad that you have such a positive and optimistic outlook.
-Dan</p>

<p>PS- you should update your prstats.com profile, it looks a little, um, outdated.</p>

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<p>Oy vey...not one person in a thousand knows that CSUN's team name is the Matadors.</p>

<p>Good luck to you Tlaktan, you seemed to have acted in a very good manner upon your deferral. LOL...I like the fact that Evil_Robot is still wielding influence.</p>

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<p>What a great post! You are a model of how to manage this process with grace and intelligence (and humor). Best of luck with your decisions, which you will probably make with the same fine qualities with which you waded through the selection and application stages.</p>

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<p>I know too many trival things TD!</p>

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<p>CD, btw, about that defenestration or whatever it was you were expecting the Bruins to succumb to in Eugene tonight....</p>

<p>I imagine there are lots of 1-in-a-1000 things known on this board...the CC group mind is powerful.</p>

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<p>Andrew:</p>

<p>You've got some great acceptances. Thanks for keeping us informed about your experiences so far. I'm sure you'll have more good news to report in April. No matter what happens, I'd wager Alexandre, a proud UMich alum, would urge you to consider UMich very carefully, as do I.</p>

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<p>ugh, I was there with a group of Bruin lawyers (my head hurts), and yes I bow to you TD, your freshmen were more poised than our freshmen. But, I think lunch at Gallegos Bros. should be on the line for the re-match. You game?</p>

<p>Yeah, we are smart bunch here.</p>

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<p>I PMed you.</p>

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<p>Tlaktan:
You have acceptances from some great schools already - congratulations!!!!</p>

<p>Now settle down, and go spend some quality time with your GF. (Hey, you <em>do</em> need to help her study for her SAT I :-). Good luck with all your remaining schools, and keep us posted. My D2 joined WUSTL last year, so I'll keep my fingers crossed esp.hard for you on that one.</p>

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<p>I second what Marite said about U of Michigan. You should visit if you haven't. Whether it is worth paying the mucho dollars for out of state tuition or not is up to you. But I was very impressed with U Mich when I visited. If you can get into the Honors college, the better.</p>

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<p>Andrew,
Congratulations on your acceptances! Our nephew is a sophomore at ND this yr. He (and his parents) did not fathom leaving LA to be a possibility either...until he visited the campus! Hopefully, you will have a chance to visit before deciding. Best of luck to you!</p>

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<p>Hey parents,</p>

<p>I haven't CCed in a while, because.. well, want to concentrate on school, plus things with my girlfriend are getting a little rough.</p>

<p>Here's an update, if you'd like.</p>

<p>** Accepted Schools: **
* Italicized Schools are New Acceptances *</p>

<p>University of Notre Dame
University of Michigan - Ann Arbor
Case Western Reserve University *
Fordham University
Purdue University
Auburn University
*San Diego State University
California State University @ Northridge</p>

<p>** Deferrals **
Georgetown University</p>