It’s officially over. The stressful 9 or so months of researching, applying, writing, anxiously waiting, getting in, getting rejected, choosing where to attend, the College application and decision process, it is all over for me now. It’s kind of crazy, if you asked me when I started if I would have gotten in to where I got into, received the opportunities I have received, and received rejections from certain institutions, I would have never guessed.

For me personally it has been a whirlwind of emotions. I never really truly fell in love with a school, except for Stanford. (side note: it is really bad to fall in love with one of the most selective schools in the nation). And as far as the other schools I applied to I never really felt like I found the one, even after touring and visiting, I felt like I had to convince my self that these schools were good and that I would be happy there. And I know that might sound pretentious, but that was just how I felt. I never was and I’m not sure if I even am now content with any school for that matter. But I think it stems from the message sent that you are suppose to find the school that has everything you want, but that is really hard when one of the things you want is prestige- I know it is trivial, and you aren’t even really sure of exactly what you want.

I applied early to Stanford and got rejected in January, it was extremely deflating for me, but I also realized that there are so many amazing applicants it basically comes down to a lottery (even though it isn’t) at the end of the day. I ended up applying to in no particular order UC Berkeley, UC San Diego, Brown, Columbia, Georgetown, Boston University, George Washington University, Fordham, Cal Poly San Louis Obispo, and CSU Long Beach. I personally think I applied to too many schools and should not have applied to Fordham and Boston University because I only applied there because I knew I would get in and not because I wanted to go there.

I did get into UC Berkeley early in February as a regent’s scholar candidate. When I received this I was so fed up with the college application process, and I never really saw myself at UC Berkeley, so I didn’t really care. I also had expected to get into Cal. I never saw myself as never not getting into Cal, which probably stems from the fact that I saw myself as being a much better applicant than many of my friends who applied to Cal last year and got in. I know that is not a good attitude to have but I saw myself as being a shoe in, especially considering how Cal sends about 13,000 kids acceptance letters each spring. I now realize that it is a big deal to be a regent’s candidate, but just a few months ago it never dawned on me how prestigious UC Berkeley is and how hard of a school it is to get into. But for me, most likely because my school get almost 20 kids each year into UC Berkeley, I never really felt like Berkeley was for me, I saw my self destined for more, at an East Coast Elite Private Institution such as the three I applied to Brown, Columbia, and Georgetown.

I would have to wait until the April 1 announcement date to find out if I go into these institutions or not. Before that date came I found out that I had been admitted, to all of the school I had applied to besides, the elite 3 which I had yet to hear from, and the rejection from Stanford.

To Be Continued…