As my college application process progresses, I get closer and closer to having to make the hardest decision of my life. Which college am I going to choose? After finally deciding which to apply to, I felt such a sense of relief and contentment...for about five minutes...until I realized that somehow I was going to need to narrow down my already perfected list of schools into one. Even with all of the research that I have done, I have no idea how in the world I am going to pick just one school to attend. Each of the schools that I applied to bring so many exciting attributes and opportunities to my future. I spent hours of research and excruciating decision making just to narrow thousands of schools to twenty, twenty to ten, and then ten to five...which actually ended up being eight...oops.
Luckily, I am not quite to that point yet, and I have committed to basking in the joy and accomplishment of my sent applications, trying very hard not to dwell on the fact that I can do nothing now to improve my chances of acceptances or scholarship. The chances are out of my hands, and I just get to wait for indefinite amounts of time in a fit of anxiety and worry…but I have still determined to be happy, to remember that all of my options are good, and to enjoy the 4 months and 26 days until I must make my decision. (I definitely do not have a countdown on my phone.)
Like I said before, all of my options are pretty good. My first choice right now would probably be Stanford. My chances of acceptance are extremely low (5.05% in case you are wondering), but I am still hoping and praying that maybe by some chance my application stands out to one of the admissions readers. Maybe, just maybe, I will earn acceptance, which would, at the same time, earn me a full tuition scholarship. I believe that Stanford has the best academics, campus, and people in the nation, and I really hope that by some miracle, I can call it my home.
Also in California are three other schools that I applied to. These schools are actually in Southern California though, boasting of much better weather and location. (Disneyland and the beach? Say what?) They are all very close together, and two are actually on the same campus as a part of the Claremont Colleges. Pomona and Claremont Mckenna are their names and they both are also extremely prestigious and difficult to get into. I am hoping that I will be able to earn acceptance into at least one of them. They are both on a beautiful campus, with high level academics and great financial aid. Attending either one of them would be a dream come true. They’re slightly different from each other, but have the same amazing opportunities.
Azusa Pacific University is located only twenty minutes away from the Claremont Colleges, but it quite different. Azusa is a Christian college with a very nice campus and super friendly student body, but also has a fantastic honors college and a brand new science building. The opportunities at this school are endless, but I will try to detail a few. First of all, their honors college would allow me to pass out of all my (boring) general ed and instead take classes with fellow honors students that are based completely on reading, writing, and discussion. Each of these classes is worth six credits. They are extensive and difficult, but they provide a great opportunity for a deeper understanding and education. Through this honors college, I would graduate with a double major in pre-med and honors/humanities. I would also have the opportunity to study at Oxford the last semester of my senior year. Talk about a great experience! Apart from the honors college, they have an incredible summer program where students can study in Costa Rica and earn a minor in Spanish. Like I said, the opportunities are endless! I’ll only address one more great point about this school, and that is their newly renovated science department. They recently put over 54 million dollars into their science program, and they are looking for students, like me, to become a part of it. Their past pre-med students have earned acceptance into some of the top medical schools in the country (Stanford, Johns Hopkins, and Washington University in St.Louis to name a few). This is because the mentorship in the program is incredible and the accessibility to technology is unequaled by any other schools. Since they have such a greatly funded program, they have all of the technology that any large university might have. What makes them different is that they do not have a medical school. This means that the pre-med students get to use ALL of the technology and have access to the best professors.
As I have already made obvious, I am excited about every school that I am applying to. My other options include the University of Portland, Ohio State, Washington University in St. Louis, and the University of Idaho. I won’t go into detail about each of them as it might bore anyone that is not as passionate about my college search as I am. I’ll leave it at this: they are all very different, but also very exciting. Wish me luck as in 4 months and 26 days, I will have to narrow my choice down to one!
~Heather
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