Stress, anxiety, tension, the fear of the unknown.
All of these are emotions are stereotypically associated with second semester seniors in relation to college admissions. However, those aren’t the only emotions a second semester senior can encounter.
Through a series of interviews with the class of 2015, it has been found that joy, excitement, and impatience have been associated with the anticipation of college acceptance letters. For some, they ask themselves: “Which college should I attend,” “Will I like it here,” “What is the social life like,” “Do they have my major?” etc. Each individual has unique answers to these questions. Let’s meet a few of the college-bound students of the class of 2015:
Megan Guillermo
Q: What do you want to major in and why?
A: I want to major in engineering and I believe that a having an engineering major will provide me with many opportunities in the future.
Q: What made you decide to apply to Cal Poly early decision?
A: I decided to apply early decision because I loved the campus and the city of San Luis Obispo when I visited. I thought that I could really see myself there.
Q: How does it feel to already know where you are going to college?
A: It feels amazing to have this weight off my shoulders, but it also seems a little nerve wrecking because I feel that I already need to start focusing on my future college career.
Q: What other universities were you considering?
A: All the UC’s, such as UC Davis, UCLA, and UC Santa Barbara. All the colleges I applied to were in California.
Q: What are you looking forward to in college?
A: I’m looking forward to living on my own and moving to a new city and meeting new people.
Q: Are there any specific student organizations or programs you are interested in joining?
A: If there is some type of leadership or spirit program at Cal Poly, I will definitely consider becoming involved.
Q: Do you know who your roommate is?
A: No, I wanted to wait until many of the regular decision students are accepted so that there is a bigger pool of people to choose from.
Q: What will you miss when you go to college?
A: I am definitely going to miss seeing my family and friends every day the most. I am also very used to the area so it will be pretty difficult to cope to a new environment and city.
Q: Are you afraid or nervous? why or why not?
A: Yes, I am a bit nervous and afraid because I’m worried that I won’t end up having a good time in college. I am probably going to be little bit homesick in the beginning, but hopefully I can overcome any eagerness to come home and just enjoy my time in college.
Teo Vargo
Q: Which colleges have you applied to?
A: I’ve applied to UC Davis, UCSB, UCLA, UCSD, University of San Diego, San Diego State, University of Arizona and Cal Poly SLO
Q: Which college is your first choice and why?
A: UCLA because I’ve visited and I really like the campus and the area.
Q: When will you find out about your admission status from other universities?
A: I’ve already been accepted to San Diego State University and University of Arizona, and the rest come in the middle of March.
Q: What are you planning on majoring in?
A: I signed up to major in Business/Economics for many of the schools I applied to.
Q: What are you looking for in a school?
A: Mostly a school that’s in a nice area with good courses. A place where I can live life and enjoy.
Q: Would you be willing to join a fraternity? Why or why not?
A: Yes, I would. I figure it would be a nice way to meet people and assimilate myself into the school.
Q: Are you planning to go to college near some of your high school friends?
A: Yes most of my friends go to school in Southern California, I don’t plan to go to the same schools but it’d be nice to be close.
Q: What are you considering when choosing the right college for you?
A: Mostly the area and the student body. I also consider the campus a lot.
Vinka Radich
Q: How did your college search and application process go?
A: The process was really stressful and I procrastinated and did most of my applications last minute. I’ve known where I’ve wanted to go and what I’ve wanted to do since sophomore year so choosing schools to apply to and what majors wasn’t too hard.
Q: If you could have started your college application process all over again, what would you have done differently and why?
A: If I could start the application process all over again, I would start earlier and spend a lot more time on the personal statements.
Q: How did it feel when you received your acceptance letters from Chico and San Jose State?
A: Even though neither of those schools were my top choices, it felt amazing. I felt accomplished.
Q: Why is Cal Poly your first choice?
A: Cal Poly is my first choice because the campus is beautiful, it has a really great college environment, it’s relatively close to home, and I love SLO.
Q: Are you interested in joining Greek life? Why or why not?
A: I’m considering joining Greek life. It seems like a really cool way to make friends and to live the college experience to the fullest.
Q: What influenced you to study physical therapy and medicine?
A: I really like taking care of people and helping them so that’s what got me interested in medicine. Human biology and physical therapy would also be a good fit for me.
Q: Why do you want to stay in California for college?
A: I want to stay in California because in my opinion it’s the best state, also, I want to be able to drive home to see family every once in a while. I don’t like the idea of flying home just for the holidays. And, out-of-state tuition is ridiculously expensive.
Q: What are you looking forward to the most in college?
A: I’m looking forward to college so I can have new and incredible experiences, make new friends, and become independent to make something of myself.
Johain Ounadjela
Q: Why is Columbia University a good fit for you?
A: It’s a place where you can find a lot of opportunities both during and after the four years of school, which I find really cool. The class sizes are super small, so you can form relationships with professors, which I would want to do. Also, being in the middle of New York is awesome, because I want to experience new things and cultures.
Q: How are you going to manage studying, running cross country, and having a social life all the same time?
A: The main problem is probably going to be not procrastinating. If I can force myself to work without getting distracted, it will be a lot easier to get done with work quickly, allowing me more time for other things, such as running and having a social life. Or I just won’t have a social life. I guess we’ll see.
Q: How does it feel to know where you are going to be for the next four years of your life?
A: It’s pretty exciting. I have no idea what lies ahead over there, so it should be pretty exciting. It’s also a huge stress reliever, because I don’t have to wait for March responses and I only had to do like three applications.
Q: What other colleges did you apply to?
A: In case the commitment somehow fell through, I applied to UC Berkeley and UCLA.
Q: What attracted you to the east coast?
A: For one thing, I really really like snow and rain. Also, I really wanted to get out of California and pretty much the entire west coast. I didn’t really want to go anywhere in the middle parts of the US, so that left the East Coast. I wanted to be able to experience a completely different culture than in California.
Q: How do you feel being far away from home?
A: For now, I’m really looking forward to it. I’ve never been away from home for that long, so it should be interesting. I’ll probably end up being homesick at one point, just like everyone says.
Q: What will you miss about the Bay Area and why?
A: I’ll miss the people here the most, mainly because I probably won’t see many of the people I met in high school again. And who knows, maybe I’ll end up missing the weather, although right now I’ve gotten tired of the sun. I’ll miss being able to go watch the Chicago Bulls destroy the Warriors for sure.
Nico Camerino
Q: Which colleges have you applied to?
A: I applied to Stanford, Harvard, Princeton, Boston College, UC Berkeley, UCLA, and Cal Poly SLO
Q: How was the application process for you? Were you stressed out why or why not?
A: The application process actually wasn’t as stressful as I thought it would be. Since most of the colleges I applied to used similar essay prompts, I was able to reuse the same few essays for my applications.
Q: Why is Stanford your first choice?
A: I really like the overall vibe that the school gives off. It’s rigorous in academic nature but I can tell that if I went there that I’d be able to have a good time. Plus, I really like the weather here, so that was a big factor in that school being my first choice.
Q: What are your backup schools and why did you choose them as your fall back?
A: I actually don’t have any “backup” schools. I didn’t see the point in applying to a school just so that I could get in somewhere, so I only applied to schools that I could see myself actually enjoying. With that said, the schools that I applied to that I knew would be easier to get into were Cal Poly and Boston College.
Q: Are you planning on swimming competitively at the collegiate level? Why or why not?
A: As of now, I do not plan on swimming competitively in college. That isn’t really set in stone right now; it really depends on which college I end up attending. If the college I decide to attend has a swimming program that I like and that I can be a part of, then I’ll try to be part of the team.
Q: What is going through your mind as you wait for your college acceptance letters?
A: I’m not going to lie, it’s a little scary knowing that within the next month or so I’ll know where I’ll be spending the next four years of my life. Lately, I’ve just been trying to keep myself calm by trying to keep myself occupied with things that aren’t related to college admissions and spending time with the people I care about.
Q: Are there any specific organizations or programs you are willing to be a part of?
A: I’m really open to being a part of any organization or program that has views that I support. I don’t think there are any specific programs that come to my mind right now, but I’ll definitely consider those more next year when I’m actually in college.
Q: What will you miss about high school?
A: I’m going to miss the people and places I’ve been around for the past 18 years of my life. It’s weird to think that after this year is over there will never be another time when all of us are in the same place together. It’s a scary thought, but at the same time I’m excited for the future and what it has to offer.
