[melindawarren]

New-timer chiming in.

I knew I wanted USC or UCLA. Which one of the two I wanted always flip-flopped. Before my sophomore year of HS, I went to camp at UCLA, and at the beginning of the camp, I was obsessed with UCLA. After a week, I was pretty disenchanted. Then, the following summer, I did another program at UCLA and decided that UCLA was it. After that, I started researching colleges more seriously, and decided to tour USC. After the tour, I was...not sold. I happened to inadvertently pick the day of the involvement fair and it was unusually hot. Not very pleasant, and I left feeling like, "UCLA it is!" But then I went to another event at SC on a cooler day and an event at UCLA a few days later, and I realized that USC was the better fit. Nonetheless, I still applied to both.

Being me, I finished my applications crazy-early. I only applied to four schools: UCLA, USC, Cal State Northridge and Cal State Long Beach (safeties). My plan was to apply to UCLA and USC only, because I really only wanted those two, but I was (mistakenly) told that the Cal States would process my applications really fast and I'd get a response in about a week. Lies! I finished my applications over Veteran's Day weekend and went to Disneyland to celebrate. No Common App for me, just 3 different essays.

I heard from USC in January, during the scholarship admit period. I saw my acceptance packet in the mail and screamed for my mom. We jumped up and down, and then I ran into the house to call my dad (an SC alum) and began crying tears of joy. I have never worked harder or longer for one result, so it felt amazing to know that I not only got in, but that I got in so early (and the week before finals. Who am I kidding?).

When I got into UCLA, I just didn't have the same feeling. For everyone I've heard saying that the switch to email-only admissions is the way to go, I have to strongly disagree. There is nothing like the feeling of getting the "big envelope" and knowing that you're in.

I (obviously) ultimately chose USC. In the end, the main reason was that I was sick of being in a public school and having to struggle to keep programs alive. At basically the same time that I got my acceptance, the Dornsifes made their (very generous) mega-donation to SC and the College became Dornsife. I had the privilege of hearing Dana Dornsife speak in one of my classes last semester, and it reinforced a huge part of why I chose USC: Trojans seem to really care and want to come back and help later on. They just care so much about keeping the school excellent.

Back on track here: I am very fortunate to have a scholarship. Ironically, even though I come from a very name-recognizable public high school, I got the 5th best admissions offer. Not to look down on my offer, but I would expect more Ivies out of my high school class! It's just really, really hard in the modern application game to know whether you're right or wrong. The things that people told me I shouldn't do (I remember sending one of my essays to someone to read and getting the response of, "it sounds like you're so into [what you do] that you don't really want to be a college student, so you shouldn't send this essay") are the things that made me successful at applying. Instead of trying to buy into the "colleges want athletes/community activists/Nobel Prize Winners" dilemma, I picked activities that interested me and ran with them and had an amazing time. I made it so the colleges had to want me--my stats, my activities, my essays. It worked. I did not get one rejection.

My sister is currently a junior in high school and researching her options. She has a longer list than I do, with a distinct "top choice," several "I would be happy there" choices, and a few "I want to learn more, but I think this is a good place for me" schools. It's hard to explain safety/reach/match (and I hate those terms, because they are so ridiculous in the end), because she's applying to very specialized programs.

Either way, it's so different now, and I know I got a lot of flack for only applying to four schools (not to mention, I probably would not have gone to the other two for a variety of reasons) and applying on what I thought was right, not what the admissions machine tells you is right.