<p>I wrote this a few years back when I was still obsessed with College Confidential, but never published it. I was going through old files on my computer, so I figure I’d share my story as seniors are frantically finishing up their college apps for the January deadline. I’m a junior at Cornell now, and still couldn’t be happier. Just know that it is possible to go to your dream school and absolutely love it!!! YAY CORNELL!</p>
<p>First, I am a very motivated person. In 6th grade, I wanted to get straight As. I remember thinking - woah, wouldn’t that be cool if I can look back at the end of my 12th grade year and say that I never got a B? Somewhat of a weird task to put myself through at only age 12, but I was excited to take on the challenge. Middle school came and went, straight As the entire way. I was one of only a few in my class to succeed in this feat. During my 8th grade year, I decided to attend a smaller private high school instead of the larger public high school with all my friends. I needed a more challenging environment and to be surrounded by peers who cared about their academics and those who strived to succeed as I did. This was one of the easiest decisions. After visiting for one day, I knew the private school was the place for me.
I had participated in Student Council in middle school, so I wanted to continue in high school. My freshman year, I ran for a position yet was not elected. This felt like such a big deal at the time. I wanted to do my best and give back to the school, leading my class through spirit week and just having fun. Instead, I joined a few other service organizations. I continued playing soccer, which I had played for the past 8 years, and tried out golf (that didn’t go so well!). I was enthusiastically becoming involved. I simply wanted to do everything. I was even able to run again sophomore year, and I was an officer every year after that.
The college search began during my sophomore year. I had taken the PSAT in October and began receiving lots of college mail. In the spring, I received information about <a href=“mailto:Summer@Brown”>Summer@Brown</a>. This looked kind of fun, so I started looking into other summer programs at top schools. That’s when I discovered the Hotel School. Cornell’s Summer College offered a class in Hotel Operations Management. After reading the description just once, the program sounded perfect for me. Unfortunately, I already had summer plans, so I set my mind on applying and attending Summer College in the summer before my senior year. Naturally, I began looking more into the Hotel School. After reading more about the courses, the students, and the school in general, I fell in love. I began searching for other schools with degrees in hotel administration. This search turned out more difficult than I expected.
Many people thought a degree in hotel administration was useless. Even my parents were worried it was too specific. Most people still think it is. During my junior year, I was determined to attend Summer College before my senior year to get a feel for the school and to decide if it was something I seriously wanted to pursue.<br>
The rest is history. I went to CUSC and left my heart in Ithaca. I learned so much about the hospitality industry and the opportunities within it. I was determined to attend Cornell as a member of the Class of 2014.
I told myself I was going to start my essays over the summer. That’s what everyone (especially CC) was telling me to do. But it didn’t happen, and school came. I was seriously considering applying ED to Cornell. However, my parents didn’t want me to. I knew ED was binding and I wasn’t sure about our financial situation, so I had to wait to apply RD
I began most of my essays in December, not August. My school had us write our main Common App essay in English, so I had that one perfected. I submitted to my local safety state schools first, as they were easy. I then enthusiastically began my Cornell essay and turned that app in a few days before Christmas. The week or so after that was full of essay writing to finish applying to the four other schools I had decided to apply to: NYU, Emory, Rice, and UPenn. As I began to write, I started to see some really great things in each school and why I would be happy attending. After I had submitted all my apps sometime in mid-January, I began throwing out all my saved college mail. Whenever I got to something from one of the main schools, I would look through it excitedly, thinking about all the fun opportunities at that specific school. This was when I started to get cold feet. I had told EVERYONE I wanted to go to Cornell. It was the only school I really brought up when someone asked, the only school I had college gear from, it was MY school. What if I changed my mind? I felt like I had set up this expectation that if I was accepted, I had to attend Cornell. I didn’t like that feeling. All the schools on my list would offer me great opportunities. What if I hadn’t put enough effort into the others? What if, had I done more research or visited, I would like it better than Cornell?<br>
These questions worried me, but I decided to hold off. After all, I hadn’t been accepted yet! Then, on March 5, I received a likely letter for the Hotel School. I screamed, jumped for joy, and ran around my house with the letter. I was so happy. Of course, those questions remained in the back of my head, but it was an amazing feeling.
The week leading up to April 1 was filled with more excitement. I received good news from Rice, Emory, and NYU: accepted. I was shocked that I had been accepted to not just Cornell but five other schools (including my safeties). All that was left was Penn (and Cornell’s financial aid decision). I was quite happy with the FA offers from Rice, Emory, and (surprisingly) NYU. I would be able to attend any of these three comfortably.<br>
I checked my Penn decision online after a bio test at school. I was rejected, but was okay about it. I knew it would have been a tough choice between Cornell and Wharton, so it made my decision a lot easier. Now I just needed that FA decision.
I waited. And waited. And waited. Finally around April 15th we called and they said they had simply forgotten to do my aid application and would email us the results ASAP. I remember my parents calling when they got the email, letting me know that I would be able to afford my dream school. How was this possible? Why was I the lucky one where it all worked out? I sent in my decision to enroll and was excited as ever!</p>