Liv's Commitment Thread

Applying to College Admission Stories
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To post this in my Senior Year Schedule & Introduction (w/updates) thread would be complete chaos. So I have chosen not to!

I have officially committed to University of Buffalo (UB) for the incoming Fall 2025 semester. This week was a great introduction to the campus and officially made me make my decision! :smiley: I took a General Tour on Apr. 24, a SEAS tour on Apr. 25*, and Accepted Students Day on Apr. 26!

*I strongly suggest UB’s SEAS tours. They are very in-depth and make you feel immersed rather than looking inside a small glass window of a protected area. Trust me! It became a YES Factor school after that!

**Liv’s YES Factors: UB SEAS, NYU Tandon, Columbia SEAS, Wake Downtown, Northeastern ISEC.

As a fun fact, UB got a record high of applications this year—47,000—for the Fall 2025 incoming class! They restated this many times, too
which shows just how competitive it was!

Schools Applied to & Results

  • Wellesley (rejected)
  • University at Buffalo (accepted & committed) GO BULLS!! :blue_heart:
  • Stony Brook (deferred then rejected)
  • RIT (accepted w/$19k annually but withdrew)
  • NYU (rejected)
  • Northeastern (rejected)
  • NC State (rejected)
  • Hunter (accepted)
  • George Washington University (rejected)
  • Columbia (rejected)
  • Clemson (rejected)
  • Binghamton (deferred then rejected)
  • Baruch (rejected)
  • Scranton (accepted w/$33k annually)

Liv’s Admissions Profile

  • GPA (when applying): 86.11 UW; 86.90 W
  • SAT: 1310; 660 in Reading/Writing, 650 in Math (submitted to some schools)
  • No scholarships, merit, Honors College
  • Applied for Engineering (SEAS) with very little Engineering experience
  • Non-profit organization in Long Island (food insecurity) & Artistic Coordinator
  • VEX Robotics Team Social Chair (briefly in 11th) & Design Notebooker (12th)
  • National Spanish Exam (placed for Level 2 + 3)
  • Volunteered multiple times, from Summer Enrichment to Basketball Game Fundraising
  • Participated in 8+ clubs
  • Hosted & organized a bake sale freshman year for Ukraine’s Humanitarian Crisis
  • NYU STEP program during Summer 2023, 2024 & Academic Year 2023, 2024, 2025
  • Sports in 9-11 (Cross Country/Track)
  • Knowledgeable in the programming languages of Scratch, Python, VEXCode VR, and Raspberry Pi, which uses C++.
  • Took a Northeastern Future You: Levegering AI for Success certificate course in October-November of 2024, ended with a 94.23% course average.
  • Honor Roll all throughout HS (made all 3 - Principal’s List, First & Second Honors)
  • Essay about being learning disabled since birth

Liv’s Rigor (meh):
~ English (English 9R-12R)
~ Math (Algebra 1R, Geometry R, Algebra 2R, AP CSP, Introductory Calculus])
~ Science (earth science R->living environment R->chemistry R->physics R w/labs ofc)
~ Social Studies (Global History + Geography 1R & 2R, USHG R, Gov/Eco)
~ Foreign Language (all Honors/Advanced - Spanish 2H/3H, College Spanish 4/5)
~ Electives (Studio Art 1, Theater Arts I, AP CSP, Marketing & Advertising H maybe)

Now this looks like a lot, but I promise it isn’t as much as a lot of the others in my grade. But I’m proud of it. My intended majors at UB SEAS will be hopefully either:

  • Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering (MAE) double major***
  • Materials Science & Engineering (MSE)

***If not, I’ll major in one or the other (Mechanical or Aerospace).

If you have ANY questions (or congratulations/closing remarks) please comment! Thanks SO much CC for being an excellent service.

College Apps Tips:

  • Don’t shotgun the T20s. Please don’t do it.
  • Make a well balanced list (5 reaches, 4 matches, 3 safeties)
  • You can reuse your essays!!
  • Make a College App Spreadsheet.
  • Run Net-Price Calculators (NPCs) to estimate your college costs

  • Don’t fall to Senioritis early!
  • I have so SO much more, but maybe in a separate post or to answer questions!
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Congrats! Hope you have a wonderful four years!

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Congratulations!!
They are lucky to have such a strong and ENTHUSIASTIC student. Best wishes for much success!!:glowing_star::glowing_star:

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Congrats! So happy for you!!

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Congratulations :tada::clap:
So glad the visit cemented your choice :grinning_face_with_smiling_eyes:
Now on to choosing Living Learning Community etc :grinning_face_with_smiling_eyes:

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Congratulations on finalizing your decision! You should be proud and I am 100% sure your parents are so proud of you.
It’s wonderful reading the campus visit went so well
 you can now move on to the “fun” planning, like dorm room decor! haha
Thank you for the updates and paying it forward for other students.
Don’t forget the motto to Liv~Laf~Luv. Best of wishes.

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Congratulations, @livsgoing2college! Your enthusiasm for Buffalo is infectious and it sounds like a wonderful place to land. Appreciate you sharing your final decision and giving advice based on your recent experience!

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Like I always do, I’m going to respond to everyone individually to give back!:

I will! And I promise to try and remember to circle back on here soon in July (Orientation), and August and may pop in during any breaks or free time pockets!

THANK YOU for these kind words! I appreciate it!! :smiley:

I remember it like it was yesterday when you told me about NPCs & applying to CUNY Honors Programs! Wow! And that was in October!

Oh MYOS, well you’ve been on my main thread since August. What can I say? Thank you!! The visit made it pretty easy to make my choice, surprisingly.

I said this to MYOS already, but I finished my housing application yesterday and chose two LLCs–FYI Engineering & WiSE (Women in Science & Engineering)–hoping for the latter.

Thank you!! :smiley: They are and so am I!

I personally thing imho that if Buffalo’s campus was situated more in the South and the winters didn’t scare people, it would be more popular. But it’s a diamond in the rough, a shiny piece of coal (if you know, you know)! I will definitely be looking for dorm decor now, haha.

You’re welcome!! I’ll definitely be paying it forward even more! And, I remember Liv-Laf-Luv–so thanks for the reminder!

THANKS!! :smiley: I appreciate all your advice too!

If you’re not replied to here but reacted to something, I want to say thank you. I know everyone here has done a part in helping me thru the process.
My last tip is to find a song that will help you navigate (and who knows, maybe you’ll obsess over it after hearing it >100x) through the Process! Mine, well
we know is Let it Go; my second contender is One Day More
(@blossom introduced me to the Korean version
)

Thanks immensely,
Liv (@livsgoing2college)

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Just to add, I filled out most of my Orientation Form and changed my major from Engineering undecided to Materials Science & Engineering (MSE). They approved me in 1 day!

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