<p>who went to state finals?? how’d you guys like the experience? how’d you guys do?? your stories please =)</p>
<p>bump this up</p>
<p>Hey!!</p>
<p>I just got back from State Finals and had a BLAST. I was about to start this thread then I noticed that you’d already made one, kfc4u. Rather than go through and chronologically state everything that happened, I thought I’d list some of the highlights in no particular order:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>The other state finalists were REALLY cool. All really smart and talented in their own ways. Rather than hang out with a small group of people, I spent most of my time going around visiting with a bunch of finalists. Subsequently, I ended up meeting pretty much everyone there. Great, great people.</p></li>
<li><p>The group leaders and alumni faculty were all really nice and friendly. I was really impressed as many of them were pursuing double majors, planning to graduate early, or working on really rigorous programs. A girl named Molly Crockett gave a speech about the difficult decision to attend UCLA (she turned down Berkeley, Stanford, and Harvard to go there) and shared her enthusiam for UCLA. I talked to a guy named Bram who majored in political science/econ and is planning to graduate after only three years. Another girl talked about being rejected from Stanford and feeling like the world was over, until she discovered UCLA which offers many of the same perks such as division 1 athletics, Nobel laureatte faculty, and other things.</p></li>
<li><p>The primary discussion for the weekend between finalists seemed to be Berkeley vs. UCLA and Residence Halls vs. Suites/Plazas. The latter of the two actually sparked a small debate amoung the group leaders about what was the best thing for freshmen. </p></li>
<li><p>The activities that the leaders had us do ranged from dumb to pretty cool. We had to do this race where we pretended to be animals like gorillas and kangaroos and whatnot. Yeah, sorta lame, but funny nonetheless. My favorite activity was the scavenger hunt. All 50 finalists and their group leaders took of SPRINTING as fast as they could from JWAC into Westwood to find all of the locations. It was funny to see the looks on the faces of all the people shopping in westwood as a huge herd of people ran by. My team didn’t win, but we all got Diddy Reese at the end, which was cool.</p></li>
<li><p>The day of competition was stressful and long, but enjoyable. I found that there was a lot of time in between activities to talk to other finalists, which was honestly my favorite part of the day. The interview went alright; I wasn’t at my absolute best due to lack of sleep but overall I felt I did pretty well. For the essay prompt, they had us look at a pile of hats and write about it. Being primarily a journalist, although I enjoy writing, I’m not creative at all with it, so I don’t feel like I did super well. The group activity was interesting. We had to get together and decide what important items should be included in a time capsule. It was more challenging than I’d anticipated, and it was the first time I’d ever been involved with a group project where everyone was a leader.</p></li>
<li><p>The awards ceremony was a nice finish to the weekend. They made a video of all our activities, and I found myself on the screen a lot of the time; one time was a close-up of my face looking really bored while the distinguised faculty spoke to us (although I was actually fascinated). I ended up winning one of the $6,000 awards, which was totally cool with me. Talking to the other finalists at the end, we all agreed it was pretty hard to predict who would win the large awards at the end because we were all so highly qualified.</p></li>
<li><p>I was surprised by the number of people I met who use College Confidential. I talked to three people who remembered my posts on this forum, which was pretty surprising. We all agreed that it’s a great source of information</p></li>
</ul>
<p>So anyway, I’m home now, and honestly, I miss UCLA. Coming to school today was just depressing. I haven’t submitted my SIR yet, but plan to do so withing the next few days once I’m totally TOTALLY sure. </p>
<p>State finalists and everyone I met at UCLA, you rock!!! It was great meeting you all. And to everyone else who attends UCLA, I’ll hopefully be seeing you next year.</p>
<p>Hey guys, first post here; I registered just now to post in this thread. I was at state finals over the weekend also, and I must say that after going in with no expectations, I was really happy and honored to be a part of the event.</p>
<p>Initially, I was worried about the competitiveness of the whole ordeal and what kind of kids Id be with, but as soon as I got there and sat down and started talking I realized that none of that was an issue. Everyone was intelligent and outgoing and fun to be with and I think the group as a whole came together pretty quickly. </p>
<p>I hung around for the afternoon activities, but after dinner my host and I were late for the trip into Westwood so we hung around the dorms. I met a bunch of guys there, all of whom were really amicable and receptive, as opposed to some of the other people Ive met at different visits to other schools in the past. </p>
<p>Like nobelguy said, the competition was stressful but there was a ton of time in between where we were all able to talk more and get to know each other better. Monetarily, I was surprised at how little of the kids got greater scholarships, and given the caliber of everyone there, it was really unpredictable as to who would get what. I also got $6000, and although more is always good, I think that the experience and the other non-monetary stuff made the weekend well worth it, and I would have taken it without the scholarship. </p>
<p>On the whole, it was a fantastic learning and growth experience for me, and it made me certain and proud that Ill be able to call myself a Bruin next year. I think Im looking forward more to the fall than I am to the summer.</p>
<p>hey it’s jonathan! group 3 power! ;)</p>
<p>-Brett</p>
<p>hehehe 
</p>
<p>brett, have you submitted the SIR and housing apps yet?</p>
<p>Nope… I’m gathering up the courage to do so. I wanted to wait a few days to make totally sure that it’s what I want to do (although I don’t really have any other clear first choices right now).</p>
<p>i’m glad you both had tons of fun at state finals!!</p>