Connecting the Splotches

They say that hindsight is 20/20. Well, I say that Life just gives us crappy prescriptions for the future. I mean,  whoever said that Life was a certified optometrist? Now, I could try to tell you how and why I was accepted into such a prestigious university, but I couldn't, and I won't, because even those with perfect vision squint in the sunlight.

Perhaps you'd like to hear about the significant happenings of December 9, 2011. Maybe you'd like to know that I was located in my counselor's office when I opened the email. It is quite possible that you'd like to envision a tall young woman bear hug a faculty member as the two figures dance to the music of their ecstatic screams.

But that stuff doesn't matter. I believe that the background, most times, is more important than a short story of a snippet in time. I was born in Los Angeles. No, not the Los Angeles of beaches, surfers, and large sunglasses, but the area in which fireworks in December aren't actually fireworks. My memories are dim, but I distinctively remember moving to Arizona when I was 9, then back to LA when I was 13, then up to the realm of Northern California when I was 14. I even lived in the infamous Compton, Ca. Yes, be scared; I was scared, too. My childhood was far from perfect. The white picket fence was graffitied, and the lilies didn't quite grow like they were supposed to. Despite this metaphorical shack, though, I always had the sun of knowledge and hope beaming down upon my misfortune. 

If you were to talk to second grade me, she would tell you that in a decade she'd be attending Notre Dame University. If you were to speak to 9th grade Jo, she would tell you that Stanford was her number one pick. If you were to run into the Jo of 11th grade, she'd confess that in 2012 she would be a proud golden bear. And if you were to interview her the day before Yale's rejection letter, she would insinuate that snow boots were looking pretty tempting. As is obvious, I am a bit indecisive. Yet, above all, I always knew that education was my gateway to freedom. When it came time to write essays for colleges and scholarships, I was unashamed to detail both my past and my aspirations. This foster child with the metaphorical mind permitted her yearnings to roam freely. I guess that is my biggest advice! Don't be afraid to bear your inner soul. The college that accepts both your smarts and your flaws is the place you are meant to be. Instead of allowing the pressure of others to guide you, allow that voice you hear everyday to sing, even if it is a bit off-key. 

Being that I am to attend the glorious Stanford University in the fall, you probably assume that I can connect the dots. But as I mentioned earlier, I can't. In fact, the dots aren't even dots-- they are splotches, smeared by tears of pain, of joy, of anguish, of farewells, and of new beginnings. I cannot wait to begin college, and I cannot wait for you, whoever you are, to find yourself where you are supposed to be. Even if you don't apply to Stanford, I wish you the best of luck. I wish you challenges and good laughs. I wish you tribulation and hope. One last word from the girl with 5 gray hairs: Do not try to connect the splotches of life; eventually, your permanent marker will run out of ink. 

SLZ101: Intro to Samantha

Hi, I'm Samantha! I was accepted to Stanford REA at 5:06 PM on Friday, December 9, 2011 while at school studying for Science Olympiad. It was, needless to say, amazing. My friends who were with me at the time later said that I looked like I was having a stroke from sheer excitement. Anyway, I'll follow the trend of my peers and post a bit about my academic profile.

SCHOOL ENVIRONMENT

I recently graduated from a public high school in suburban Minnesota. My former school has about 2200 students and typically sends about 1-2 kids per year to a HYPSM (Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Stanford, MIT) school or equivalent. Most students attend the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities.

I was also captain of my school's Science Olympiad team and we've been to nationals three times and state champions twice (both of which were reflected in my application; we came in second my senior year and did not go to nationals). I was also captain of my school's quiz bowl and knowledge bowl teams and we've been to the NAQT national tournament in Atlanta once (though that happened after I applied). I was also captain of my school's math team, but I was made captain after I applied. I also did colorguard and debate for two years each and was a member of my school's NHS chapter.

After I applied to Stanford but before I was accepted, I created a Science Bowl team with three of my friends and we made the state playoffs, though we did not win the state tournament. Stanford called my school and asked for my first quarter grades and anything I had done in the school year sometime after I applied, so they knew about SciBowl.

I've also done biology research at the Philippines chapter of the Southeast Asian Fisheries Development Center (SEAFDEC) (I was an intern for two weeks last summer), Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology (TJHSST) (I developed my own experiment on the effects of ethanol on developing zebrafish), and Carleton College (I developed my own experiment on the correlation between rank of olive baboons and longevity).
I'm also 15 years old (SIXTEEN in less than a week!). I don't know how my age affected my application, if at all, but it's just something you may want to consider while looking at my academic profile. Another curious thing about me is that I won a game show when I was 10. It was so long ago that I doubt it was relevant to my application, but it's on my resume, so I thought I'd mention it here.

I was going to put something about my essays here, but this post is long enough already. I'll write about essays later.

FUTURE PLANS
I hope to major in something science-y, probably biology-related. After college, grad school is definitely happening - possibly a Ph.D., possibly an M.D., or even both (Ph.D.-M.D.)! I don't really know. Medical research seems like a plausible career for me, but who knows? I could spontaneously decide to become a baker.
...Except that would never happen, because I baked and frosted a cake with my sister within the last couple days and it was exhausting and stressful. I don't see a future in the culinary arts for me.

CHOOSING STANFORD

Funnily, I also seriously considered Harvey Mudd and Johns Hopkins as my top picks throughout my high school career. I was actually ready to apply to JHU early decision when my counselor asked me if I would have any regrets. I then realized that yeah, I would regret not applying to Stanford. I had heard about the culture and the stellar academics, but the culture was what sold me. I wanted a more laid-back (or, as they say, "chill") atmosphere than the ominous "work yourself to death" atmosphere East Coast schools seemed to give off (disclaimer: I know some people thrive in this atmosphere; it just didn't feel right for me); I also wanted a school that had a strong STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) program as well as a strong humanities program. So I applied to Stanford REA (Restricted Early Action - you can only apply to one school REA, but if you're accepted you can apply to more schools Regular Decision) and, when I was accepted, decided not to apply to the other 13 schools on my list. I haven't regretted it one bit. I was also accepted to a couple of 'safety' schools. However, the 'safeties' I applied to I was completely prepared to go to. I did not think that I would get in to that good of a school, and I was absolutely convinced that Stanford would reject me. In short, I got very, very lucky.

So, I hope my voice is somewhat unique in this lovely group of people! I chose FroSoCo (Freshman-Sophomore College) as my #1 pick for a dorm, so hopefully I'll be able to give some insight into how that works this fall. I also have a lot of theories about how college admissions works and am always happy to give advice about the college application process.

And if you read all of this:

Expect to see more of me in the future,
Samantha

Stanford 2016 - Avi Edition.

Hey readers of this awesome blog - whoever you are! I'm a new contributor - a fellow member of the class of 2016 who wants to share with you my experience of getting to this point - being a part of the Cardinal family for four years!

  Who is this new guy? I just graduated from Whitney High in Southern California, ready to take on the world. I'm active in a lot - I love the water. I swim, play water polo, and dragon boat (a sport similar to crew but uses more of the upper body and abdominal muscles to pull the boat - there is also a dragon head at the front of the boat, making us that much cooler). I'm a drama techie, soundboards and cameras are second nature to me, and I like being behind the scenes. I love history, biology, and filmmaking - and I will talk to people about the most random things because I really like to talk about random things. Yeah, I just like talking :)

  What do you want to go into? I'm honestly not sure. I love biology, history, film - for the longest time I've wanted to become a filmmaker, but bio research looks extremely exciting. I want to be on the forefront of something cool I guess. I think I'll just take the next two years to figure out exactly what I want.

 Outside of the desk, I led my life by one philosophy - Do what I want to, and enjoy whatever it is. I liked doing many things, and I really like being busy, so these two parts of me went pretty well together. I've been a member of the High School broadcast team since I was a sophomore, became Executive Producer my junior year. I have been swimming since freshmen year, dragonboating since my sophomore year. Key Club was a small passion of mine until I realized that it was less about service and more about a resume for most people, so I left that. I did robotics for two years, went to world championships this year. I started the history bowl team at my school and helped send two teams to nationals. I was an All-State Sound Director, and went to DC for the congressional academy. I feel like I just wrote the activities part of my common app again :D

  Why did I choose Stanford? I didn't really have much difficulty choosing Stanford. By mid march, I had a college acceptance streak. I got into all the UCs, USC, and Northwestern. I was riding high, and was pretty happy. But then on March 28th, I faced my first outright rejection from Princeton, and was deferred to spring for Berkeley. I wasn't necessarily devastated, but I was saddened. I assumed I would be going to UCLA and let the next couple of days come. I got waitlisted for Brown and UChicago, so I wasn't even expecting Harvard or Stanford. Then, at a swim meet on March 30th, I heard a buzz. I checked my email and found out that there was an email from Stanford Admissions. I opened it with half of my team watching me, and... Well, you know. I got in. I was exhilarated. I broke my record for backstroke that day, and stayed on a high that lasted for a pretty long time. Stanford has been a dream school for me. I loved the campus, I love the faculty, and I loved the weather (THIS IS IMPORTANT). I'm a pretty avid biker as well, so the size of the campus never scared me. I actually chose Stanford right away - sent in my deposit the next day. I was a Cardinal as soon as I could be. I wrote a lot, and I would be surprised if you read all of this. But I do plan to write more about being a Class of 2016 member - hopefully we all can show you how great a place this will be. :) ~Avi