Awesome!! Just got word back from my top choice college!

[Meredith Rice]

I am so anxious to hear from MIT, not for me, lol, but for my friend Jackee. I have called her house ever day since Monday wanting to find out. I am sure you would post as soon as they heard, but have you gotten MIT letters yet?

Personally i didnt apply early anything, but i did take advantage of rolling admissions at Penn State UPark. I got accepted in mid-Oct. But my first choice is UDelaware and I am anxiously waiting for the letter.

[sanddrag]

Originally Posted by SuperDanman

Now the question is are there any teams in or around Pasadena, California?

980 would be the closest I believe. 589 and 696 are not far away (20 mins). Will you be attending CalTech or it's just one of your options?

I got accepted to Cal Poly Pomona on admissions day. I was the only person from my school who got in. It'll still be a while until I hear from the rest I applied to.

[DanL]

Originally Posted by sanddrag

Will you be attending CalTech or it's just one of your options?

I haven't decided yet. I guess I'm still a little uneasy about leaving the east coast... on the one hand, I love the school, on the other, casually going back home or meeting up with high school friends is going to be near-impossible. Have any of you college FIRST-people have had a similar expierience - going to the other side of the country for college, I mean. How did you handle it?

[Madison]

Moving across the country takes some time to adjust to, but it's not really all that terrible. It's just important that you develop a network of friends and support that's local so that, if you do get lonely or homesick, you've got people around to make you feel better.

Of course, I think you'd be fine, Dan, and will do well whereever you decide to attend.

[sanddrag]

SuperDanman: If you care to share - what was your class rank, gpa, AP classes, etc, etc that helped you get in?

[DanL]

Originally Posted by sanddrag

SuperDanman: If you care to share - what was your class rank, gpa, AP classes, etc, etc that helped you get in?

I don't really want to post my whole personal life online, but if you can't live without knowing, PM me or e-mail me or something. What I will tell you, though, is that I wasn't the top-top person gradewise in my school. There are people in my class with higher GPA's, and there are people who did better on AP tests. Yeah, my SATs were good, but nothing phenominal like a 14 or 1600. Point is, I don't think you should obsess yourself with being the kid with the highest GPA. It's a cliche that has been overused to death, but be yourself. I think what helped me most were my activities and essays. By activities, I don't mean sign up for every single after-school club available - rather, pick one or three and become really active or dedicated to them. I wrote all of my essays about my expieriences in robotics... they weren't written to show off how much knowledge I had learned, though. Rather, they were more about how robotics has helped me realize that engineering is what I want to do.

[WernerNYK]

Yea WPI!! Haha... this is my second year, I can't believe colleges send out notice so soon, heh, I guess I just dont remember.

But yea, I love it here.

[MichalSkiba]

I'm hoping for Electrical Engineering @ U of T. Applications haven't even started for Canadian universities!

I'm still waiting for MIT, Stanford and UC Berkeley.

[Matt Adams]

Originally Posted by SuperDanman

How did you handle it?

To roughly say it... you just do.

You leave home for the first time, and whether you're 2 hours or 28 hours from home... you're not around your friends and family anymore. It's definitely different.

I think that one of the things I didn't realize, and a lot of other students don't is that every other freshman student in college is in the exact same boat!

EVERYONE is away from home, none of the freshman have a set group of friends. You meet new people and you make friends. It's not nearly as hard as one would think. Get involved in a good student organization, and you're all set.

I'd recommend that you don't let a fear of distance stop your dreams. Your true friends will stick by you despite the time away and the distance apart, and you'll soon develop best friends both at home and at school. For me, most of my friends were going away to school too, so it wasn't like I was leaving anyone behind.

Since Purdue has so many more students than my high school, I had a much easier time finding people who were like me and held the same values that I did. That's definitely one of the perks of college.

You only get to have your college experience once... make the most of it, in positive ways, of course.

I encourage you to follow your college dreams, wherever they lead you.

Best of luck!

Matt

[Kristina]

Originally Posted by SuperDanman

I haven't decided yet. I guess I'm still a little uneasy about leaving the east coast... on the one hand, I love the school, on the other, casually going back home or meeting up with high school friends is going to be near-impossible. Have any of you college FIRST-people have had a similar expierience - going to the other side of the country for college, I mean. How did you handle it?

Well I can't say that I moved across the country to go to college considering that UCLA is only 1/2 hour away from my house. However, there are some times when I did feel as though I did make that big move. This year I've only been home for Thanksgiving and one other time (for an eye dr. appt) because I've been so busy with school work or activities on the weekend. Moreover, with friends across the state and country, we don't typically have "high school reunions" until major breaks where everyone is home.

As I say of everything in college, it's what you make of it. Distance should be a factor but if you love the campus, the people there, the program, the oppurtunities, etc, I wouldn't make it the deciding factor. I definitely agree with what M. said about developing a core group of friends or family wherever you go for support. I found that being involved REALLY helped my transition into college because I found other people with similar interests and had things to always keep me busy. I think it also will help me this summer when I do go across the country to Washington DC for 10 weeks.

Good luck with your decision. If you (or anyone else) has any questions about college or California, I'd be happy to help.

[Melissa Nute]

I got into WPI. I'm happy.