Austin Scholar #29: The College Process (From a College Admissions Officer’s Perspective)
Austin Scholar #29: The College Process (From a College Admissions Officer’s Perspective)
(& My College Dreams Throughout the Years)
Hey, y'all!
When I went to Oxford, I got the download on everything I need to be thinking about as I start preparing my college applications for next year.
Of course, this seems very on-brand. "Austin goes to Oxford and gets college admissions advice. No surprises there."
But while most of you already know that I have my heart set on going to Oxford, it wasn't always that way. In fact, my journey to figure out where I want to go to school has been…lengthy.
But I'm getting ahead of myself.
This week from Austin Scholar...
Austin’s Anecdote: My college dreams throughout the years
The college process (from a college admission officer’s perspective)
Scholar’s Sources: My favorite resources on the college application process
Last week, all of my work at Write of Passage: Liftoff paid off. We did two focus groups, where ACTUAL HUMANS tested the exercises that I helped make?! It was one of the coolest, most surreal few hours of my life.
I also went to my first PBR (Professional Bull Riding, for those not in the know) event. I wasn’t expecting to love it as much as I did, but I guess that’s the Texan in me :)
I’ve been spending a lot of time on Twitter, too, so go follow @AustinScholar.
Austin’s Anecdote: My College Dreams Throughout the Years
College was a way for me to be like my dad.
When I was younger, all I wanted was to be like my dad: strong, successful, and smart.
And my dad had been singing the praises of Stanford to my sister and I since before we knew what college was.
He told us how at Stanford he met the people and made the connections that changed his life.
So, naturally, for the first few years of my life, Stanford was where I wanted to go. The ideal. The dream.
My life plan was as follows:
Get straight A’s in high school -> Get into Stanford -> Start a successful business.
Just like my dad.
I wanted to go on the same path as he did; I wanted to make him proud by being just like him.
And then, I started high school, and being like my dad was the last thing I wanted to do.
College was a status symbol.
For the first two years of high school, I had absolutely no idea who I was or what I wanted to do with my life.
Now that I didn’t have the “Straight A’s -> Stanford -> Successful Business” plan, I wasn’t totally sure what to do with myself.
But since that next step was only a couple of years away, figuring out my future became a lot more important.
So, I broke down what I did know:
I like getting good grades.
I want to go to a good college. (Isn’t that every hardworking high schooler’s goal?)
I wasn’t totally sure what “good” meant, but I’ve always had super high expectations for myself, so good quickly transformed into “the best.”
I still wanted to make my parents proud, and I still wanted to set myself up for success in whatever I decided to do with my life.
So I changed my plan:
Get straight A’s -> Get into an Ivy League -> Get a really good job.
I chose Ivy League schools because they're the best. I wanted the prestige of an Ivy League to make my parents proud and to give me a higher chance of getting a good job.
Really, I just wanted to be able to say, “I went to an Ivy League.”
College is a place for me to be myself.
And then I went to a summer program at Oxford–and my perspective on what college could be changed yet again.
At Oxford, I was able to become immersed in beautiful histories and experiences, while studying to become a better writer. I was immediately hooked. I realized I want to go to college to fulfill my love of traveling and experiencing new cultures and places.
I want to go to college to study the English language and read and analyze old books and write hundreds of thousands of words.
I want to go to college to explore who I am and get a little bit closer to figuring out how I want to impact the world.
My current life plan:
Get straight A’s & grow Austin Scholar -> Go to college abroad -> Figure out what’s next
The College Process (From a College Admission Officer’s Perspective)
DISCLAIMER: Obviously, I am no expert in college applications–I haven’t even sent in a single one (yet!).
I’m figuring this out as I go along.
I have, though, gotten the opportunity to talk to true experts in the college admissions process, and want to share the information and tips that I learn as I go.
And so, since, at Oxford, I got to speak with an actual college admissions officer, I thought I would share my super-detailed, practically-a-transcript, notes from his seminar.
The college process (From a college admission officer’s perspective):