Melvin*, The Brain
Still very undecided about his college plans, Melvin will be applying Early Action to the University of Chicago, the University of Michigan and MIT.
“I’d be happy to go to any of them,” he said.

Melvin has yet to finish any of his applications, but he has started all of them. He is putting most of his effort into his UChicago supplemental essays because they are the most abstract.

As UCLA is still the only campus that Melvin has stepped foot on, he thinks that visiting schools might impact his opinion of them.

“That’s a lot of time to take off and pretty expensive if you don’t plan well,” he said, “Going to college meetings here [at school] and finding out more about campus life online is working for me right now.”

Thelonius*, The Artist
Although Thelonius is still set on applying Early Decision to NYU, he will visit Kenyon College during mid-semester break. Thelonius thinks of this trip to Ohio as a “last chance” to make sure he belongs at NYU.

“NYU is my first choice,” Thelonius said. “If anything were to beat it, it would have to really impress me.”

He doubts Kenyon will replace NYU as his first choice. Thelonius is also skeptical of a significant change in his preference since his art teacher told him Kenyon’s art program is not particularly strong.

Thelonius notes that he has not personally researched the art program yet.

In the past, Thelonius had “cold feet” about NYU, but at the moment, he is very excited.He believes he has a similar chance of acceptance at both NYU and Kenyon, but Thelonius would like to apply somewhere early. He likes the idea of being done with the college process.

Daisy*, The All-around
Daisy has decided to apply Early Decision to Columbia University and Early Action to the University of Chicago.

“I am a little nervous because the competition among Harvard-Westlake, let alone all of the country, will be pretty stiff,” she said.

Although Columbia remains at the top of her list, Daisy also considers the UChicago one of her top choices.

After talking with her coach and researching UChicago’s significantly higher acceptance rate for early applicants, Daisy believes she has a 50-50 chance of acceptance there. Despite having found two schools she enjoys, Daisy does not feel optimistic about the college process.

“Even if I’m doing alright, I’m still a few steps behind,” she said.

Daisy has not finished her early supplements to her schools yet, but she plans to finish these over the mid-semester break.

Florence*, The Athlete

After visiting Oberlin College, Florence is reconsidering Div. III schools.

“Visiting Oberlin has affected my college list because the track coach there made me realize that Div. III schools have a lot of value too,” Florence said. “I wasn’t considering Div. III at all before

Oberlin, but now I am weighing the pros and cons of both Div. III and Div. I.”

She is not applying early to a school. Georgetown is still her first choice, but she will not apply Early Action because she believes it will not affect her chances of acceptance.