Even from those of you who have followed my blog all along, I’ve kept much of my personal life a mystery. Partially, I was worried about privacy. However, I also simply didn’t think anyone would be interested in hearing about my daily life. But since I seem to be wrong (I love hearing about others’ lives too), here’s a little more about what I’ve been up to these past few years. I won’t start at the very beginning, even though Julie Andrews says it’s a very good place to start. Instead, I’ll start with my senior year of high school.
During my senior year of high school, I unfortunately did not go about college hunting in the best way. If it wasn’t Ivy League, I didn’t even want to look at a school. I very much wish I could go back and tell my high-school self how crazy her thinking was.
I fell in love with UPenn as soon as I set foot on campus. The only problem: Nobody told them that Katie was destined for their school. When the college letter arrived, it was suspiciously thin.
My dream school waitlisted me?!
Looking back, I know the waitlist letter, which ultimately turned into a rejection, didn’t have anything to do with my worth; it simply meant the admission department decided I wasn’t the right fit at the time. To me, though, it felt like I wasn’t good enough. Even now, I still feel a little ashamed admitting my rejection.
After shedding many tears over the matter (and literally throwing the waitlist letter in the fire. Burn!!!!), I settled on Bryn Mawr College. It was quiet and peaceful but also close to an urban setting. It was a good school, far from home, and it even participated in a consortium with UPenn, meaning I could take classes at my dream university.
Bryn Mawr was a terrific school, and I thoroughly enjoyed meeting great girls and taking advantage of the school’s close proximity to Philadelphia. I even prefer Philly to NYC, because it’s smaller and more manageable whilst still being jam-packed with fun. But the school just wasn’t right for me. You know how sometimes you can feel—in your heart—that something’s just not right? For me, Bryn Mawr was too small. It was difficult to get into all the classes I desired, since most only offered one section. I found myself signed up for classes simply because they fit my schedule: NOT cool when you’re paying for each course. After my first year away, I transferred to SMU in Dallas.
Update: click for My College Story – Part 2.
Question of the Day:
How did you choose what college to attend, if you attended one? (Or, how do you plan to choose?)
I thought I had to go to prestigious, private, liberal arts schools, too. 😉 I got into Hamilton and Ithaca in NY, got rejected by Skidmore, Middlebury, etc. Went to Ithaca because of scholarship… and there were a lot of nice things about the school, but I just wasn’t super happy and I missed my bf and family terribly. Now I go to a LOT less prestigious school here in Texas, but I’m happier. 🙂
I know what you mean though, about being irrationally embarrassed or disappointed… I KNOW I’m happier here, but there’s some personal/social/cultural expectation that I should be at some really high-up school, doing “great things”– whatever those things are! 😛
Mitri,
My cousin went to Ithaca! She loved it. It’s cold though!! LOL
Your photo is cute! i was always the *star* art student, was in every art club, drew and painted like a fiend, everyone wanted me to go to an art school, but they’re hard to afford and i really didn’t want to be so engrossed in a singular subject. I also wanted to stay close to home, my mom and I knew that a close (10 minutes away) community college would be good for now. The art teachers there are great! I’m transferring to a local uni next year, everyone is still pushing me for art school though. I feel like the world is making me out to be a modern day Leonardo da Vinci and it’s frustrating, it’s not that i’m modest, but i KNOW i still have the ability to progress so much more. After being over-glorified constantly, I get discourage when I don’t get scholarships, it’s sort of a kick in the pants.
sorry for the novel!
I went to University of Illinois, which is a really good state school and one of the best engineering programs in the country (I was a CS major). All of it was kind of randomly chosen though. Everyone thought I should apply to MIT and Berkeley, but realistically, the costs were so high in comparison, I never got around to applying to those places. I was looking at this dinky, private, engineering school, but my bf at the time was also at U of I, so lo and behold, I went there. Ironically, we broke up before I even started college (he was a year older); talk about awkward. However, I had a really great time at that school and got good job offers afterward (the same sorts of places if I had gone to MIT), for a much cheaper price tag. 🙂
Now grad school, that may be a different story…
thanks for sharing!!!! college admission process is so lame in my opinion – such a crapshoot! certain colleges accept more from certain high schools or ‘feeders’ and then there’s the whole legacy thing, blahblah haha. one kid form my high school got into harvard but not boston college (where i graduated this spring)! so random. anyways i got into all the schools i applied to but it was such a difficult decision..i ultimately chose bc over georgetown because it would save my parents money for visits (no airplane necessary) and for moving in, etc. i also got a general feeling of happiness on the campus- the beautiful architecture, my admission to the honors program, the benefits of being in a middle size school close to the city but in a quiet area. however, not being at an ivy created feelings of inadequacy in me, which is silly! and i remember being mad at myself for not applying to any ivy league schools.
Totally chose my University because of the reputation, brand and name.
But after attending it for 2 years, I’d never switch and that for different reason! I love the fact that it’s small, and you are not 200 in a class but 30. I love that you will get the same teacher but in 2 different class and you will cross the same student over and over again.
And in the end, it will look good in my resume .. hehe
Yay! I love reading about you!
I actually planned to go to university in my hometown of Winnipeg, Canada part time while continuing on in hopes of pursuing a career in dance. However, first semester of senior year I tore my ACL, so my dreams of dancing were sort of …destroyed. 🙂 I decided it would be a good time to leave home and thought I should go to the University of Toronto. It was a big city, which I liked and I had family there. My best friend was visiting some schools in the east and asked me to accompany her. We looked at the university of Toronto and I instantly hated it! Our final school was McGill in Montreal. As soon as I stepped foot on campus I said to myself “I HAVE to go here”. I hadn’t even considered it before, but I just KNEW. I applied, and got accepted! And it was pretty much the best decision I ever made to go there. Best 4 years of my life 🙂
I went to a women’s college too! Though mine was even smaller than BMC. I went to Hollins University, a school with only 800 students! One of my friends senior year told me she was only applying to women’s colleges, and when I asked her why she impressed me with a list of statistics about how while only 2% of female college graduates attended women’s colleges, they made up very large numbers of Congresswomen and CEO’s of the top Fortune 500 companies. Having struggled with a lot of shyness as well as an eating disorder, I felt like a women’s college would help me become a strong, confident woman . . . and it did! I had so many leadership opportunities, and I loved the small class sizes. There wasn’t the obsession with looks that I think there can be with men around. It was wonderful! It completely changed my life for the better. 🙂
I didn’t know a lot about college searches when I searched for college–I picked one that looked pretty good and was close to home, so I could visit my family often. I was really happy there the first year, a little less so the 2nd but not UNhappy, then it went downwards enough that by senior year I really wished I’d put more thought into the selection process. I got through fine, but I think it’s great that you know what you want now–and that you’re willing to take steps to get away from what you don’t want.
This post was excellent for me! I’ll be applying to colleges soon. In order to decide, my family and I are taking lost of visits, and UPenn is on the list! Like yourself, I’m a great student. Thank you for this post, it’s very relevant to my life at the moment. 🙂
P.S. . . How in the world do you pre-set your posts!? I’d be really interested in that feature. Thanks!
A Teenage Gourmet,
When you go to hit publish, just look at the time it says the post will be published. Then, set that time for a time AHEAD of the current time and hit “publish.” Does that make sense? 🙂
What a story. I think things are different in Canada. Everyone I know went to local university or technical school based on which one offered the career path you desired. Simple. Two or three (of 300) went abroad for a gap year. I think one moved to the coast to do marine biology.
However, I had some misfortunes in my last year of secondary school. I wanted to join the Canadian Forces. Badly. I did a lot of research and came up with the two positions I wanted to apply for. After months of tests (physical and mental/written) I got a call that broke my heart: I had an eye condition (that 50% of people have) which disqualified me for the two jobs I wanted. They offered me any other job except communications or PR (my English scores sucked). I didn’t want any other job… I wanted to be a flight navigator. A friend of mine got turned down for the same two positions for the same reason. Bummer. Looking back, there were many other good jobs I could have taken and still been happy with, but oh well. (I think my parents tried to tell me this back then, but I refused to listen. Typical 16 year old.) Star student couldn’t get her dream job. That stage of my life was over.
Next chapter… Engineering at the University of Alberta. I loved building things and what not, and all my teachers said I should do it, so I did. I was good at some parts but hated it. Way too much theory, too many student, huge classes, and the cut-throat competition killed me. For my job shadow to determine which type of Engineering I would go into the following year, I went somewhere and saw models and drawings of buildings and such. I wanted to do that. Close that chapter. I was done with University. That shattered my next dream of becoming a science teacher. (After my Engineering degree I wanted to take the fast-track education degree.)
Final chapter… I transferred to a local technical school to become someone who makes those models and drafting drawings. It was the best course ever! We got to draw, play with models, solve problems, go on field trips, build things, and everything I like. It was heaps fun!
Now, that’s my job, and has been for 7 years now. (Has it really been that long?) Inside my head, I still want to be a flight navigator (or an astronaut) and be a teacher, but you never know where life will lead you.
Wow… that was a novel!
JCD, Ah, but it was an interesting novel! And I find it so funny (in a cool way) that we can be friends even though we’re SO dissimilar. Given my fear of flying, I think “astronaut” would fall at the very BOTTOM of my list!
This is a great post!
I liked my university. I had amazing friends, tons of experiences, and a good education, but I wouldn’t have chosen it again if I had to go back and do it again. It was much too small for me, and because it was a private/Christian college, the rules were far stricter than I’d have liked. My family was paying, so they felt entitled to make the choice for me (not collaborate on a choice, actually MAKE the choice), and although I made the best of it and did enjoy my time there, I would have strongly preferred a larger, more liberal school.
I’m so scared about applying for universtities or college too so i’m looking forward to part two! xx
Thank you so much for sharing this with us!! I have really always wanted to know more about you 🙂
I grew up in the Dallas area too and a lot of my friends went to Hockaday. I remember 1 year in particular that about 5 of my friend’s brothers who went to St. Marks all went to UPenn!
Choosing a college wasn’t hard for me. I had great grades and SAT scores..but not a lot of money! I was a huge debate nerd in high school and ended up going to Texas Tech on a debate scholarship! I ended up not really liking Lubbock but I stuck it out and I’m finally moving to Illinois for grad school next month!
Grad school is where I feel I have a lot in common with you! I was being snobby about where I wanted to go and applied to a bunch of elite schools that I really KNEW weren’t a good fit- I just wanted to go there for the fancy name… I got rejected from all the fancy schools except for Rutgers, and I was SO excited! Until I found out how much it costs to live in Jersey…and that I was only getting a partial scholarship! A small school called Eastern IL University offered me a full-ride and when I visited, I fell in love with the school and the prospect of being a mere 3 hour drive from Chicago! Anyways… I have no idea why I am rambling on about myself to you! Can’t wait to read your Part 2!
Your college story sounds a bit like mine. Can’t wait to hear the rest 🙂
I had a very similar college experience to yours…. but im in the uk, so it was university for me, not college (arent they the same thing tho?!?!)
I have always been more of a creative person, lets just say that maths and science were NOT my strengths!! so when i decided that i wanted to go to art college instead of a regular uni, i immediatly thought, well i should go to london! big city, lots of galleries… surely a great choice for studying art. well although in theory it was all these things, the actual uni was small and even though it is considered one fo the best art schools in england, i found that it was more about the ‘name’, rather than the college. Being in a big city, studio space was in the minority and we had to share alot of our resources so often taking a particular class was impossible due to the high demand and lack of spaces. Also being in a drop-in drop=out environment meant that it was difficult to make many friends as nobody was in one place for long enough to bond! I found myself feeling a little lost and lonely. Which made me reflect this feeling on the city. London is an amazing place if you’ve got people to share it with, on your own it can be incredibly isolating with the hustle and bustle all around you but nobody really noticing you.
I got through the degree but then moved back to the countryside, which i appreciate SO much more now that im out of the hectic city lifestyle. Im lucky enough to live near enough to still enjoy the perks of london life, but distant enough to come home and enjoy the grass and trees of the country.
I think i learnt that just because its a good named school, doesnt mean its right for you….! you have to find something that fits you as a person not you on paper.
Thankyou for sharing your part 1 college experience! Im loving this new ‘get to know CCK’ thing, i feel like im finally meeting the girl behind one of my fave blogs! x
Clemmy,
My smile is brighter than the sunshine outside my window right now, thanks to your sweet comment :).
(And sorry for the lame analogy hehe)