At this point in my life a year ago, I had chosen to attend the University of Pennsylvania and was enrolled to take classes in the fall. However, the process that led to this decision was far from a smooth one. Now that I have completed my first year, I am certain that it is the right school for me.

I had wanted to attend the Massachusetts Institute of Technology ever since I first heard about it in the sixth grade. I told my aunt that I loved math and science, and she encouraged me to attend MIT, her alma mater. I was determined to work hard in order to attend the prestigious university. As I entered high school, my love of math and science grew even more. By my junior year, I organized a preliminary list of schools that I was going to apply to, and MIT was at the top of the list. The following summer, I received a pamphlet in the mail from the University of Pennsylvania. When I opened it, the page I opened to was about the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, and it listed my intended major of chemical engineering. I added the school to my growing list, and ranked it in my top five, behind MIT, Yale, Princeton and Brown.

As I began my applications, I realized how many essays I would have to write, and decided that I should be more reasonable with the schools I was applying to, and removed Yale and Princeton from my list. The early action deadline for MIT was fast approaching, and I was nowhere near complete with my applications, lacking essays, recommendations, higher SAT scores, and an interview with an MIT alum. I decided to apply regular decision, applying to Fordham University, St. John’s University, Texas A&M University, and the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) in the meantime. I was accepted to all four by December, most notably from Fordham, receiving a full-tuition scholarship. I was thrilled to be accepted to a university in New York City, now certain that I would be leaving home for college. I had also been accepted to programs at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) and Brandeis University, and was able to visit the schools and broaden my college search.

I fell in love with Boston during my Brandies visit, and was determined to go to Boston for school. I began submitting my applications to the other schools on my list, including the Massachusetts schools of Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI), Northeastern University, and Brandeis University, and of course MIT, as well as Brown, Penn, and Carnegie Mellon University. However, I was falling behind, and was in danger of not being able to apply to every university by January 1. Specifically, I felt that I had to choose between Brown and Penn, fearing I would not be able to write the essays for both schools. Then, I received an email that Penn had extended its deadline to January 5, making it possible for me to complete all of the applications. After writing my essays and submitting all my applications, I had nothing more to do but wait to hear back. In the meantime, I conducted interviews with MIT, Brown, and Penn alumni, feeling confident in all of them, but most especially with my Penn interview. In February, I received acceptance letters from Northeastern and WPI, providing me with additional options.

In early March, I received the unbelievable and unexpected news that I was likely to be admitted to the University of Pennsylvania. I was elated at the fact that I was likely to be admitted to a school that I was almost unable to apply to. At that moment I knew that if things with MIT did not work out, I had my school. On March 14, I received my first rejection letter. My dream school was not meant to be, and I was disappointed, but consoled by the fact that I was likely to be admitted to Penn. In the days that followed, I received acceptance letters from RPI, Brandeis, and Carnegie Mellon, as well as a rejection letter from Brown. None of this mattered, however, because I had already made my decision. In April, I had the opportunity to visit my future school. From the moment I stepped foot on campus, I knew it was the one for me.