John - Pomona College - Class of 2013

The college application process was a maelstrom of paperwork, deadlines, and contemplation. Choosing a college was one of my first major adult decisions, and it taught me quite a bit about myself.

My college search game show

After I took the PSAT, my mailbox was flooded with pounds of viewbooks and letters. I used these to form my initial list. I wasn't entirely sure what I was looking for, so I ended up with a huge list of over 30 schools. As I devoured college websites, guides, and brochures, I gradually narrowed my list. I decided to apply early action to Stanford; if I got accepted, it would save me from applying to many other schools. Stanford has many qualities that attracted me, but I have to admit that my decision to apply was simply based on the fact that Stanford was a prestigious school in California that had a non-binding early action option.

When I was rejected by Stanford, I went back to the other 11 schools I was considering. I knew ASU would accept me with a large scholarship. I was a National Merit Finalist (and eventually a Scholarship winner), and I received many letters from ASU recruiting me with scholarship offers. So I didn't apply to any other safety or match schools, and instead focused on getting into a highly selective school. In a way, I'm thankful I was rejected early by Stanford. I was able to give my application a test run and then make substantial improvements before I sent it to other schools.

My ideal big city school turns out to be a small suburban college

At first, being undecided about my major and what I wanted in college, I was attracted to prestigious schools close to cities. I thought liberal arts colleges were too small. But the more I researched colleges, the more I realized that there are advantages to a smaller school, such as a tight-knit campus community, small classes, and professors who were there to teach and mentor undergraduates. At the same time, I still wanted the resources of a larger school. Since Pomona is part of the Claremont Colleges, a consortium of five undergraduate and two graduate colleges, it fit my needs perfectly in every way. It became my first choice.

My final decision came down to Pomona vs. Columbia. Pomona remained my first choice but it was hard to turn down Columbia, especially after they paid for me to visit. But the moment I realized that Columbia was tempting mostly because of its prestige, I was able to let go of it.

My ups and downs

Applying as a homeschooled student added additional challenges. My parents and I had to create transcripts, course descriptions, an outline of our homeschooling methodology, and even a counselor recommendation. Many schools had their own requirements for homeschooled applicants. Pomona and Columbia both required me to take four SAT Subject Tests. I found myself spending a significant portion of my interviews explaining my schooling.

What I learned

I made the mistake of initially writing essays based on what I thought the admissions officers would want to read. After my Stanford rejection, I decided to take a risk and write about a passion of mine: playing and designing computer strategy games. It worked. A month and a half before decisions arrived, I received an e-mail from Columbia informing me that their initial review of my application had impressed them so much that they wanted to tell me that I was a "likely" candidate for admission. I received a similar letter from Duke two weeks later.

The money factor

I only had one inflexible requirement, which was that the school had to offer substantial merit aid or meet my full demonstrated financial need. I'm very thankful to Pomona for its extremely generous financial aid, which provides me nearly a full ride.