Alexander - U. of Colorado Boulder - Class of 2014

Law school is my ultimate goal and this heavily influenced my college decisions. So I looked for colleges with strong programs in philosophy. While this might seem weird, I believe that studying various perspectives of thought will be especially conducive to a prelaw education.

My college list is just right

At first I simply picked colleges I was already familiar with: University of Colorado, Brown (a great friend of mine is going there), and Willamette (where many of my high school friends were applying). Willamette offers a fast-track application with a quick turnaround, and it was nice to know I had gotten into at least one college before January 1st. I learned about Denison University at a "Colleges That Change Lives" presentation. I decided to apply there as a wild card and visit later. I also looked at the rest of the Ivy League schools. My father encouraged me to go big on my applications, so I added Cornell and Dartmouth. They seemed more down-to-earth than the other Ivies that I visited.

Brown was my top choice. Its pass/fail option and the openness of course selection really spoke to me. I felt that the students were there to learn just as avidly as I would. But Brown turned me down.

The big-ticket Ivy or the affordable local college?

I faced an agonizing decision: choosing between Cornell and Colorado. When I visited Cornell, I was astounded by the quality of the Cornell faculty. And every kid I spoke to seemed really engaged on multiple levels. The general air of the campus had a mystical quality. I just felt I was in the right place. There was only one problem—one huge problem. Was the experience worth an extra $30,000 a year?

After a long talk with a philosophy professor at Colorado, I decided it was not. I saw elements within Colorado that excited me just as much as Cornell had. I found myself truly excited about the prospect of making it my home. While Cornell's benefits may have outweighed those at Colorado by a small margin, they paled in comparison with the difference in their cost. The decision became obvious when I matched the two dime-for-dime. With law school around the corner, I'd rather graduate with some money than $100,000 in debt.

My ups and downs

Let me tell you, the financial aid process is no joke. My parents were so reluctant to fill out forms that I had to sit alongside them as they went through the FAFSA. To make things worse, many colleges began sending me forms like the CSS/Financial Aid PROFILE and Cornell's Freshman Financial Aid Application, many of which took longer to complete than the FAFSA. My parents had to be pushed and prodded, barely meeting deadlines.

I found myself wondering if it would have turned out differently if I had applied to Brown early decision. You never know what could happen. But as I write that sentence now, I realize how fortunate I am to have gotten through this process with relatively little disappointment.

What I learned

The admission process teaches you things about yourself. I remember one moment as I struggled to write an essay about playing the violin. The essay wasn't coming along like I felt it should, and then I realized why. I wasn't telling the truth. I was trying to write about my love for an instrument that had become more of a chore to me than anything else. So I started again and wrote about why I'm giving up the violin after senior year. It gave me a powerful feeling to put "me" into my college application. No matter where I got in, I would feel like I had really earned it.

Answering questions like, "What is it that really stimulates your drive to learn?" helped me get a glimpse of myself from an outside perspective, where I was in my life, and how I have developed as a person. In a weird way, I feel like the process has made me all the more prepared for college.

The money factor

My parents have agreed to contribute roughly 75 percent of my tuition and housing expenses, most of which comes from a college fund they started when I was born. The rest comes from assets that I have saved over the years. Thankfully, it seems like I will come out of CU without any debt.