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Colleges Hate This! This one simple trick will get you into your dream school! by Shane

Wouldn’t it be great to go to the university of your dreams? To walk the hallowed ivy-covered halls. To sit in the vibrant green quad while a group of kids play ultimate frisbee. To study in the cozy library, surrounded by centuries of knowledge. Don’t have a dream school? No matter, we can find one for you right now. Want to join the power elite? Harvard. Want to go to NYC? Columbia. Want to be a start-up founder? Stanford. You may be thinking this is a gross overgeneralization of the schools, and you would be right, but that’s boring! Who wants to grapple with the fact that your life’s trajectory depends more on luck and your career field and if you happen to have a parent that can nepo you into said career field? Let’s make Pinterest boards! Buy college merch prematurely! Watch day in the life videos! Let’s dream a dream so real that you can taste it.

Now, if you’re following along, you should be holding onto your dream school, tighter than any hope or aspiration you’ve ever had. This is more than your Hogwarts house, Divergent faction, and Mythological godly parent, combined. The stakes couldn’t be higher. First, let’s research the types of students that get into Dream School. So maybe a couple of them conducted life-saving cancer research. And maybe another handful won first place at the international mathematical olympiad. No matter, you’re pretty great too, and they have to let some normies in. All you need to do now is write a couple stellar essays and apply.

As a high school student, my dream school was Brown because it was where the kind-hearted quirky kids went, and I was one of them, obviously. I was no child prodigy, but I thought my application was solid. With a 4.something GPA and killer essays, how could Brown say no?

Brown said no. I got accepted to UCLA, a wonderfully great school, I couldn’t complain. But that didn’t stop the wondering. The “what if?” Because maybe in another world, I did get accepted to Brown. In that world, I got to walk the halls, sit in the quad, study in the damn library. Yes, dream schools are a myth. Yes, you can be successful no matter where you go to college. But if the solution then is not to dream, I say to hell with that. I believe that dreams are worth having. If the college application process seems intent on ruining our dreams: let’s just dream better.

I didn’t just keep wondering. Instead, I gave my dream another shot. And now, sixteen days from now, I start class at my oh-my-god-I-can’t-believe-I’m-actually-going dream school, Brown.

Here’s what I learned:

The college application process can be brutal. You can do everything “right” and still get rejected. But there are ways to shift the odds in your favor. 

Take advantage of programs such as QuestBridge, that supports students with strong academics from low-income backgrounds. QuestBridge can help increase your odds of getting into your dream school (our goal here) but it also can lead to getting a full, four-year scholarship(!!!). That’s tuition, room and board, textbooks… It’s pretty amazing. And it’s not like other scholarship programs, where only a dozen students are chosen a year. There are thousands of QuestBridge finalists every year.

There’s also Early Decision which can help increase your odds of getting into a specific school. There is a common misconception that you have to go to the school if you are accepted as an Early Decision applicant, but the reality is that you can back out. Early Decision is not a scary commitment with no recourse. If you get in, you aren’t bound to go to the school if the financial aid sucks.

There’s still one more solid route: transferring. It’s just going to take time, determination, and some sacrifices. The process looks a lot like applying from high school, but with key differences: 1. Your college grades matter more than your high school ones. 2. Some schools have specific requirements about which college courses you’ll need to take to transfer. And finally, 3. The odds of getting accepted are higher as a transfer. 

At it’s core, it’s a numbers game. The schools will be the first to admit it. “We received more qualified applicants than we are able to accept,” is a line you’ll recognize from any rejection letter. And it’s true. You can do nothing wrong and still get your dream denied. So if it’s a gamble, let’s increase our odds.

Route 1: You’re smart & not rich

That headline is a little crude. By “smart” I mean you mostly get A’s in your classes and have taken a couple AP courses. If you’ve taken the SAT, you scored at least within the average range: 1280-1460. And by “not rich” I mean your annual household income is less than $65k, or you qualify for free or reduced-price school meals. If those two conditions apply to you, then congrats: you qualify for QuestBridge! What is QuestBridge? It’s a cool application program that not only can increase your odds of getting into your dream school (our goal here) but it also can lead to getting a full, four-year scholarship(!!!). That’s tuition, room and board, textbooks… it’s pretty amazing. And it’s not like other scholarship programs, where only a dozen students are chosen a year. There are thousands of QuestBridge finalists every year.

Applying through QuestBridge will take time and energy, but is absolutely worth it. If you think you might qualify, definitely look into it. The application is due Sept 30, which is way before most normal college deadlines, so keep that in mind.

Route 2: The widely (but wrongly) feared Early Decision

So you don’t qualify for QuestBridge. Don’t fret, not all hope is lost. A lot of schools have some variation of a program that works something like this: in November you apply to one school that you really love that you want to go to more than any other school, aka your dream school. In December, you find out you got in (yay!), or you didn’t and then you just apply to schools like normal. The program might be called early decision or early action or restricted early action. They’re not quite the same, but they’re similar in these ways: 1. They increase your odds of getting into that school. 2. If you do get in, the idea is that you have to go, but if the financial aid they offer you isn’t enough, you can back out. That second part is key: most people think early decision is a scary commitment with no recourse, but that’s not true. If you get in, you aren’t bound to go to the school if the financial aid sucks.

If you have a dream school in mind, look up its policies around early decisions. Almost all early decision/action deadlines are in or before November, so if this is a route you’re considering, you’ll have to have everything ready by then.

Route 3: Already got rejected from your dream school?

So maybe QuestBridge or an early decision didn’t work out, or you just applied the regular way and got rejected. Not all hope is lost. There’s still one more solid route: transferring. It’s just going to take time, determination, and some sacrifices. You’ll be giving up on having a “normal” freshman year, as you’ll have to attend your first year or two of college at a school that’s different than the one you’ll graduate from. You’ll start at a “not dream” school (maybe community college, maybe the best school you did get into) knowing it’s temporary. If you want the traditional college experience of spending 4 years at the same school, you probably don’t want to take this route. But if you want to attend your dream school, even for just 2 or 3 years, more than anything else, then consider transferring.

The process looks a lot like applying from high school, but with key differences:
1. Your college grades matter more than your high school ones.
2. Some schools have specific requirements about which college courses you’ll need to take to transfer. And finally, 3. The odds of getting accepted are higher as a transfer. And for a couple specific routes, like a California Community College to UC Santa Barbara, you are guaranteed acceptance as a transfer(!). Plus, starting somewhere cheaper can save you money before finishing your degree at your probably-expensive dream school.

I loved my time at UCLA, but when I learned about the transfer process, I couldn’t help but wonder what a second chance at applying to my dream school, Brown, could bring about. So I searched up the requirements online, managed to get two letters of recommendation, and wrote some essays. After going through the process last year, it wasn’t so bad. And lo and behold, when transfer decisions were released at the end of my first year at UCLA, I found out I got into Brown. My dream suddenly became reality. I finally would get the chance to roam the halls, frolic in the quad, and study in the library.

The “dream school” may be a myth. After building up a vision of your future at your dream school, after making it part of your identity, the myth may drive you to emotional ruin when you’re rejected by no fault of your own. But a myth can also be a powerful motivator. My advice to you is this: know that the college you go to doesn’t mean you’re destined for greatness or consigned to oblivion. Let that truth protect your self-worth, but don’t let it limit your dreams. Let the routes I’ve given you toward increasing your odds empower you to dream big. Dream far and wide. Dream of Harvard, of Stanford, of MIT, of Yale. Dream of the frisbee in the grassy, green quad, because in who knows how long, that dream might just become a reality.

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Shane graduated from Pasadena High School in 2024 and is off to Brown after studying at UCLA. His journey with CAP began through the after-school drop-in program, which quickly became a second home for him. Throughout his senior year, Shane particularly valued CAP’s support during the most intensive periods of the college application process, including crucial guidance during winter break. At UCLA, Shane is eager to explore the intersection of technology and society through involvement in engineering, policymaking, and journalism clubs. His future aspirations lie in tech regulation and human-computer interaction, reflecting his interest in the relationship between technology and its impact on people. As a member of the CAP Student Advisory Council, Shane hopes to offer relevant advice while giving back to the program that supported him. He is committed to ensuring other students receive the same comprehensive support and resources that were critical in his own college journey.

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