How I did it: "I've always taken rigorous courses, APs and such. I've been very involved with clubs, especially yearbook. My first year I was a section editor. My junior year I was co-editor. And as a senior I was editor-in-chief. As I moved up the totem pole, I started more with managing people and being a leader. I was devoted and it showed that I could move up and I wasn't just hanging around in the background.
I also won Best Dressed in the superlatives. I campaigned a bit for it.
It's important to be in clubs, but you can't be in every club if you have a job, and I work at a Subway."
Test scores and grades: "I've gotten all As in high school. We just got our most recent grade card and I just made my first B. It was a 92%, though.
I took the ACT and got 31. I thought that was okay because I hadn't planned on going to an Ivy League school, I was just going to go to University of Tennessee. I thought it would give me a scholarship. But I got some letters from Yale telling me about the school, that they had generous financial aid, and so I started to think I could make it happen. Then I took the test again and got a 32.
I was able to have an interview with an alum and I think that really helped. I know that I have overcome things, but a big part of it is being able to meet someone in person to show them I'm normal, I can carry on a conversation and they can relay that to the admissions."
Getting in: "I had a feeling about Yale from the very beginning. I told my mom and grandparents that I had a gut feeling that it would work out.
I was expecting a letter, but I found out online. I'm a "Gilmore Girls" fan. I was thinking of Rory worrying if she would get a big package or a little package from schools. When it came time to check, I was shaking because I was so nervous. When I logged in, it popped up 'congratulations' and a video with the Yale song played. I sat there for a few seconds and said 'what the hell?' Then it sunk in. I called my grandmother and I started cry.
I called my mom at work and she started to cry. I told her about the financial aid package and she started crying again."
What pushed me: "I live in a pretty impoverished area. I looked around and I saw the regrets people had. I knew I didn't want that for myself. I'm the first in my family to go to a four-year college. I knew that I wanted more for myself."
