I remember when I was curating my list of colleges to apply to early in my senior year of high school, I had put down the typical schools that people from my high school usually applied to. Schools like the UC’s, Cal Poly, Stanford, and some East coast schools sprinkled here and there. I put a lot of thought and effort into researching what kind of students these schools were looking for, how I could maximize the effectiveness of my essays, etc, etc, etc… But I remember when the USC merit scholarship deadline was approaching, I took one look at the essay questions and I instantly knew what to write. When I was writing for USC, it felt natural and seamless. I didn’t feel like I had to strategize or game the essays. I remember finishing the essays and thinking to myself “Wow, these essays are fire and they totally represent who I am as a person on so many different levels”. I couldn’t say the same about other schools that I wrote about, those essays seemed much more structured and unnatural. I wrote strong essays for my other schools, but those essays felt like I wrote them for the university I was applying for, while my USC essay felt like I was writing it for myself as a reflection of all the hard work I had put in the past.
Then in early January, when the college application process seemed to slip my mind, I remember getting home after school and seeing a white box on my door. I approached it thinking it probably was something my dad ordered online, but as I got closer I saw the USC logo marked on it. For a split second I thought to myself “why tf would they send more advertising stuff it’s like January can they chill dude I already applied”. But then I realized that this might be more than just any normal package. I opened it and freaked out so hard my mom thought I had been attacked by a snake (she’s deathly afraid of snakes).
Stay tuned for my next blog post where I detail my first experience on USC’s campus, but in the meantime, good luck on your essay writing seniors!
