Gerad Lee – Pitzer College ‘29 (Golf team)

Senior Gerad Lee has wanted to play collegiate golf since middle school after being able to improve his skills to a level that gave him hope of being able to play in college. As a result, during his sophomore year, he began emailing DI and DIII golf coaches from a variety of schools in order to join a college golf team. These emails updated coaches on his golf game and allowed Lee to set up Zoom calls to see if they were good matches for each other. Through this recruiting process, Lee quickly realized he wanted to stay in California because of its great weather and proximity to his family, and he knew he was not just searching for a good golf program, but also a strong academic environment. After an almost two-year process, Lee committed to playing for the Pomona-Pitzer Sagehens while attending Pitzer College in Claremont. 

Lee’s advice for students who want to play their sport collegiately: 

1. Try to find the best fit for you. “Your choice depends on the coach, your teammates and the kind of college campus and life you want,” Lee said. “If you want to go DI, you’re going to be traveling a lot. If you are really academic, it is going to be hard to balance your sport and academic life. For DIII, they focus a little bit more on the academics, but you still get to play your sport.”
2. Build a really good connection with a coach throughout the recruiting process. “No matter how good or bad you are playing, if you have a good connection with the coach and if they really like you, that will help a lot,” Lee said.
3. Don’t put too much pressure on yourself. “The recruiting process could go from sophomore all the way to senior year,” Lee said. “It’s a long process. There are a lot of ups and downs, so you just have to keep your head up and keep working.”

Selina Wang – Dartmouth College ‘29 (Applied Early Decision)

Senior Selina Wang applied early decision to Dartmouth College, meaning she made an agreement with the school that if she got in, she would attend. Going into her senior year, Wang pushed herself to complete her personal statement and UC personal interest questions before school started, allowing her to focus her time throughout the year on her supplemental essays for the other private colleges she would be applying to. Wang feels that planning her time like this allowed her to have a smooth application process that did not feel rushed. When researching schools, Wang knew she wanted to attend a school that was flexible in terms of majors and had a focus on both humanities and STEM. Additionally, when choosing where to apply for ED, Wang felt stuck between Northwestern and Dartmouth, but after talking to her parents and counselors, she decided Dartmouth would be a better fit for her because of its academic environment and size. Wang is currently undeclared but plans to double major in either English and neuroscience or English and chemistry. 

Wang’s advice for students: 

1. Don’t apply to schools you wouldn’t attend if accepted. “You should be using your time to apply to schools that you really are passionate about so that you can reduce your workload,” Wang said.
2. It’s never too late to switch your major. “Up until I started the process, I was dead set on majoring in biology, but I ended up switching at the last minute because I realized I wasn’t as passionate about it as I thought,” Wang said. “It is never too late to switch your major, and you can always switch in college too if you want to.”
3. The more fun you have writing your essays, the better they will turn out! “It feels a lot more authentic and natural if you have fun while writing them,” Wang said.

Anya Walia – University of California at Santa Cruz ‘29 (Applied Regular Decision)

Senior Anya Walia applied to colleges that she felt would be a good fit for her major, marine biology. Walia applied to about 20 schools, specifically looking for schools that were not exclusively focused on academics, but also had a balanced social environment. In her applications, Walia believes her essays and personal statements were what best helped her stand apart from other applicants. Having chosen to not hire an outside counselor, Walia relied on the opinions of friends and family who had gone through the process before. By allowing a large number of people to read her essays, Walia received many new perspectives that helped strengthen these written statements. Even after getting rejected from her dream school, UC San Diego, Walia feels the acceptances she received to schools she saw as high reaches made her rejections feel less significant. After weighing all her acceptances, she believed UC Santa Cruz would be the best fit for her because of its campus and marine biology program.

Walia’s advice for students:

1. Get different perspectives on your essays. “Essays are what make you stand out, so getting a lot of different people to read your essays is the most important thing to do,” Walia said.
2. Be proud of what you have done. “Maybe you don’t want to brag about yourself, but it’s so important because it shows that you are confident in what you’ve done,” Walia said. “It’s important to make your extracurriculars look strong.”
3. Don’t compare yourself to other people. “No matter how good of a school you get into, there are always going to be people who get into better schools,” Walia said. “You might be disappointed, but remember that your achievements are so big. You don’t need to bring yourself down just because of what other people are doing.”