It’s All Coming Together

It’s that time of year again, college acceptance, and denial, letters are coming our way. After months of working on applications, seniors are finally beginning to hear back from schools.

It feels as though I have been waiting a lifetime to get these letters. My dream school is the University of Southern California, and I want that school more than any other.

I have been accepted into all of my backup schools, two of my three targets, and neither of my two reaches, yet.

Chapman University recently sent me an acceptance letter, and when I got the e-mail I felt this enormous sense of relief, knowing I had been accepted into my third choice school.

The only reason it is my third choice is because I have applied to two more academically rigorous schools; Occidental College, and USC. But those schools are both reaches for me, meaning I have a smaller chance of being accepted.

I am completely happy attending Chapman, but I would be ecstatic to go to Occidental or USC.

Because I will be a pre-law student, meaning I will be going to law school after graduating from whichever undergraduate school I attend.

Because of this, I want to go to the most prestigious school I can in order to give me an edge in the Law School application process.

I am thankful I have options on where I go to college, but I am conflicted as to which school is the perfect fit for me.

Although transferring is always an option, I don’t want to build a life somewhere, make connections with other students, and learn the lay of the land at a school where I am not completely happy.

My best friend just got into Chapman as well, giving the school an enormous edge in my book. However, I have to make sure I make the right decision for me, not anyone else.

At this point, Chapman is it. But if I get an acceptance from Occidental or USC, that may change.

How do I choose the right school?

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Photo credit to: keck-cms.usc.edu

College

It is about that time in my life that college becomes a hot topic.

Where do I want to go? Where can I get in? Can I play sports? Do they have the sports I want to play? Where is it? How big is it? What do I want to study?

So many questions and ultimately all of these questions have to be answered to narrow down the long list of schools to one.

Recently I have been doing some research and I have started to look at schools so I started to put a list of schools together so it is all laid out.

College Location Sports
Texas Christian University Fort Worth, TX FootballHockey
Duke University Durham, NC FootballHockey
Stanford University Stanford, CA FootballHockey
University of Southern California Los Angeles, CA FootballHockey
University of Pittsburgh Pittsburgh, PA FootballHockey
Brown Providence, RI FootballHockey
Chapman University CA FootballHockey
Boston University Boston, MA FootballHockey
University of Denver Denver, CO Hockey
Vanderbilt University Nashville, TN FootballHockeyLacrosse
Northeastern University Boston, MA FootballHockey
Northwestern University Evanston, IL FootballHockey
CU Boulder Boulder, CO FootballHockey
University of Oregon Portland, OR FootballHockey
Johns Hopkins University Baltimore, MD FootballHockey

In the coming months I will be adding and deleting schools as I compare and contrast the pros and cons of each on the list, and as I discover other schools that will fit into my plan.

I am looking at majoring in either Molecular Biology, Human Biology, Kinesiology, or Sports Medicine.

I have wanted to become a doctor for a very long time.

I want to be able to introduce myself as Dr. Keaton Shiffman, having that prestigious M.D. at the end of my name.

My ultimate dream would be to be a team physician, working on the field or on the ice with the best football or hockey players.

I know that has gotten very specific, but I feel that if I stick to what I want to do that I will make it happen.

As much as I don’t think I will be able to come out of my school and play high level intercollegiate sports it is always worth a try.

The worst thing that could happen is I won’t play, but best case scenario my dream comes true.

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Choices

I have been thinking a lot lately about what my future is going to be like.

Not as a grown adult, but where I want to go to college, what I want to study, and what about sports?

Thinking about what’s going to go into getting in to the schools I want to go to, and if I will be able to do it.

It’s a lot to be thinking about, there are so many choices we have to make even at the young age of 16, but I have realized the future is really up to me and how hard I want to work.

I have always been the kid who doesn’t put in the effort, and I come out with a few As and a few Bs.

I have realized I need to start actually trying to put in more effort to make it all As, instead of sitting on my butt when I have free time, maybe I should study more, and get work done before sunday night.

Maybe that means I can sleep more seeing as my schedule right now is crazy.

That brings me to the other thing I have been thinking about.

It was just last year that sports started to mean something to me again.

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Unfold

AHH!!! GOD IS GOOD!!!!!!!!!!

Everything is beginning to unfold!

Last Thursday, I found out about Brandeis U and got an acceptance and on Wednesday, I found out about Wellesley! I got in!

Nonetheless, being the overanxious person that I am, I thought that maybe it could be a mistake or that Wellesley changed its mind from the Early Evaluation that I received in February.

So in a way, I was expectant yet relieved to hear about Wellesley yesterday!

BUT that is not what is making the blood in my veins race or the tips of my fingers tingle.

I got a glimpse at my Wellesley financial aid package and it stated a $56,885 scholarship! Only $800 would be in loans!

God is good. He is just so good.

Now I will just have to wait to hear back from the other colleges! Next Tuesday: USC, Vassar. Next Thursday: UC Berkeley, Harvard, Columbia, Brown, Princeton, Dartmouth.

Can’t wait to hear what God has in mind for me!

UCLA Bonfire

Yesterday (Wednesday, Dec. 1), the UCLA Bruins held their annual beat ‘sc bonfire.  The bonfire is a burning of all things Trojan. The students at UCLA brought their old red shirts to burn. Any student who brought a red shirt was given a free blue one. The bonfire was held at Wilson Plaza at UCLA.

The great rivalry between the two schools has resulted in major pranks. The students at UCLA have been taking turns guarding the massive Grizzly Bear statue. This year, however, they failed to protect it enough. The bear was painted red and the surrounding fountains were spewing red dye.