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from Bella Friday, January 17, 2003 - 23:17 (Agree/Disagree?) Will you be required to write a personal essay to go along with your application? If you do, consider telling the story of your childhood in TF (if you are comfortable doing that). It is not everyday that a young person applies to a top university having grown up in a cult -- your story will truly stick out to them as being unique. I wrote about growing up in the family, my decision to leave, and life "out here" when I applied, and was accepted into each of the top Universities that I applied to. Although I had excellent grades, I did not have any type of "extra curricular activities" -- I believe that my story made an impression. If you have any questions about what I did, write me under my profile. Good luck! (reply to this comment)

From flbrant 0 Saturday, January 18, 2003, 01:29 (Agree/Disagree?) Hey Bella, thanks for writing back. I guess I'm interested in what colleges accepted you. Recently, I've been doing alot of research about different college, basically, just trying to get an idea of what kind of colleges I qualify for. A few Universities that i was considering were, NYU, Columbia University and college(It's probaly out of my league but its a great school), Washington Sate University (WSU), UCLA, Washington State University in ST. Louis (They've contacted me a couple times), Stanford... As far preparing for College, I take AP (Advance placement) courses, and a few honors, and for extracurricular I swim for the school team. That's about as much as i can do considering i don't have a car and my brother, who i'm living with, is unemployed. I mean, I know I can do comunity college but I want to go straight to college if i can because i know I will be able concentrate more on studying. My question to you is, how did you fund your college education, and also if you know of any loopholes or ways to go about the whole application process, since going through it all, you must have learnt something. (reply to this comment)

From Bella Saturday, January 18, 2003, 14:28 (Agree/Disagree?) Hi Flbrant -- I am currently attending UCLA, and am so pleased to see that you are considering it as well! It is a fabulous school! Beautiful, clean, fun, hard, BRILLIANT profs, etc etc! -- It is also located in Westwood which is a really nice little area right in the middle of everything that LA has to offer (beach, shopping, Hollywood, etc). I love it here. UCLA is big and takes some getting use to, but it is a wonderful school with a wonderful reputation. Definitely seriously consider it, you will love it (it is hard not to). I only applied to schools in California as I wanted to stay here. UC Berkeley was another school that I was accepted into and thought long and hard about. As you probably already know, it too is a wonderful school with a very good reputation. My younger sister is currently attending it on a full scholarship. Berkeley's campus and surrounding city is very different than UCLA's -- it is slightly more "grungy" and many more students who are a little more "out there," which is great if one is more comfortable in that environment. Of the UC schools, Berkeley is considered to be the hardest to get into, with LA falling right behind it by not much. If you are interested in any of the UC schools here, write me as I might be able to help (being here and all). You mentioned Columbia--one of my cousins graduated from there and says he really enjoyed it. About the application process, again, I didn't have any "extracurricular activities." I relied on my grades, honors, and story. Again, consider telling your story. I have no idea what your life growing up in the family was like (good, bad, etc), so if you are not comfortable telling them that you grew up in a cult, you can tell them that your parents raised you as a "missionary" child over seas, and focus on some of the brighter side of family life (i.e. the times when the outreach programs weren't just hitting the pavements for your next meal). It's really up to you. I know here in California, the UC system looks for diversity in their students -- ESPECIALLY students coming straight out of high school. There are many stories of students who have great GPAs but didn't get in because they come from the "all American white family" as opposed to a student who has the same GPA and gets in because they come from a minority family, etc. It is not fair (obviously) but that is just how it is. A step-cousin of mine was recently rejected from UCLA even though he had good grades (not perfect, but good) and was on his high school water-polo team. Who knows. SO like I said, use your past (if you can/want to) to your advantage. It really might help. About funding -- I have a scholarship that covers all my educational fees (tuition, etc) and then a student loan for living expenses, and a wonderful fiancé who is always here for me. OK sorry that got so long! Again, if you want to write me about any of this, my email address is under my profile. Good luck to you -- you sound like you are already on the right track, I'm sure you will do wonderfully! By the way -- what do you think you will major in? (reply to this comment)

from JoeH Friday, January 17, 2003 - 19:54 (Agree/Disagree?) Don't take anything I say as gospel, but in my opinion, summer programs are for shit. If you're already sending the message that you're smart and a good student, why send the message that you need a summer's worth of cramming in order to compete with all the other stupid freshmen? I think you should do some kind of volunteer work, or find a good-sounding job. There are volunteer organizations that will give you lousy pay, but it will sound good to the applications board. Maybe play some sports, tutor a foreign/drug abusing/low income kid, stupid stuff like that. (reply to this comment)