Tufts Blogs

I entered the admissions period with the same single goal as every other student: get into a good university. Since this period is known to be especially stressful and difficult, with such things as having to accept formal rejection for one of the first times of your life, you can never fully prepare yourself for this experience. Confusion and the feeling of being overwhelmed will definitely occur. But today, I am here to share my opinion that this strenuous period will not only grant you with the most fitting destination for your next four years, but also impact you in ways you did not expect. The following are my main takeaways from the application process:

1. Don’t convince yourself that your first option is the only place where you'd be happy. 

I fell into that trap myself, believing that whichever school I applied to first would be “the one.” The one where I would make all of my new friends, join clubs, enjoy the restaurants around campus and take advantage of the opportunities the area has to offer. Some things will always impact this established plan, whether that be the admissions decision (obviously) or other important factors such as financial aid. This constant self-convincing and propaganda to your own brain might actually prevent you from considering other places where you would be equally happy. Another aspect which I would like to mention is rankings. The rankings are seen by many as powerful, showing exactly what amount of prestige every university deserves. However, rankings are not as much an integral part of the application process as you may think. Since it is impossible to keep applicants from looking at these, I will not tell you to completely ignore them, but rather to limit their impact on the decisions you make during this period. 

2. Don’t be scared to apply to schools you have not visited.

This is definitely something that occurs more commonly for international students. While I was lucky enough to go on a small trip to the United States during my junior year and visit a few universities, I did not visit Tufts. This is due to the fact that I only decided to apply to Tufts two weeks before the application deadline. It might seem tough to write about a university which you have not even visited, but I would say that you can definitely get a solid idea of the atmosphere of the school, and the quality of their academic departments, just by doing a bit of research online. Some would even say that visiting the school, while useful, does not bring you that much apart from general information and a first feel for the campus. I really urge you not to let this factor stop you from applying to your favorites schools. If you are passionate about a university, it will show naturally throughout your application.

3. You will learn a lot about yourself writing essays.

It might sound cheesy, but it was in my opinion definitely one of the most surprising impacts of the admissions period. When trying to rake your brain for ideas about what to write, you think. You think about what is important to you, what has impacted your upbringing, what you hope to achieve in the future. As someone who didn’t often write about himself, this was a new experience. One that I am happy and glad I had, as it helped me understand myself better before heading off to university. It truly gave me greater appreciation for the places I had lived in and all the experiences that led me to where I am today. Most undergrads arrive to campus confused and undecided. However, I believe that the admissions season actually gave me a better understanding of my interests and a greater confidence about where I am heading.

I hope that these mini-lessons will be of use to some of you, and I wish you all good luck with your applications!