Meet the Class is an opportunity for parents, educators, and admissions professionals to get a look at individual seniors and what they go through to find their college.

It’s updated each month from September to May. Each month will feature an interview about both the facts and the feelings of where the student is in the process.

Interviews may be edited lightly for clarity and grammar. 

This is the second interview with Grace, who is having a very busy October. Grace is a senior in the Houston area. She attends a public magnet high school. 

Have you submitted any applications yet, either for an October 1 early admissions deadline, or just to send some stuff out early?

My first deadline is October 15th, for UT Austin and Texas A&M for scholarship priority. I have not submitted any applications yet because I'm still trying to gather all the information I need to complete the scholarship section on Apply Texas.

FAFSA has just opened up. How soon do you think you'll apply for financial aid? Do you have everything you need to complete that application, or are you still trying to get information?

I have started on my FAFSA and I am slowly getting through it. I am trying to figure out what kind of information I should be putting in, and just piecing through it each day.

Your college list as of last month was:
 UT-Austin (top choice)
 Baylor
 Trinity
 University of Houston
 Occidental
 Lafayette
 Swarthmore
 Texas Tech

 Do you have any changes to that?

I have taken out Occidental and have replaced it with Texas A&M. I have gained more interest since my interview with Posse and have decided to apply on my own.

How much money do you plan on spending on college applications?

I am a low income student so I am planning to not spend anything more than $100 on college applications in case they run out. When I first started applying, I thought that I'd be able to apply to as many as I wanted. I am requesting as many waivers as I can, but this does not affect who I'm applying to since I have not found a school on my list that has denied me of a waiver. 
 

Which of your current list do you consider "safety schools?" How do you go about picking your safeties?

I consider schools such as UH as my safety school, mostly because of its acceptance rate and how cheap it is compared to other state schools. I choose my safety schools based on those two factors, more because if I cannot manage my other schools, I will be able to handle my safeties.

Do you have any deadlines, visits, or interviews in October? What's coming up for you?
 

I have a Top Tier college night coming up and I will be talking to some of the representatives from colleges from across the nation. I don't have any interviews coming up but I will be scheduling them soon.

What else, other than college, is going on for you in school? How are your classes? What extra-curriculars are you involved in this semester, and how much time and energy do they take?

I'm doing well in my classes, with the exception of Macroeconomics which is getting rather difficult to keep up with.  I am still involved in Yearbook which hasn't started to take up much of my time, but I do expect it to gain momentum in the next few  weeks. JSA hasn't taken too much of my time yet, and I am currently helping organize a huge event with other organizations for later in the year so my workload will increase once the date starts getting closer.

What else, other than school, is going on in your life? What other commitments do you have?

Since I started driving, I picked up two tutoring jobs after school for extra gas money. That takes up Tuesdays through Thursdays till 6, which isn't much of a hassle for me, since it's not far away from home.

How are you feeling about all this? Are you stressed? Are you optimistic? How are you doing?
 

I'm currently feeling stressed, because there's so much to do. I feel rather behind on my applications because I've been so caught up with my school work.

Thanks for reading! The next interview with Grace will be in November. Read Grace's September interview here, or catch up on all the Meet the Class updates here.

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