Jenna is in the fast lane

What do you do after you apply to five colleges, and get accepted to all five, in a single day? According to Jenna, you work on school projects, go Christmas shopping, take another SAT…and apply to more colleges. Read all about Jenna’s busy Novemeber!

Meet the Class gets updated each month from September to May. Each installment features 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. Names may be changed to protect privacy. 

Jenna ATTENDS A Public HIGH SCHOOL IN Michigan

First, how did the college application fair go for you on the 9th?

The college admissions fair went great! I applied to Oakland, Michigan Tech., Northern Michigan, Central and Eastern and got accepted into all 5 (woo!). It was a super quick process and when I picked up my results in the afternoon it was pretty clear which ones had accepted me because all the colleges had given me something if that makes sense. For instance, Michigan Tech gave me a shirt, Central gave me gloves, Oakland gave me a magnet etc. since I had gotten accepted.

Now that you have some applications out and several acceptances back, how are you feeling about admissions season?

Now that I have some applications out and several acceptances back, I’m feeling more calm about admissions season. For some schools, I really wanted to meet that November 1st deadline but for others I wanted to do regular decision or at least take my time when writing essays such as Michigan State, UMich Ann Arbor and Stanford. I’m starting to get more worried about scholarships though. It's a very tedious process and finding scholarships that are right for me isn't easy, especially considering they might require an essay or video etc. It’s hard considering lately I haven't had much free time to do these things and deadlines come very quick.

How's school going for you? Does all this focus on the future change how you go through high school on a daily basis? Are there any signs of senioritis yet?

As for school, it's going decent I guess. I really only have to worry about my 3 morning classes which is nice about the way I setup my schedule. But sometimes they all give a lot of homework or multiple projects at once which puts a bit of a damper on my personal time to finish applying to other schools or look for scholarships as mentioned earlier. Though applying while still in high school is changing a bit of my daily basis. My routine doesn't change much besides maybe the way I think about my day or how it’s going more. It's a bit overwhelming to know these are my last few months with the people I've grown with but at the same time I'm in a way ready to move on and get a new start. But also so far luckily the senioritis hasn't settled in yet. I have responsibilities that can't be avoided here at school. Although once it gets closer to prom and graduation, I'm sure senioritis will definitely settle in more.

Did you go on any college visits or have any interviews in November? Do you have any planned for December?

I still haven't gone on any college visits in November and I haven't planned any for December. I think I want to wait until I finish applying to schools and then narrow it down to the top 3 ish and then visit the campuses. I'm not really sure, I haven't really talked to my mom about visiting college campuses. I brought it up once and she shot down the idea very quickly so when I get my license in the next month or so. I'll try to bring it up again soon probably and if she shoots it down again then I guess I’ll be on my own for that too or I'll try to gather a group to come along with me, so i'm not alone.

How was your Thanksgiving? Did you do any college-related work over the break?

My Thanksgiving was great though, being able to relax for a day or so with my family was nice. I didn't do any college related work over break really because I figured I still do have some time to finish applying etc. I had gotten out of school on Wednesday, but i had to run errands all day then Thursday was Thanksgiving and then Friday I had to go Christmas shopping. I also had a project due the Monday we came back from break so I had to finish that on Saturday and Sunday.

How involved has your family been the past few months? Do they have any preferences from your current college list? How big a factor will your family be in your final decisions?

My family has been somewhat involved-ish in the process. My mom still hasn't really done much to help me with the college process unless I ask her to but there's not really much to ask. My mom as of right now wants me to attend Wayne State University for my first 2 years then transfer to Central Michigan. So far Wayne State has given me the most money out of all the schools I've applied for which makes sense for me to go there. In the end, I feel that it is still my future and of course I will take my mom's opinion into consideration when making my final decision but primarily I'm calling the shots. Plus I'd prefer to go to a college for all 4 years instead of having to transfer. If I have to transfer though, that's fine too but I'd prefer to not have to go through all the paperwork and then wondering if my credits will transfer etc. But it also depends whether or not if I’ll have a car to be able to get to where I need to be or if I can get a summer job before I start the new school year. It’s the small things like that, that will have a big impact on my decision and how I choose to go about it.

Let's go over your list and make sure I have it correct:

Central Michigan University (applied)

Cleary University (applied)

Eastern Michigan University (applied)

Henry Ford Community College

Madonna University

Michigan State University

Michigan Tech University (applied)

Northern Michigan University (applied)

Oakland University (applied)

University of Michigan Ann Arbor

University of Michigan Dearborn (accepted!)

Wayne State University (accepted!)

Is that right? Are there any changes?

Yes the list is correct, but in the beginning I have mentioned which schools I have been accepted into.

I’ll start my applications to Henry Ford, State, Ann Arbor and maybe Stanford? sometime in January since I'm just planning for regular decision. I'm still on the fence about applying to Stanford and I know my answer changes almost every month but I'm still not sure what to do about it.

Is there anything you want to share that I didn't ask about?

I'm not sure if I've mentioned this before, but I had planned on retaking the SAT which I finally got around to!!

I retook it on December 7th and I'm not sure when i'll get my scores back. I'm still a bit upset I didn't get a ton of time to study but I did study a little bit which did end up helping but I'm still not sure I can say to did great which is a little disappointing. Whatever happens, happens in the next few months and we'll see how this all plays out.

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