Never Cured Cancer or Built a Spaceship, But Trying to Capture a ...

The Envelope, Please

Will Walker, a student at University School in Hunting Valley, Ohio, is one of eight high school seniors around the world who are blogging about their college searches.

A few weeks ago, I got back from an enormous East Coast college visit trip that was supposed to help me find and explore the school where I will spend the next four years of my life.

The plan was to drive up to Massachusetts, and then visit eight schools in five days, schlepping around to every state in the Northeast, and stopping at each college for an info session, tour, and, if possible, an interview, to try and get a complete view of every institution on my list.

But by lunchtime on the second day, everything started to blend together:

All the tour guides make the same jokes: ?If you liked the tour, my name is Mark. If you didn?t, my name is Jason.?

All the admissions officers stress the same programs: ?We have study abroad in every continent in the world ? except Antarctica!?

All the interviews start with the same, intimidating question: ?So. Tell me a little bit about yourself.?

That?s a tough one. And rather than answering it completely, I found myself tailoring my answer to fit whatever I thought the college officers at that school would want to hear.

At Hamilton, I was outdoorsy: ?I?m Will. I live in Cleveland, and I like to ski, and bike, and run cross-country.?

At Williams, I was more serious and down-to-earth: ?I?m Will, and I want to major in economics or government.?

At Wesleyan, I was quirky and intellectual: ?Hey, I?m Will, and I like to read and play hacky-sack.?

Don?t get me wrong ? I never said anything that wasn?t true. I just chose to emphasize different aspects of my personality. But still, no school got the full truth, the complete, unabridged, me.

The full truth, at least where college is concerned, goes more like this:

Hi, my name is Will Walker. I?m from Cleveland, Ohio, where I go to a small, private, all-boys school in the east-side suburbs. I?m an average student, with a slightly above-average extracurricular record and good SAT scores. I?m not a recruitable athlete (unless there are any track programs out there looking for an out-of-shape J.V. runner with an 8-minute mile, in which case, e-mail me). I?m a mediocre musician, I?m in every religious, ethnic and cultural majority possible, and I?ve never cured cancer or built a spaceship. In short, I have absolutely no edge over anyone else in the college process.

As for my future plans, you have about as much idea as I do. I know I like to read, that I?m interested in government, that I want to try and help people, and that I?m bad at math. But other than that, I have no clue. My plan is to go to college to try and figure things out about myself; to go to college without any plans at all, and play it by ear, rather than use the next four years as a tool to obtain a certain job or salary.

After visiting every school I could, I narrowed my list down to 12 colleges. They include liberal arts schools like Carleton and Kenyon, and big universities like Georgetown and The University of Chicago.

Even though school has started and early admissions deadlines are fast approaching, I?m still not sure about which school is my first choice, or, more important, whether I?ll be able to get in. I haven?t fallen in love with any school in particular. The stress of indecision is weighing heavier with each passing day.

But I don?t have time to worry about that yet. Right now, I?m going to focus on finishing (or maybe, more honestly, starting) the Common Application, finalizing my to-apply college list, and taking a couple weeks to get back into the swing of school. But I?m still going to try and remember to have a good time. After all, I?m a senior.

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Mr. Walker, a student at University School in Hunting Valley, Ohio, is one of eight seniors around the world who are blogging about their college searches for The Choice. To comment on what he has written, please use the comment box below.

Source: http://thechoice.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/09/10/envelope-please-will-walker-1/

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