Application season can be a difficult journey. But thepost-application season which seems to be easy is actually the period that can really determine the future of your life.
With multiple university offers, what should I choose? Choose the highest ranking, the most famous, the most recognized employers in the field of employment. That may be the answer for most people.
However, there are also those who make choices that few can comprehend.
01Embracing the Unconventional:Choosing a Different Path
Application season can be a difficult journey. But thepost-application season which seems to be easy is actually the period that can really determine the future of your life.
With multiple university offers, what should I choose? Choose the highest ranking, the most famous, the most recognized employers in the field of employment. That may be the answer for most people.
However, there are also those who make choices that few can comprehend.
Student A’s academic journey has been going smoothly- thanks to his smart brain and his parents’ correct guidance, he can get good grades in all the exams without too much effort.
Learning CS is an early decision, his parents are science and engineering, do not believe in liberal arts, do not understand the research methods of social science, only believe in simple and clear figures and more convincing work income.They suggested that A choose CS major in college, and A didn’t object.He is already better at science, primary school began to learn programming, junior high school to participate in the information competition, programming can not be said to love, but not hate, and is quite handy.
CS is popular and the application competition is fierce. Fortunately, he has accumulated a lot since childhood. He has won prizes in information competitions, done projects by himself, and practiced in companies introduced by his parents. He does not rely on “curve to save the country.”Direct application CS professional, is still lucky to harvest a lot 。
Although ED was rejected by CMU,He got a Top30 offer in RD, and the university’s CS professional ranking is quite good.Things seem to have settled here, he has a lot of free time, philosophy at this time suddenly entered his heart. At first he just read a book about it,But since then, more and more uncontrolled interest in it, without the drive of DDL, still forget to read a lot of literature 。
Programming too much attention to specific skills and techniques, write a successful program can give him a sense of accomplishment, but the more you write, the less obvious this sense of accomplishment, he is more aware that most of the time he is just repeating to “build wheels.”
He wants to explore the nature of things, to think with the heart, rather than act mechanically.
He also learned that the University of Pittsburgh’s Department of History and Philosophy of Science， It offered undergraduate courses in the study of science, its origins, nature and foundations, and its place in modern politics, culture and society. Being at the top of the world was what he most wanted to explore, and theUniversity of Pittsburgh was his safe school, and he had an offer from it.
Once you have something that you really love, everything else is still inferior even if you have more halo bonuses. There is an idea in the heart of a student,The balance of the heart easily tipped to the side of the University of Pittsburgh.
The decision to accept the offer from Pittsburgh University took him only one day.
However, this decision was strongly opposed by his parents. When he was a child, he had little to do with his parents, and he thought that his parents were completely enlightened. Only then did they realize that they had interfered with him so little, perhaps simply because he had done what they thought was the “right” thing to do, andhis decision to “turn the corner” had been a big mistake to them.
Is it wrong? He can’t make up his mind. Maybe when he can’t find a job after graduation, or when he tries his best to find a job with an unsatisfactory income, he will regret it later and begin to agree with his parents’ prescience.
But he may never regret it.
You don’t know unless you try,don’t you have to fight for what you love at least once?This time, he’ll convince his parents anyway.
02Defying University Labels:Embracing Personal Identity
Is it worth studying abroad?Throughout, B firmly believed that it was not worth it.
Of course,at first it was just a lighthearted remark from her classmate and she didn’t need to face such a predicament. Her family was not rich and powerful, but she was middle class and had some savings to pay for her study abroad.
But the bad luck came without warning, and my father was ill for a while and went to the hospital to find a malignant tumor. Fortunately, it was still early to find that several hospitals finally cured the disease.
B’s parents, despite their financial struggles, hold a contrasting viewpoint from their daughter. They firmly believe that investing in education is always worthwhile, even if it means stretching their already limited resources. Determined to secure a brighter future for B, they spare no expense and hire an expensive education agent to help her secure a place in a prestigious institution.
Student B is pushed forward. There are too many things happening too fast,She accepted the arrangement of her parents and sprinted toward those prestigious universities under the guidance of the agency- the paperwork was changed over and over again, and her resume was packaged in gold.
She did manage to land an offer on Top20, the college she had always dreamed of, but theeuphoria that lasted only a few seconds when she saw the ribbons falling as she looked up the results was quickly replaced by an uneasy mix of emotions.
Tuition, accommodation, living expenses… The more she calculated, the heavier the invisible stone in her heart. What made her unable to see her parents sell the house they had been used to and move into the cramped house was thatshe had no choice.
One university offered her a full scholarship, including housing, so her parents wouldn’t have to sell if she went there. It was a college she had never heard of.The worst thing to say is “pheasant university.” compared with Top20, it’s an underground, a heavenly difference.
03Unexpected Outcome Leaves Me Surprised
C has always been going to the United States, just like most of the students in the school- there is a chain of disdain for the destination, and America is always at the top, she has no reason not to go for the best.
The battle for university applications began long before high school- the summer after graduating from junior high school, she began studying for the TOEFL. She spent most of her time studying in an institution under the scorching summer sun.
Her upgrade Daguai road did not go well, along the way too many roadblocks.She managed to pass the toefl test to 100, but the sat became a tiger in the way. she went to Hong kong and macao to try again and again, nervously watched her test memories and predicted her score, and nervously refreshed the website, and repeatedly saw less than ideal scores.
The last time before the ED application, she finally went up to 1500 and barely beat the “strange.” But then there are so many problems, no matter how many times the instrument is still not satisfied, always upset words,When I log into the Portal of each school with anticipation, I see the cold rejection letter, Defer and Waitlist.
In the end, she did not wait for any offer from a dream school, and the dream that had been within reach suddenly became very far away.
Do you want a year over? Go through those moments of torment and self-doubt again?She didn’t have the courage to do that, and involuntarily turned her eyes to other countries.It was said that the U.S. application was metaphysics, and she applied to schools in other countries to share the risk, and because the competition was relatively less fierce, she was accepted.
Having attended a summer program in the United States, she gained a basic understanding of the lifestyle and culture there. The idea of diverting her path to an unfamiliar destination seemed to diminish the efforts she had invested thus far. In addition, the thought of not needing to take the SAT, but instead considering the IELTS, and saving money by not experiencing campus life in the United States, added to her reconsideration.
But, but…
Unknown places may not be without surprises, the road is not meaningless, at least taught her the importance of persistence.With all the marks of the past, she has the ability to explore a new world.
Life is a journey of trial and error, isn’t it?
04Write at the end
We always believe thatno choice is wrong and sometimes even the difference between good and bad is not so clear- the important thing is to follow your heart, make the decision you think is right, do not be afraid of future regret.
