Background: (aka, the prequel to the prequel) The Kat's Early Actions to MIT and Harvard were both deferred. So she applied to a few UCs and Stanford. And all winter and spring she prayed for acceptance to a school that was at least hour away from her physical home. In March, the first came. And unofficial letter from UCLA. Well, then the official ones started arriving. The last one, Stanford, was where she went nutso...

It was Good Friday. I was coming home from figure skating lessons and stopped by the mail box as usual. A few weeks ago I had been highly anxious and nervous about the acceptance/rejection notices I knew I would get. But today was a good day. I had received MIT's positive package a week earlier and was confidant that I would go there. And, the day before, I had checked my Berkeley status online - good news! But nothing... nothing compared to what I would find when I opened the mailbox....

Flashback to Good Friday 2002:

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Hmm, junk mail... ooh, nice, Berkeley fat packet. What's this? Stanford? *flips fat packet over* "Congratulations" in cardinal red.

I close and lock the mailbox... and I sprinted back to my house with enough speed that I might have actually won a 100 m dash (and I'm a distance runner, not known for great speed).

Crazy with joy and utter disbelief, I rush into the door, where I smell the warm soup my mother is making for dinner.

"Mommy, Mommy! Stanford accepted me! They accepted me!" I ran on and on in Cantonese Chinese.

I was so excited! Setting down the mail, I opened the fat envelope, still unbelieving that the university a counselor at my school told me I had no chance of getting in, the university that I had dreamed of going to as a high school freshman, had not rejected me, but was welcoming me instead!

I immediately wanted to call my friends and let them know. However, my mother suggested I called my grandparents in Hong Kong first. So... I did.

All the while, unable to contain my happiness.

One of my friends, a certain Winghawk happened to call me right then, not knowing what I had discovered in my mail box. He had the misfortune of having me scream into the phone that I was accepted. :-) I hope I didn't kill his eardrums too badly.

The next to know were people who were online...

That night I went to PrestonWiggin's and Tckirtap's house with and had no words. Only a nice brown folder. A folder which was the second best item received. (The first being the actual letter of acceptance). That folder actually acknowledged and empathized with all of us crazy overachievers, (some of whom claim to be slackers).

WELL.. seems like the story would be over now, wouldn't it? If you are bored, go ahead and stop reading.

still here?

ok

I had been accepted to MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) a couple weeks earlier.. that is another story in itself.

MIT had been the dream school since my junior year. AND their coach called me to run on their Varsity Cross Country team. I believed he called twice! Also, MIT replied to my emails quickly and sent reps to talk with me. I was already to go.

They had Campus Preview Weekend (CPW) the first weekend of April. At first I thought I would not be able to go. However, my parents consented provided I could find cheap enough tickets. Alas, I couldn't. In addition, I had a gigantic AP Chemistry 3-4 hour lab that weekend. So.. I couldn't go.

But while I was utterly in shock and surprised and pleased and elated and heureuse et joyeuse at the still unbelievable fact or dream that I had been accepted by Stanford... I was still really put off by their cold demeanor during the whole application process. Wherease MIT and Harvard both had online methods for checking to see what was received or not, and were fairly nice, especially MIT, to prospective students, Stanford seemed to not care. I suppose it is because of supply and demand. They didn't NEED to recruit students, ordinary run of the mill students like myself.

Now, what changed it all?

Chronologically, more or less:

1) My mother... "Now you don't have to go to the East Coast" - Saturday morning, morning after said miracle.

She did comparative studies on MIT vs Stanford

2) A little CD-ROM in the Stanford packet. I thought it was amusing. :-) 3) http://admit.stanford.edu - the message boards were a way to connect with other admitted students.

4) Through http://admit.stanford,edu, I found the Stanford '06 Yahoo! Groups site, founded by JasonTheCardinal. That was one of the most significant factors in deciding to attend Stanford. The people on the group were and are amazing! WOW! 5) So what was the other reason? I got to attend Stanford's Admit Weekend (AW). Of course, this was when the dining hall food was good because they wanted to impress us... Well, mission accomplished. I was impressed - although I was disappointed how small the rooms in Okada (in Wilbur) were. My Room Host (RoHo) Gina was very nice!

A crucial event happened that weekend. Actually, a few. It so happened that JasonTheCardinal and I were in the same dorm and he introduced himself. That weekend, Gedalius had told the whole Yahoo! Group that a showing of the Academy Award Nominee Documentary Promises would be showing. I was very interested in seeing it. Turns out that JasonTheCardinal is as well and we ditch the skit that our HoHo (House Host) was going to put on that evening to see Promises. In terms of opportunity cost, deciding to see Promises was a very good decision. I highly recommend that film!

I soon found that was only the beginning of the Stanford adventures. Getting to Cubberly from Okada was evidently a challenge for a couple of ProFros (Prosepective Freshmen)... although the ED (Early Decision) people weren't technically still "prospective." JasonTheCardinal and I got lost. To AND from Cubberly Auditorium. We also didn't know how to get to Tressider... And Tressider is VERY central to campus!

So more stories. Ask me in person to hear the rest.

So I made my first Stanford friend.

let's see the score board now...

@ MIT - very far, very cold, don't know anyone there, small campus, SNOW! (I like snow), and have to pay for air fare, and lose a couple of in-state scholarships

@ Stanford - 2.5 hours away by car (satisfies 1 hour requirement), not so cold, know a friend, was impressed by AW people, BEAUTIFUL campus, no air fare, and if won, in-state scholarships could be used, and better financial aid package

The adventure, the excitement, the unbelievabe gift and experience... has begun!

K@'s Freshman Logs