Rebekah Harding

Has a learning disability

SAT: 1220 (on the 1600 scale) first attempt. Second attempt scored a 1310.

GPA: 4.1

Schools applied to: University of Maryland, Temple University, George Mason, and Penn State. Already accepted to George Mason.

Feeling Anxious

The fall of my Senior year of High School was probably one of the most anxiety inducing periods of my entire existence. Going to college has been something I always dreamed about. I remember even in Middle School, I would go on YouTube and watch videos of college move-in-day or dorm hauls and long for the day when I would be moving into my own dorm. Thinking about college is definitely a lot less stressful when it’s a mere idea and years away. It seemed like in a blink of an eye, I was beginning to apply to colleges. Although it seemed like I had planned relentlessly to begin my applications, knowing that these next few months would be filled with life changing decisions was daunting at the very least. I have always aspired to go to college, but I feel very blessed to have gone to a diverse public school, where the environment was very accepting and supportive of other paths besides the conventional 4-year bachelors degree program. Even though I have chosen to take that education and career path, I never felt pressured to attend college just for the sake of attending college by my teachers. I’ve decided follow my passion for writing, public speaking, and everything in between, and I will be majoring in Journalism next fall. It’s my dream to work in a metropolitan area for a big name publication as either an editor or a writer. I am also considering a minor but currently, I’m still incredibly indecisive on what that might be. I want to try out some interesting electives that might help me discover what minor I’m going to pursue.

Where I Applied To And Why

Focusing mainly on Journalism, I decided to apply to four schools that are known to have reputable journalism programs: University of Maryland, Temple University, George Mason, and Penn State. My first choice is definitely University of Maryland; although, this school is a little bit of a reach considering its prestigious student body and wonderful resources. The one complication with UMD is that their Journalism program is limited enrollment, meaning that only a select few students actually get into the program, even if they are accepted into the university. My close second choice is Temple University in Philadelphia. Their School of Media and Communications is fantastic and the urban setting of the campus provided tons of opportunities to explore and report on all the commotion within the city. As for the last two schools, Penn State and George Mason, they are tied for third. So far, I have only received my admission decision for George Mason and I am happy to say that I made it in! There’s something so relieving about getting the first acceptance letter so you at least know you have some place to go.

My biggest fear was that none of the colleges I applied to would admit me and I would be scrambling last minute to find an alternative.

Preparing for Admissions

I started the college prep process my Junior year and I had an early start with SAT and ACT testing so that I would have plenty of time to retake them to get the best score possible. I took my first SAT in May of this year, and scored a 1220 (on the 1600 scale) for my first attempt. Although the score was perfectly fine, I had been incredibly sick and was suffering from lack of sleep on the day of the test; so I decided to give it another try. I took the SAT for the second time in August and scored a 1310. I was much more satisfied with this score and decided to use it on my applications. As for the ACT, that was a disaster. I had been told by a lot of my peers that this was going to be the easier of the two tests, but that must have not applied to me because I ended up scoring a 23 and decided that I would not be submitting the score to my colleges or retaking it. Although I do wonder if the cause of my mediocre at best score could have been due to the fact that I was overly excited to go to the D.C. Pride Parade right afterwards.

Pro tip: Don’t take a giant, standardized test the same day you have something exciting planned. You’ll never be able to focus.

Standardized Testing isn’t anyone’s activity of choice, but they are definitely easier for some than for others. For me, having learning disabilities adds a whole other complication into the process. Being a learning disabled gal, I don’t feel as though standardized tests really reflect my academic abilities as well as they should. Even though the questions weren’t incredibly difficult, It would have been beneficial for me to not have the time restraints that the SAT and ACT place on test takers. Grades and scores aside, colleges are always looking to add unique individuals to their student body. So if your transcript isn’t flawless, don’t worry and focus more on what makes you unique.

Special Traits

I’m bilingual in English and Korean and I made sure to highlight that in my application. Although being bilingual isn’t particularly unique in our increasingly global society, the special part about my case is that I’m not a native speaker of my second language, Korean. I put in the work, studied, participated in immersion programs, and seven years later I’m fluent. Being bilingual has opened up so many doors for me, including becoming an ESL coach at a local no-expense program for individuals wanting to learn and practice their English. This has been such an impactful experience for me that I even chose to write my college essay about a couple of my students whose lives I was able to improve.

Writing about yourself on college essays can be a little bit uncomfortable, because most of the time you don’t want to come across as bragging and boastful.

A great tip I learned to show yourself in an awesome light without creating those perceptions is to focus on something you did, rather than something you are. By showing instead of telling your contributions and achievements though your essay, your actions will speak for themselves. A strong and thought provoking conclusion is also one of the most important parts of a college essay because it will make whoever is reviewing your application remember you when making their decisions.

Here is To The Future

Even though I’ve spent so much time preparing for college and have heard such wonderful things about the experience from my older peers who are currently enrolled, there are still aspects about going to college that terrify me. For instance, starting fresh with an entirely new group of people is intimidating and gives me a lot of uncertainty.

As soon as my parents leave after move in day, how am I going to fit in?

As an extrovert, I love talking to and meeting new people, but usually I’m meeting new people in a familiar setting in the company of people I already know. When I get nervous, I tend to over exaggerate my personality which makes me feel like I’m not being genuine, which ends up really bothering me when I feel like I have to keep up the act. My goal for college is to be as real with people as possible and to stay true to myself even in uncomfortable situations. I’m also really looking forward to the opportunity to spread my wings and learn more about myself. Another aspect of college life I’m going to be navigating is a long distance relationship with my partner. We’ve made the mutual decision to continue our relationship even with me potentially being out of state. I can’t wait to see how this new challenge develops our relationship and allows us to learn more about ourselves. Although high school has taught me so much, I feel like experiencing true independence is going to take me to new and greater places.

For those who will be applying to college in the future, I suggest starting your applications as soon as they become available on the college’s site.

Getting an early start shows colleges that you’re interested, and the institutions with rolling admissions will allow you to receive your decision even sooner. Plus, nothing is worse than rushing last minute. One thing that I had a really hard time with when completing my applications was finding teachers that had time to write recommendations for me. A lot of students ask for recommendations at the very beginning of the school year so it gets difficult to find teachers who have time once you pass the two month until deadline mark. My mistake was asking them with only about three weeks until the deadline. Fortunately, I have a good relationship with all my teachers and I was able to explain the situation and get the recommendations I needed. But to avoid this type of struggle so close to the deadline, It’s always good to get that out of the way early. While your dream school may seem out of reach, its always worth the try. Some of the best advice I’ve ever heard is that if you never try, the answer will always be “no”. Who knows? Maybe you’re exactly what they’re looking for.