Two years ago, I received one of the most life-changing messages of my life: Congratulations! I had been accepted to Princeton.

The adrenaline kept me excited for days. I scoured Princeton’s website as I imagined my future life as a tiger, and I pinched myself to see if I was dreaming! After a week or so, it started to sink it. But at that point, I also started to feel some nerves.

Coming from a small town in northern Idaho where I had attended a public school, I had to question if I was really prepared for Princeton. Did they really mean to accept me? Not many of my relatives had even gone to college, and my excitement about Princeton was coupled with uncertainty. I was definitely no legacy student, and I had not been groomed since childhood to attend an Ivy League school. In fact, I didn’t know they even offered financial aid, which would have been a huge concern for me coming from a low-income family, until I attended the Princeton University Summer Journalism Program the summer before my senior year of high school.

Furthermore, I felt more questioned than congratulated by my community about why I wanted to study at Princeton. I had not anticipated having to justify why I wanted to attend an Ivy League school, and it got to me after a while. Not only was this new for my family, it was different for my community. Was this right for me? During the month of April, several questions kept fluttering through my mind: Should I say “yes”? Could I actually do the work? And could I afford it?

If you are wondering or worried about any of these questions as well, let me try to offer some answers. First of all, you can, in fact, do the work. The fact that you were accepted without having had access to all of the resources that other students might have had is a testament to your hard work and drive. In fact, the resilience that you bring is an advantage. What came as a surprising relief to me was the plethora of resources that are available to help freshmen adjust to the academic workload at Princeton. Between the special Writing Seminars tailored to help freshmen learn how to write at college level, the workshops and one-on-one tutoring sessions provided by the McGraw Center, and the enthusiastic willingness of my professors to meet with me outside of class, I felt that I adjusted rather quickly to Princeton’s expectations.

With respect to financial aid, I cannot emphasize Princeton’s generosity enough. By the time I graduate, Princeton will have invested well over $250,000 in my education, and this is truly empowering. I am so thankful. To know that the University and alumni care and believe in me as a student is incredible, and it has made me feel like I do indeed belong here. To be honest, there have been times when I have been stunned at the wealth of some of my peers. But I’ve also been surprised by how many friends I have met who come from low-income backgrounds similar to mine.

In sum, my take is that you should most certainly say “yes.” I’ve realized that the question is not so much if you fit the perceived profile of Princeton students, but rather how you can use a Princeton education in your life to achieve your goals. The question is how you will use Princeton as a way to make a difference, and the University indeed empowers you to do just that. Finally, to those readers who have recently been accepted: A huge congratulations to you!
 

I applied early action to Princeton. I was fascinated by the University, and I spent hours pouring myself into reading about Princeton, links opening in tabs like heads of a hydra on my browser. I wrote five different Common Application essays, and finally submitted the 14th draft of my fifth essay. The early action decisions came out at 3:30 a.m. in India, and I couldn't sleep for a second that night.

I kept refreshing the link given, until the page finally responded. I was hoping against hope to be accepted, prepared to be rejected, but instead the screen told me incredulously that my "application had been deferred to the regular admission cycle".

I wasn't prepared for this outcome. It was the first year that Princeton had revived its early admission cycle, and I expected it to be black or white. But I learned that the majority of the applications had in fact been deferred, a gray scale that offered no indication of how strong our application really was. I took it simply as a rejection.

I worked harder my final semester, doing better on schoolwork and completing an independent research project that I cherished and which meant a lot to me. And at the end of March, an orange tiger and the word 'Congratulations!' stared back at me. I wasn't expecting it in the least.

Later, in Princeton, I found out that this story was common to many, that being deferred really does mean that the Princeton admission office is closely reviewing deferred applications.  

College awareness is an issue that has interested me since my senior year of high school. I still clearly remember all the difficulties and confusion I endured during the college application process. At the time, my high school didn’t have the resources or knowledge to prepare students to apply to out-of-state universities, much less Princeton. Shifting through copious amounts of often contradictory information on the internet took months of research to accomplish. I had no mentor but myself, unless the internet counts as a mentor.

Somehow I survived, and now I’m on the other side of the college application gap. But I haven’t allowed my status as a college student to make me complacent.

This past summer was the second time I hosted the Pharr-San Juan-Alamo College, Scholarship, Leadership Awareness Program (PSJA CSLAP) for my hometown’s school district. It’s a summer program that offers workshops, information sessions, and test preparation for rising seniors. Three fellow PSJA alumni and I run this program so we can build mentor relationships with the students and help guide them through the application process.

One of our most memorable events was the “PSJA Alumni College Fair” in which 12 alumni from my high school represented their universities and spoke to the students about their college experiences. This event in particular stood out to me because of how amazing the atmosphere felt. I could tell that not only did the students truly enjoy this opportunity, but the alumni did as well.

After PSJA CSLAP concluded for the summer, my college awareness work continued well into the fall. In September, I had the opportunity to represent Princeton at McAllen Independent School District’s College and Career Night. Alongside John Millin, a Princeton 1995 graduate and chairman of the Princeton University Alumni Schools Committee for the Rio Grande Valley, I spoke with hundreds of parents and students about Princeton. In early October, I held an hour-long question and answer session as a part of College Greenlight’s Diversity + Digital College Fair. These two events allowed me to branch out of the familiarity of my school district and reach students from different backgrounds around the country.

One of the most rewarding aspects of college awareness work is learning about the amazing stories behind each student. I don't remember being half as ambitious or intelligent as some of the students I've mentored. It gives me peace of mind knowing that I can give them the resources and knowledge I didn't have at their age so they can achieve even greater things. My ultimate goal is for this spirit of altruism to rub off on them so they, too, can mentor the next generation of students.

If young people really have the potential to change the world, then why shouldn't we help the next in line get a step ahead? If more college students would undertake college awareness work, whether through spreading crucial information or offering mentorship, without expecting anything in return, this spirit of altruism would never die.

So I have a few brothers and sisters, three of whom went to college before me. Every time one of my older siblings headed off, my parents would find a stuffed animal that matched the mascot of the new school, then pop it on one of their pillows as some affectionate decoration.