I’m Going to Northwestern!!

I still can’t fully believe I’m writing this, but I’m going to Northwestern!!

This whole admissions cycle has been a rollercoaster. I’ve been lucky enough to get into some amazing top schools -- Rice, USC, WashU, and all the UCs -- which already felt surreal. But seeing that Northwestern acceptance hit different. Knowing I’ll be heading to one of the top universities in the world, especially as a premed, is just insane to me. The acceptance rate this year was around 5.3% RD, which is honestly wild to think about. Lower than a lot of Ivies and almost all schools in the country. It makes it feel even more unreal that I get to be part of that.

At the same time, I’ll be honest, I did feel a little disappointed about the Ivies. I got rejected from five and waitlisted at Columbia, and I didn’t apply to Dartmouth or Cornell. There was definitely a moment where I had to sit with that. But the more I’ve thought about it, the more I’ve realized how crazy competitive this year has been. I’ve seen so many of my friends, who are genuinely some of the most talented and hardworking people I know, get rejected or waitlisted everywhere. This cycle was so so brutal.

I’ve also been hearing that a lot of schools are looking for something extremely specific right now. Not just accomplished, but like, uniquely accomplished in a very distinct way. And I think that’s something a lot of us are coming to terms with. You can do everything right, work hard, build strong experiences, and still not hit that exact “angle” they’re looking for. Still, that doesn’t take away from what we’ve done.

At the end of the day, I’m proud of how far I’ve come, and I’m really excited for what’s ahead. Northwestern feels like an incredible place to keep growing, especially with my interest in medicine and anthropology. I can’t wait to see what the next four years look like.

- AnthroManTalks