Last summer, I was devastated to find out I couldn’t attend UC Berkeley for financial reasons. This entire year, I stayed in Canada studying commerce and wondering what was so fundamentally wrong with me that 1) the Ivy League universities rejected me and 2) I’m unable to go to the wonderful schools like UCLA and UC Berkeley that DID accept me. Suffice to say, my desire to get a better education beyond UBC was never fully snuffed out.
I spent months dwelling on the issue and due to a series of wonderfully-timed events and opportunities, I decided to apply for transfer application to just a single US school. What’s with me and one-shot deals? I spent weeks perfecting my essay and days chasing after professors to get them to write me recommendation letters and give midterm grades. I did all of this in secret. Not a single one of my friends know. My PARENTS did not know. About a month ago, the only people who knew I applied for transfer was probably a handful of profs, a counsellor, the admissions committee, and the mailman.
This time it wasn’t randomly applying for the prestige, but rather, the result of intensive research into a program that matched my interests and aspirations perfectly. I remember that morning vividly, calling the Admissions Office trying to find my decision. When the lady on the other end replied, all I could say was “OH MY GOD, OH MY GOD, OH MY GOD”.
I have been accepted into Cornell University for Fall 2009 transfer!!
*Runs around the house in ecstasy* I will be studying a mixture of management, economics, government, and history at Industrial and Labor Relations!!! At this point I haven’t gotten a paper copy of my acceptance and financial aid yet, so I don’t know if I’ll be going. BUT OH, MY, GOD, five years of high school, two years of IB, a year of university, it wasn’t all in vain! The application process taught me so much about myself too 
I will really have to weigh all the commitments and leadership potential I have at my current school against a totally different path in the States. I hope to bring further good news.
P.S. - shhh, no one at my current school knows! They’ll kill me if they find out XD
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I'm Crystal, a Canadian who thinks she can take on the world simply by getting up each morning. They call me the caffeinated IBer wandering on the Internet. 
