In his college application process, Noah, like many students applying to colleges, found himself falling down the YouTube rabbit hole of college influencers. Naturally, he found that he was comparing himself to these influencers.

Despite the pressure of comparing himself to these influencers, though, Noah told stories of the little moments and places that were important to him and him alone. He says that this aspect of his essays were likely a large part of why he was accepted. “If you get in, [one of the admissions officers] writes you a little handwritten note, and my essays were one of the first things that my admissions officer pointed out.” Using his creative writing background, Noah wrote about everything from his local amusement park to a dragon-inspired antagonist. For one essay, Noah even wrote about a moment during school where he performed the Whip / Nae Nae for a dance contest; despite previous embarrassment he had felt in this moment, he leveraged the experience, recalling how it taught him that being genuine and having fun in the process is more valuable than fitting in. Raw vulnerability like this is both rare, relatable, and engaging to admissions, and it gives them a clear picture of the student who will be unapologetically and boldly themselves on campus. By writing about such a variety of topics, perhaps even unexpected or seemingly unrelated, Noah was able to present a sense of depth and distinction for the admissions officers, showing how interdisciplinary his perspective on life was despite his application for engineering. In each of these essays, though, one thing rang true.

When Noah was first applying to college, his dream school was Stanford — but he only applied to 8 schools, the majority of which were state schools. He was keeping his options open and “wasn't super, super bogged down in this idea of going to an Ivy League school.” Eventually during his research and application process, Noah had also started to research Columbia — the only other T20 school that he applied to.

After doing more research, Noah decided to apply to Columbia and was accepted Regular Decision. Even though he wasn’t accepted into Stanford as he once dreamed, though, he feels that he ended up where he was meant to be.

Looking back on his application process, Noah highlights how important it is to focus on fit when applying to college. It’s more about finding the right school for you, not the most prestigious, Noah says. Reflecting on his experience, Noah also feels that trusting the process is a large part of the process itself. And that, he did.

Noah didn’t just focus his efforts on what he envisioned would one day be his college major. His extracurriculars allowed him room to explore all of his interests, rather than a singular path. • Published a children’s book on the principles of engineering • Led his local speech and debate team as the club president, advancing to the National Quarterfinals in World Schools Debate • Balanced academic rigor with athletic consistency, playing on the varsity soccer and tennis teams while taking dual enrollment classes • Founded his high school creative writing team which competed regionally • Led as a section leader for his high school’s marching band while also playing trumpet

Focus on Fit — Noah says that the best thing you can do when applying for college is to focus on fit and what works best for you, your personality, and your goals. Leverage Your Resources — Despite growing up with limited resources at his school, Noah made the most out of every opportunity he was able to seize. Be Creative — Even though he was applying to an engineering program, Noah leveraged his love for writing to be creative and explorative in his essays, making him stand out from the crowd. Trust the Process — Although Noah initially had his mind made up on one school, he ultimately trusted in the process (and advises you to do the same) that he would end up where he was meant to be. Stay True to Yourself — Noah didn’t change his essays to make him fit a specific profile that might be expected for a particular school; he stayed true to himself and trusted that would bring him to the right place.

Q: Who were you before you were applying to college? A: Before I was applying to college, I had a very explorative, adventurous personality. One of my teachers in high school described me as a Renaissance man, and I feel like that's a very apt characterization. I just loved learning and getting involved in a variety of different things. I was an athlete, I really enjoyed writing and art, but I was also really passionate about sustainability before I started thinking about applying to college, and so I really think I focused on this love of learning and exploration I had as a student, both inside and outside the classroom. Q: What was your application journey like? A: I think my application journey was probably a little bit different than the majority of people who were applying to a lot of T20s. I only applied to 8 schools, I think the majority of them were state schools. I'm from rural Ohio originally, so I applied to, you know, your Ohio State, and I think around 4 to 5 in-state schools, but… I think before getting into the application cycle, my dream school was Stanford, and so, I kind of committed myself to applying Restrictive Early Action there. And unfortunately got deferred the first time around, so I started looking into other top 20s but wasn't super, super bogged down in this idea of going to an Ivy League school. I ended up doing a little bit more research on Columbia, and I feel like I really resonated and aligned with the values at this school. I think one of the biggest things that they kind of preach is variety in their curriculum. I think, especially being in the engineering school, I really value a little bit more diverse coursework, and more of a liberal arts education than you'd typically find in [an] engineering school. So I really liked Columbia [and] wanted to apply here after doing a little bit more research. And so, yeah, I applied Regular Decision to Columbia. It was my only Ivy League I applied to. Pretty much the top 20s I applied to were Stanford and Columbia, and got in Regular Decision, which [was] definitely very, very surprising to me. [I] was not expecting it at all, but I'm super, super happy about it. I love going to school here. Q: I'm curious, now that you are a student here, do you feel like that was the right match for you? A: Retrospectively, I think it was the right match. Maybe at the time, as I was kind of applying and going through the process, I feel like I kind of subconsciously knew Columbia was a good fit, but I still was really interested in Stanford, but [...] now that I've kind of matriculated and fully found my community here, I feel like I really love going to school here. I love the community, I love being in New York City. I think that opens up a ton of opportunities, and that's something I really value. I really love the way the curriculum is structured. I've enjoyed my professors so far. That being said, it has been a little bit more difficult academically than I think I was anticipating going into it. Just because my high school was very chronically underfunded, and I didn't have a lot of the coursework, I think, going into college that a lot of other people had access to. And so that was kind of a struggle I found initially, but I feel like, you know, I've definitely come into my own here and worked out the kinks academically, and now I feel like I have a really great community supporting me, and I have lots of great resources, both in professors and in the Career Center. I really, really love going to school here. Q: Do you have any advice for students who, you know, are looking to get into a really rigorous school, but maybe don't have the access to, like you said, AP courses or that kind of material? What were your ways of, like, you know, overcoming that hurdle? A: Looking back, I think I wanted to try to exhaust as many of the options as I had. My high school had an honors program, and we did something called College Credit Plus, which is like dual enrollment, but a lot of my high school teachers were certified to teach courses. I took a College Credit Plus course in anatomy and physiology, which is not something a lot of people take in high school, [and] I think has helped me stand out a little in a unique way. I also took college calculus. It wasn't standardized to the AP curriculum, which I felt was a bit challenging trying to transfer into college, but I also did take dual enrollment courses through my local university, just really trying to get, you know, as much college credit or as many college courses, under my belt. I think, something that I tried to remind myself was just to seek out all of these courses and opportunities. I tried to let myself be guided by learning more and doing more, and in having that mindset, I think I was definitely compelled to search for dual enrollment courses, to take the extra courses. And really, I think, just exhaust all of the options that I could. I think in hindsight, I would tell myself it's more about getting the most out of what you have, and really taking advantage of the resources that you have, which changes from school to school, and from background to background. Q: What did you write your essays about? A: I think one place where my Columbia application stood out was in my essays. If you get in, [one of the admissions officers] writes you a little handwritten note, and my essays were one of the first things that my admissions officer pointed out. In high school, I had a lot of experience in writing. I was a published author in high school and founded a writing club, so I think that I really leaned into the more narrative, creative side of the essay process, which I think really helped me stand out. In terms of my supplemental essays, I think one of the Columbia prompts was about perspective, and I grew up really close to an amusement park, and so I talked about physically getting a different perspective at the top of a roller coaster, and kind of having this bird's-eye view of the park and the city around me and my home. [I] also kind of made it about comfort, because riding roller coasters and getting over that initial fear is something that is definitely uncomfortable. But I think that one of the key perspectives that I hold is that, for me, comfort often means that I'm being complacent. If I ever catch myself getting too comfortable, I feel like that signals to me that I'm not pushing myself to make progress. And so, I talked about that. I think the second Columbia essay was about overcoming adversity, and this is, I think, really where I have the claim to fame in my application, because I wrote my Common App essay about adversity, and so kind of approaching it, I wanted to make sure that I had two very distinct, essays so that the admissions officer wouldn't feel like they're reading the same thing again. So, very, very funnily, for an essay about overcoming adversity, I wrote about doing the whip and nae nae. There was this pep rally, assembly in middle school, and I got randomly called to do this dance competition and do the Whip and nae nae. And I remember, after doing it people kind of mocked me a little bit, and I just didn't necessarily take it the best, at the time. I was in fourth grade or something, but I remember my mom telling me, “well, you had fun, didn't you?” And I think that was how I battled through that, even though I was, very, like, insecure about how that whole thing went down, I was true to myself and did the whip and nae nae in my own fun way. Then in terms of, like, why Columbia, I think one of the key anecdotes that I used in that essay, was because I did a lot of writing, I framed it as a new chapter of my story at Columbia, and kind of writing a new page in this book that has been my life. I talked about being in New York and being able to explore, which I felt aligned with my background. I think that in terms of the general approach that I had to my Common App essay, there was an antagonist in my essay. In this story, I kind of characterized him as this dragon, and that was a guiding metaphor through my Common App essay. I think I really leaned into the creative writing aspect of it all, and kind of framed it as a narrative. Q: Were there any challenges that you faced during the application process? A: I think the biggest challenge for me was trying to come up with a coordinated plan or attack. My knowledge of the college admissions process was formed by going down rabbit holes on YouTube and just watching the “How I got into X university” [videos] and trying to get a more clear picture of what the admissions process looked like, through that lens. I also just kind of, like, did a lot of random googling and research on college websites, which I think wasn't necessarily the most pointed way that I could have approached the process. So I think I had trouble kind of consolidating all of this information, and I feel like being confident in myself, too. I think in hindsight, I had a stronger application than I think I had, because I had gotten very influenced by all these people I saw on YouTube, and I was like, “oh, they're, like, doing X, Y, and Z, and I'm not doing that. I need to do that.” And so I think getting over that hurdle was something quite difficult for me. Even though it might not have been a very productive way of, like, going about the process and trying to educate myself about it, I think that I did pick up a lot of key information from just going down those YouTube rabbit holes. At the end of the day, I think I really just ended up trusting myself with my application, and, I think a lot of the things I'd seen about fit really resonated with me. I said, “you know, okay, like… this is, these schools have an extremely low acceptance rate. Sometimes it's just kind of luck-based, or it can get very finicky”, and so I just kind of trusted that my application and me as a person would fit at the right school, and I would end up at the right school. Q: If you could go back and do the whole process again, anything you would do differently, or anything you would really, like, advise students to do in their process? A: Something I would have done differently is, I think, tried to approach it with the fit mindset sooner. I think that I kind of arrived at that sort of conclusion a little bit late in the process after applying to Stanford and having that be my dream school forever, because I think part of myself got caught up in a little bit of the prestige of it all. I wanted to go to a prestigious school, which I feel like wasn't necessarily the healthiest mindset that I could have had. I just wanted to be successful and go to this very illustrious university. But I think if I were to go back and do it all again, I would approach my extracurricular involvements, and I think my essays the same, because I feel like they were very true to myself. I feel like I was being very authentic in my application and not trying to curate some sort of application just to get into a school. I generally did a good job of making sure that my application was a good representation of myself and my passions, regardless of college admissions. So I think that really trying to focus more on fit and finding the right school for me, not the most prestigious school that I could go to, is definitely something that I would try to approach. I think it's all about the mindset. Q: Any last things that you would like to add? A: If I had one last bit of advice, it would just be to kind of trust the process. After all is said and done there's only so much you can do as an applicant, and at the end of the day, you are just kind of a name on a piece of paper in this whole sort of process. Just really trusting that you'll end up at the right place, and being faithful, that you'll get to where you need to be in the long run after the whole process is over.