Success Happy

Is this essay good? And will I be accepted to the University of Washington Honors program?

First, here are my academic stats: GPA: 4.0 SAT: 1970 -Reading: 570 -Math: 740 -Writing: 660 High School classes: -3 AP classes -3 Honors classes -9 Running Start classes (27 College credits/6.75 High school credits) -6 math credits up to AP Calculus -4 English credits -4.25 Science credits -3 Foreign language credits -4 Social studies credits -1 Fine Arts credit -1 CTE credit -A lot of electives Very, very few extracurricular/community activities UW Honors Essay: -Max of 300 words -Prompt: Carol Dweck has said the following about success in college: "'Hard working' is what gets the job done. You just see that year after year. The students who thrive are not necessarily the ones who come in with the perfect scores. It's the ones who love what they're doing and go at it vigorously." How does this fit into your imagined future at the university? My Essay: I grew up attending a school district teeming with perfectionists - students who never received any grade lower than an "A" and enrolled in the most rigorous courses or programs available. Being a person of academic aspirations myself, I idolized this group of students. I wanted to be just like them. Beginning in sixth grade, I did whatever it took to "fit in" with this band of bookworms. However, as I progressed through my academic career, I began to develop a string of hobbies unrelated to the typical scholarly subjects of English, math, and science. I began to focus more on things that interested me, most notably graphic design. I would spend hours of my spare time creating pictures that, in my mind at least, were brilliant works of art. Eventually, the constant chatter at school about GPA's and SAT scores began to irritate me. "These people are so absorbed in academic perfection that they don't even have time to discover what they truly love," I thought. Though I still admired these students for their dedication and drive to succeed, I know longer wanted to be like them. Most of them would probably go on to Ivy League schools and become doctors, pharmacists, and chemical engineers. This isn’t what I wanted. I wanted to pursue my passion for graphic design. Despite my reevaluation of priorities, however, I still had a desire to excel academically, just not to the point where it consumed my life. I simply needed to focus my scholastic excellence towards subjects I enjoyed, and strike a reasonable balance between academic achievement and personal enjoyment. James Dean once said, “Live as if you’ll die to today, dream as if you’ll live forever.” This is the philosophy I will bring with me to the University of Washington. If anyone can tell me how likely they think I am to be accepted to the UW Honors program, or have any personal experiences with the Honors program, or know somebody who has applied or been accepted into the Honors program, or knows anything else about the Honors program that may concern me it would be great to hear from you! Thanks!

Public Comments

1. yeah i don't see why not. when you look back on life, you'll realize how futile trying so hard in high school was. "work smarter, not harder"