He was in wood shop, whittling a cutting board, when he received the decision. In tears, he Facetimed his parents to deliver the news: senior Roman Cluff-Thompson had been admitted to his dream school, Pitzer College.
Applying to college is a daunting task for even the most accomplished students. From acing standardized tests to writing flawless essays, touring campuses, and figuring out how to pay for it all, applicants have much to consider while also juggling their homework, sports, and extracurriculars.
“In a lot of ways it’s an unforgiving, relentless process,” OVS College Counselor Fred Alvarez said. “There’s this crazy weight with doing all that work and sending it out into the universe. It can be agonizing.”
For Roman, that was certainly true.
By the time his Pitzer decision arrived, he had already been admitted into 11 colleges and universities, many of which provided him with significant merit aid and scholarships to entice him to attend.
Still, he had his heart set on Pitzer, and after initially getting deferred, he had to wait weeks to finally get a decision.
“I literally bawled my eyes out,” Roman said, “It’s over, I’m finally committing.”
He told his college counselor the good news.
“I remember distinctly him getting that decision, and he came to me almost in tears,” Mr. Alvarez said. “I just felt so happy for him, Pitzer College fits Roman.”
Ojai Valley School’s Class of 2023 worked hard to apply to a wide range of colleges ranging from technical colleges, public universities, and small liberal arts schools.
In total, this year’s 19 seniors earned 122 acceptances from nearly 80 colleges and universities.
By today, National College Decision Day, seniors had committed to top-notch universities and colleges such as Stanford, USC, Pitzer, NYU, UCLA, Northeastern, Smith, and even one beyond this country’s borders: American University of Rome.
For some, that choice did not come easy.
Senior Eugene Fisher spent weeks contemplating before deciding on the best college for him. He was admitted into USC Annenberg – the best program for his major – NYU, and UC Berkeley. After much internal deliberation, he made his decision to join the Violets at New York University.
“I really liked the Gallatin program that gave me the flexibility to study independently,” he said. “I also wanted to explore a new place that would push me out of my comfort zone.”
Senior Tigran Nahabedian applied to many service academies with early application deadlines, making the process much more stressful for him.
While much of his focus was on the academies, he was stunned when he first toured Stanford’s incredible campus. And he was just as shocked when he read his decision.
“I thought I wouldn’t get in,” he said. “After I submitted my application, I didn’t hear anything back from them until my decision.”
His impressive list of extracurriculars and activities surrounding national parks made way for his acceptance. Now, he’ll be headed off to Stanford this fall to study computer science.
He heard the good news during track practice, the Friday before April Fools, so Mr. Alvarez thought Tigran was joking when he told him the news. Despite just finishing intense running drills, Tigran ran one more victory lap with the whole team whooping and cheering him on.
“That was awesome,” he said. “With this process, you never know what happens.”
For senior Hannah Little, the process was not as straightforward.
As an aspiring journalist smitten with the city of Boston, she was delighted to hear she was accepted into Northeastern. However, paying the tuition was going to be hard, and she was selected for the N.U.in program- which requires her to travel across different campuses around the world.
Northeastern is known for its worldwide experiential learning, encouraging urban engagement and travel, perfect for Hannah who is excited to start moving right away.
“I’ve been this small-town girl for 18 years, I’ve never been outside of Ojai,” she said. “All I want to do is travel the world.”
For this reason, Hannah chose to turn down an offer from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and commit to a semester in Northeastern’s Rome program at the John Cabot University campus, before starting second semester at the Boston campus.
“I could not be more excited with my choice!” she said. “Northeastern has been my number one and I’m looking forward to pushing myself with as many new places and people as possible.”
On the whole, each senior decided on his or her very own path, and OVS is thrilled to see where their choices will lead them. This year’s diversity in college commitments reflects the values, talents, and interests of OVS’s student population.
“As usual, it was filled with anxiety, tears, and incredible stress,” Mr. Alvarez said. “But I am most proud of the wide range of acceptances at a wide range of schools. That to me, is the mark of a good college counseling program.”
