My Special Trip to California

During summer vacation, my family went to San Francisco. Since I want to go to a university in the U.S. someday, I thought I should use this opportunity to find out how American students prepare for university. So, I visited two top universities near San Francisco and interviewed two students. First, I went to Stanford University in Palo Alto. It was here that I met Caleb. He is a senior studying computer science. My second stop was UC Berkeley in Berkeley. I met Anna while exploring the campus. She is a junior double majoring in literature and language.

 What motivated you to choose this school?

 (Anna, UC Berkeley) I applied to UC Berkeley because that¡¯s what everyone does at my high school. I am from California, so I applied to UC (University of California) schools. I chose UC Berkeley because it is one of the best schools in the world. The weather is beautiful. When I visited the campus as a high school student, the people I met were very interesting.

 (Caleb, Stanford) I applied to Stanford because it¡¯s a good school academically. They have great programs. At first, I was interested in engineering and Stanford has a lot of stuff going on in engineering as well as in humanities. It¡¯s a very well-rounded school. Stanford has opportunities for students to try many different things. The students have to work hard but at the same time, they also have fun. It¡¯s a pretty vibrant place. Students should go where they are comfortable and study what they like.

 How did you choose your major?

 (Anna, UC Berkeley) You should talk to the professors. I chose literature because at UC Berkeley, you can choose from a lot of different languages. There are opportunities to study literature in all of these different languages. I speak different languages, and this way, I can combine all of my interests into a major.


 How should high school students prepare for university?

 (Anna, UC Berkeley) I think the key to become successful is finding something that you love to study. So if you find something you love to do, then you will have a totally fine time in college. If you do not know what you like to do, college is the perfect place to figure it out. So don¡¯t worry about not knowing exactly what you want to do in the future.

 (Caleb, Stanford) I would advise students to do what they really like and push themselves to do it well. This will help them get into school as well as prepare them to study at the university level. It is true that grades and test scores are very important because it shows that students are able to meet the expectations of these great universities. However, one thing is that when students come here,
 they should be excited about what they are doing, and bring something to the community and become active members of that community. So students in high school should try different things such as getting involved in theater or participating in science fairs. Those are the kids who get a second look by the university because it is clear that they care about what they do. Also, they¡¯ll have more fun learning.

 How did you prepare for the SAT?

 (Caleb, Stanford) The only real preparation I did for the SAT was just taking the PSAT. However, for students who are great academically but not great testers, it¡¯s a great idea to practice early. Some students who are afraid of tests may not study at all. These students who have anxiety should probably practice.

 What are the best ways to maintain a high GPA in high school?

 (Caleb, Stanford) The best way to keep good grades is work hard, do the homework. And in particular, I always thought that if I cared about the classes that I was in, it¡¯s easier to get better grades.


 What factors do universities consider the most when they s¬Ölect students?

 (Anna, UC Berkeley) The most important factor is your GPA, but more specifically, the kind of classes that you took. So say your high school had 100 different classes and you only took 10 of them. That looks bad. Universities want to see you taking a lot of classes. They want to see you engaging in difficult courses. Universities also don¡¯t want to see just a great student; they want to see that you also have interests other than school. So if you play the flute, soccer, or like to dance, they want to see that and they want you to really develop a passion for it.