This year has not been a so fantastic year for me with regards to college admissions.  Can you believe that I applied to eight different schools in the US only to be turned down by ALL of them???  This is one of the painfully bizzare things that has happened to me this year.  I was so confident that I'll get a school that I didn't really bother that much about being turned down.  I don't know if you can blame me for being so optimistic.  I wrote my SAT I again and improved my score to 1400:  Verbal - 680 and Math - 720.  I also pulled my SAT II scores up a lil' bit to Writing - 660, Math IIC - 670, and Physics - 710.  I must confess that I was completely surprised with my Physics score.  I didn't remember a thing and there wre whole chapters especially electricity that I had not covered at all.  What made matters worse with the SAT II is that I was working then and so had very little time to study.  Boy, those were crazy days.  I'd come back from work late and then rush off to a math class.  I quit the physics class because the teacher wasn't doing too well and I didn't have that much time.  That's even the more reason why I was shocked with my Physics grade. 

Anyway, it turned out that despite my presumably good grades and supposedly outstanding extra-curricular profile I still got turned down by all the schools I applied to.  I don't know if it's wise to name all the schools I applied to.  You see, I was kind of forced to apply to the very top schools since I need a tremendous amount of financial aid.  My mum is not really well to do financially and since she's the only one taking care of me, I virtually need a full scholarship to attend any college in the states.  What this means is that I had to apply to schools with need-blind admissions policy for international students and as those of you who know how the college admissions work, you'll realise that I was very limited.  I ended up applying to Yale, MIT, Harvard, Princeton, Grinnell, Colby, Colgate, and Bates.  I really wasn't crazy about the school I went to so far as it offered good and sound education within a superb environment.  I know someone is going to tell me that I'm nuts applying to all these schools.  Well, life is a game of risks.  You got to learn to take some risks sometimes.  Actually, I didn't think I was going to loose all together since I had relatively one of the high SAT I scores around. 

What it all boils down to is that I have to pray that the local university I applied to here will admit me and consider me as a local student.  They have this weird policy of admitting Ghanaians with foreign credentials as international students.  What this means is that you have to pay way more than the local guy will pay.  It's a pretty selective school though, and all I can do now is to pray real hard that I'm admitted.  I can't just fathom myself sitting at home for another year.  It's gonna disrupt all my plans and I can't bear to look at myself.  In the meantime, I'll consider re-applying to colleges next year.  If anyone knows of any college that dishes out full scholarships to international students, pls let me know.  Also, if there is a school with a rolling admissions policy that someone thinks will admit moi and give me a more than decent dose of financial aid, holla out.  I've been roaming the internet and bothering educational advising officers but I think any good advice won't be out of place.  I must say that it sulks to be denied so many glamorous opportunities just because one ain't so rich.  Alas, that is life and one must learn to live with it.  I have fallen but I shall definity rise.  Defeat is just not one word in my vocabulary.  I'll turn it as an experience that is a golden opportunity for those who choose to grab it.  And that is exactly what I am going to do.