For months I’ve worried myself sick trying to decide which college I will eventually attend. I’ve toured many colleges, some even more than once, but none of them felt like the right fit. 

University of Missouri (Mizzou), Purdue, SEMO, Southern Illinois University Carbondale (SIUC), UK. I toured each one thinking they were okay, but none of them stood out to me. Mizzou was my top contender for a while, I had friends there, they had good dorms, and they were going to offer good financial aid. 

I thought Mizzou was where I would end up as the end of admission season drew nearer. But I was still waiting on one decision: University of Illinois (UIUC). I had received a letter at the end of January saying I had been deferred, in other words, I would have to wait in limbo for another month before they decided if I was admitted or not. 

I had toured UIUC before and felt lackluster about the experience, I knew however, that if I got into UIUC I would have to strongly consider going there; it had the strongest academics and I would receive in-state tuition. 

When I had waited another month, on the last day of February, I opened my Illini portal at 4 pm to a screen reading “McKenzie, you’re an Illini!” with animated blue and orange confetti. I hadn’t realized until I had been accepted how much I wanted to be a part of it all. It was an honor to be accepted as the Class of 2025 competition was stiff, and because their admission rate had dropped drastically, almost 10%. 

My mom and I decided to retour UIUC, and I am so glad that I did. We looked at private housing at Bromley, Newman, and Presby Halls, put down deposits and waited to see if there were any openings, doing our best to avoid the cramped university-issued dorms. A few days later, Bromley Hall, my top housing choice, messaged to say that I had been the first person on the waiting list for a single room and one had just opened up. 

I knew then, with my admission secured and great housing, that I would be doing myself a disservice not to go to UIUC. I’m excited to start my college experience, and I couldn’t be more happy to be starting it at U of I!