How Shakhnoza Crafted Her Application That Got Her Into Princeton

How Shakhnoza Crafted Her Application That Got Her Into Princeton

Transcription

Kamila
Hello, college kids. Welcome back to this week’s episode. Today I’m going to be interviewing shocky. So Shakir if you could introduce yourself.

Shakhnoza
Hi, everyone. My name is shocky. Right now I’m a senior. I’m going to be starting out at Princeton University this fall. I mean, hopefully I will if it’s not online. Yeah, I’m really looking forward to it. And I look forward to talking to you about my college application process.

Kamila
Okay, thank you very much for introducing yourself. So are you the first in your family to go to college? I just want to know that really quickly. In America?

Shakhnoza
No. Well, yeah, in America, my mom, she went to college in Uzbekistan. And I have an older sister, she went to community college. So she graduated from high school year early, she got her associate’s degree from community college, and one year, and then she went to a university of public State University, University of Maryland, Baltimore County, and she’s graduating this year. So because she went to a community college, and then she went to an in State College, my parents really wanted me to go to a community college as well. And so they were always pressuring me, they would say, psyche, should I graduate early, like your sister, and go to a community college, it’s gonna save you so much time and money. But I just wanted to go to a four year university. So I’m really lucky that I’m gonna be able to do that.

Kamila
So is there a reason that your sister graduated a year early and you didn’t? Was it just like a preference for her?

Shakhnoza
I think, well, she could do it at her school, because her school was a public high school, and my high school, it’s a Magnet High School. And by magnet, I mean, we all have like majors that we focus in on my school, and also had to take a test to get into my school. And so at my school, you can’t graduate early. And my parents, they never understood that, we would still say, oh, you should graduate early, but like I just physically can’t. And my sister the reason she graduated early was, she kind of just wanted to get a head start on the college experience. And senior year, she saw that she wouldn’t be doing much anyways. So instead, she just chose to go to CCBC. And just get her requirements out of the way and get her degree a year early.

Kamila
Okay, so you went to this magnet school? So when did you start thinking about applying to college? Like, when did you think like, oh, I should start maybe preparing for the LSAT, which, you know, you take in Maryland stuff. So when did you start thinking?

Shakhnoza
Yeah, um, I was definitely really late, like, freshman sophomore year, me in the back of my mind, I always thought about college. Like I thought, oh, yeah, like I need to get good grades I needed to some extracurriculars to get into a good college. And so I always thought, like, oh, yeah, I’m gonna, I want to go to a good college. But back then, like, I wasn’t really preparing myself much. So I wasn’t thinking about my SHGs, or my essays. Until about junior year, junior year, we had college visits at my school, and so these college reps, they would come and they would talk to us about the admissions process. And then I just like started realizing, Oh, my God, I have nothing for parents, other than my good grades. Like, I’m really not prepared for college. So junior year, I started thinking more about the application process. And then I think the summer of junior year, I promised myself I was like, Okay, I’m going to write all my essays. I’m going to study for the LSAT, get everything done this summer. Okay, that’s in a workout though. Because over the over the summer I had to work at while I was working at Cinnabon, and then I also took a community college class. And so I didn’t really have time to prepare for college. And like write my essays and prepare for the LSAT and all that. So really, the time I got serious about actually doing college stuff was the beginning of senior year like Oh,

Kamila
my God, and that’s like a few months before you apply to any of the colleges.

Shakhnoza
Yeah, that was such a stressful time.

Kamila
Okay, so but Were you part of any clubs before your senior year?

Shakhnoza
Yeah, I definitely tried to join as much clubs as I could just like stuff that I was interested in. Um, so I joined student council I’ve been in Often student councils since eighth grade. And so there’s an organization in my county, it’s called the Baltimore County swing councils. And they have an executive board, which is like, it’s like a board of 30 students, and they plan all the events for the Baltimore County student councils. And so I had officer positions and that for four years, and then in school, I was involved with my own student government association. So I was vice president of that. And then I was also involved with my FBLA, Future Business Leaders of America. And I was an officer for that. And then I was an officer for environmental club. And also for girl up. I really involve myself in a lot of things. And I was officer for a bunch of different things. And so when it came to applying for colleges, I think that really helped me because I already had so much extracurriculars that I had already been doing.

Kamila
I see. And I have one little question about FBLA. So I wanted to, and I’m a freshman right now. So at the beginning of freshman year, they were doing all these like, you know, visit the clubs in the afternoon, and they’ll tell you what the club is about. So I went to FBLA. And I was really excited because I really want to join this club. But I realized that like a lot of the competitions were not in our state at all. It was like, all the way on the other side of the United States. Yeah, so and it costs money to go there. And I know that I didn’t want to like burden my parents with paying for like the plane tickets in the housing. So were you able to travel? Or were you just working in your school?

Shakhnoza
Yeah, so FBLA, they have regional events. And then if you’re a top, you, if you place like first, second or third place, then you get to go to the state events. And I was always first place and all for my regional events, like you do one event each year. So for all four years, I was first vice, but I never went to states. Because why? I went junior year for FBLA states for entrepreneurship. But I only went once because to state, like $300. I mean, even if I won, I’d stayed, I would have to go to Nationals, which is like 1000 or $3,000. To go. It’s a lot of money. But I just I was mostly focused on the regional level. And in my

Kamila
I see, okay, so do you think you felt like you could have gone to Nationals, and that would have helped your application more?

Shakhnoza
Mm hmm. Yeah, definitely, there was a lot of things that I couldn’t do. And just because of like financial reasons. So like, with FBLA, like, every single year, I was bummed out because I had gotten first place in my regional event, but I couldn’t go to my state event. And just a lot of other stuff, too. Like, for example, senior year, I got this internship with Johns Hopkins. It’s this stem internship. But it was after school, and I would have to drive there like, it’s, it’s 40 minutes away from my house. And so I missed that too. But yeah, there was just a lot of things I couldn’t do, because of just like constraints from my house. But I think in the end, even if I couldn’t do all these things, like it still worked out.

Kamila
I see. Okay. Okay, so let’s move on to the classes that you took in high school. So can you tell us like, you’d have to tell every single class that you took, but maybe a relative idea when you started taking more like kind of like AP honor classes, and more like rigorous courses?

Shakhnoza
Yeah, so at my school, there’s a set of five courses that you have to take. And then there’s usually one or two courses that we’re allowed to choose. And for all the required courses, there’s different levels there’s AP GT and honors and when there for there was an AP class for my required course I would always take the AP class or I would just try to take like the highest level so sometimes the highest level was GT, which is just like gifted and talented. But yeah, all my required courses I took the highest level and then for my electives, which is like the free classes that you have leftover after your required ones. I tried to take AP classes for them and sometimes there wasn’t like AP class that we could you know, if you’re like a freshman you can’t take certain APS or like if you’re a sophomore year antics or any of these, so then I would just try to take another like GT class for that. But yeah, all in all, I took about 14 AP class.

Kamila
Okay, sir, can you give us like, some of the AP classes you took not like the kind of the ones that are like, extra that you sometimes take when you’re bored, but like the main ones that you think helped you a lot in your college application.

Shakhnoza
Um, let’s see, I took AP by a prize of somebody who’s all helped me when they’re reviewing my apple They were just looking at I was challenging myself. And so I took a variety like I never took it in, like a certain subject or anything like that. But I think that just because like I had a lot and I had a variety, I think that it really helped.

Kamila
Okay, so I know that AP courses and honors courses are supposed to prepare you for college. And I know you’re not in college yet. But do you think that they did a good enough job with the workload and the rigor? Do you think you you feel prepared for college?

Shakhnoza
Yeah, definitely. Oh, my God, my school on they definitely challenge us a lot. were number one in the state, I think, and so are our high school. My high school is just known for being like a college preparatory school. And so they would give us like a lot of essays to write and just like a lot of homework. And like, I feel really prepared for college now. Because the amount of work that they gave us, I talked to people from my high school who are going to college now and they just all of them always say like Eastern Tech is just so challenging that once you get to college, it’ll be a breeze. Okay, that’s good. So yeah, I think that going to the high school that I did, it’s definitely prepared me.

Kamila
Good. Okay. So I know you said you didn’t really prepare for the LSAT and AC t until your senior year. But what did you do then? Did you use any workbooks and you practice tests?

Shakhnoza
Yeah, so I had this sh t math workbook that I bought, it’s called the panda college math thing. I use that to study. And I started to use that. But I realized that it was just the book was so dense, and I realized that I couldn’t get through it in like a month. So instead of doing that, I took a bunch of practice tests on Khan Academy. And then after each practice test, I would go through my long answers, and then I would review the topics that I got wrong. And yeah, just like taking a lot of these practice, practice stts it really prepared me for the real one. And it was pretty crazy. Because on the way to my September, LSAT, I was so stressed out and I was in such a rush, because you have to be there by 8am. Oh, you’re not am like they just shut the doors. And so I was like, oh my god, like I have to take this essay to like, I really need this. My score isn’t high enough right now. And that I made a right turn out of the wrong lane. And then a car just hit me it was a car. Yeah, it was so bad. But then oh, God, but it’s like, it’s funny to me to look back now. Because I’m just so bad at driving that when that car hit me, I was like, oh, maybe it’s just like a little bump or something. I didn’t really pay much attention. And I just kept driving to

Shakhnoza
myself. Well, did you make it on time?

Shakhnoza
I mean, yeah, I made it to the testing center. But then when I made it, I got out of my car to go into the test. And then there was a car behind me. And they come out of the car. They’re like so mad. They’re like, Oh my God, you just hit my car. And then that’s when I started crying. I was like, oh my god, I’m so sorry. And they’re like, you’re you’re trying to flee the authorities. Like what the heck, why would you just keep driving? Oh, yeah, that was just really bad. Because I should have stopped after I hit the car. But I don’t know what I was thinking. I was just so stressed out, like just thinking about the LSAT, and I’m still trying my god,

Kamila
we’re also taking the LSAT. Are they just a random person?

Shakhnoza
It was this couple and their daughter and I feel so bad. Like right now. I mean, back then. The couple. The wife was really mad because she was like, oh, like you could have killed my daughter. Like, why would you do that? And I was just, I was crying so badly that

Kamila
day. Oh, God. Well, were you able to like take the test that day? Or did you have to know I never took the test and you didn’t take the test?

Shakhnoza
No, I never. I missed that test. Okay, so I had to take the next one. And then the next one was in like December. So that was just my last chance to take it. So I had to do good on the December one.

Kamila
Okay, and so what did you so let’s start with your PSAT. If your school did that, did you What was your score on the PSAT?

Shakhnoza
Um, if I remember correctly, it was 1320.

Kamila
Yeah. And that’s like out of like, 1440. Right? Like about something like, exactly. Okay. And then what did you get for the actual one when you took it in December? And December I got a 1470 1470 out of 1600. Okay, so for the schools that you were applying, were you I know you couldn’t have taken it again because it was December. but for the schools you were applying to was that like the average? Or was that below average? Like, were you worried at all for your essay t score?

Shakhnoza
Um, yeah, I think that I reached the 50th percentile for most. Yeah, so I was definitely worried because the test that I got the 1470 Odd. That was only my second time taking the LSAT, because the first time I took the LSAT, it was back in like, April of junior year, they required everybody at my school to take it. And so it was really stressful because I knew that I could score higher, but I just couldn’t take the test again. But um, yeah, after that score came out, I just focused on like strengthening other parts of my application.

Kamila
I see. Okay, okay. And then you’re, I know you go to a different school, but you guys still do GPA, right. Okay, so what was your unweighted versus weighted GPA?

Shakhnoza
Okay, my unweighted GPA was 3.88. It wasn’t a perfect 4.0. Like I got a B in Physics I hated like,

Kamila
everyone hates physics. Yeah, everyone. Yeah, me like physics. Physics kills me. Everyone’s doing so bad in physics, physics, the reason I my GPA is not going to be good enough for something.

Shakhnoza
Definitely don’t take it if you have the chance. Like if you can choose okay. Yeah, so physics brought me down my GPA, but my GPA, which is the weighted one that was pretty high, I think it was like a 5.5 out of a 6.0. And that was really high because I took a bunch of AP classes and GT classes. Yeah. And so because of that high GPA, my class rank was, I was salutatorian. So like, my rank was two, when I was applying to colleges,

Kamila
I see. Wait, so can you explain your GPA system? Because we only have like, up to a five point? No, I’ve never heard of a Q PA. Before?

Shakhnoza
Oh, well, I mean, the GPA is unweighted. Do you guys have that out of 40? Yeah, we have that. Our QPR is just, it’s out of six points. So like, for AP classes, you get six points. If you get an A in it. For GT classes, you also get six points if you get an A in it. And then for honors courses, you get a you get five points for each class. And then for Santa classes, you get like four points if you get an A in it. And so once you add up all the points, then they average it. Oh, see, I was like a 5.5.

Shakhnoza
I see. Okay, that’s good. Interesting. I’ve never heard of that. That’s very interesting.

Shakhnoza
Okay, I think it’s different for every school.

Kamila
It is. Yeah, I’ve never heard I knew I knew that schools went up to like, 5.5. I know some people do it out of like, 100. Just taking the average grade. Yeah. It’s like, Oh, do you have like an average of 96 throughout all four years? Something like that. Okay, so now, let’s go on to your recommendation letters. Did you have to do that?

Shakhnoza
Yeah, ultimate two recommendation letters.

Kamila
Okay. And then who did you get them from?

Shakhnoza
Okay, so one of them was my AP Bio teacher from junior year, who’s always he was such a nice, old man. Like, I always looked up to him. And he’s always like, Oh, check. No, so you’re so smart. Good job. You’re such a hard worker. And so I chose him because I knew that he could really like hype me up in my recommendation letter, and say good things. And then my second teacher who recommended me was my business teacher. So with the magnet school, my magnet or the major was business. And so I had to take a course in business every single year. And I chose him because he was my business teacher for all four years. So he just knew me really well.

Kamila
Okay, so you didn’t have to get a recommendation letter from your guidance counselor? Oh, yeah. Okay, so, with the guidance counselor, I know that they have to write like, a lot of letters. And you obviously don’t see your guidance counselor as much as you see your other teachers. So were you like, did you have like a close relationship with him or her?

Shakhnoza
Um, no, like, to be honest, I always thought she hated me. Because I used to go on there a lot to back in like freshman and sophomore year, I could never choose what courses I wanted to take. So I would always go on, like, switch my courses. And like she used to get really frustrated with me, like she’s really shocking was to like pick a course already. By all the counselors at my high school, they always tried to write the best recommendation letters for all their students. And I remember submitting a brag sheet, which is basically like this required form that all students at my high school have to submit. And it’s just like, you talk about your extracurriculars. You talk about what you’ve done in high school, and they use that to write the recommendation letter.

Kamila
Okay. So they know more about you. Yeah. So yeah, I’m kind of bothering my guidance counselor to I go to her and I talked for like, 15 minutes. And all my friends are like, What are you doing? And they’re like, I don’t know, I never knew we talked for 15 minutes. Yeah. I remember we had to meet up with our guidance counselor’s like one class with, like, 20 people. We had to meet up with the guidance counselors for maybe five minutes to talk about, you know, next year’s courses and stuff. I was in there for 45 minutes. And I didn’t know it. Everybody had already passed by me, like, had done their guidance counselor thing. I thank God, nobody had the same guidance counselor’s me or else.

Shakhnoza
That’s good, though. Yeah, you should definitely be having conversations with your guidance counselor. From early on, you’re getting a good start.

Kamila
Okay, so senior years here, and you have to apply and you have to write your essay. So first, tell us about which schools you apply to because you didn’t apply to as many as at least I think most people apply to.

Shakhnoza
Yeah, and like, before I get into what colleges I applied, the reason that I didn’t apply to a lot was because, again, my mom and my dad, they’re always like, oh, you should go to community college, you should stay in state. So from early on, I wasn’t thinking about applying to too many colleges. I ended up in the early action round. I ended up just applying to three colleges. I think I applied to UMD, University of Maryland. And then I applied to UMBC, which is University of Maryland, Baltimore County. And then I also applied to UPenn. Early Decision. Uh huh. And then in the regular decision round, I applied to Princeton, and Johns Hopkins

Kamila
contingent Hopkins. Yes. So what did you write your common application about if you don’t mind sharing?

Shakhnoza
Yeah, of course, my personal essay was just about advocacy. So in my essay, I talked about how immigrating from a young from a country at a young age, my parents didn’t know English very well. So I was like an advocate to them, because I will translate for them. And wherever they are, I also went with them, just to help them out because they didn’t know the language, but I knew it. And so I said that being an advocate from an early age made me want to be an advocate for my peers. And I talked about how, with Student Council, I was able to talk for my peers, and make a change in my school community. And then I sort of connected that into the future by saying that in the future, I hope to be an advocate for those in underdeveloped countries, like when I come from,

Kamila
I see. So for your common application, like I’m I know, it’s really early for me to be thinking about this. And I still have a lot to experience to write about. But for your call for your common app, do you think it’s good to like you talked about a really interesting subject. But do you think it’s also good to bring in your extracurriculars as well? Or do you think the extracurricular should just be left on a list for them to look at?

Shakhnoza
Oh, um, I think it depends on every student. I mean, I definitely tried to talk about my extracurriculars in my essay, because I talked about student council. But I made sure that my whole essay wasn’t about the stuff that I did in high school, because, I mean, they can know what kind of extracurriculars you did, just looking at your resume. But like your essay, it should be more about you and like your own thoughts and experiences. And like if your extracurriculars really relate to that, and like, you know, there was just one extra curricular that you did like for a specific purpose, and like, you think that it really shows something about you, then you should definitely talk about extracurricular. But I think that the personal essay, or the common app essay spot is definitely a spot for you to showcase something different about yourself something that they can’t just see just by looking at your extracurriculars.

Kamila
See, yeah, that’s good. That’s, that’s really good advice. Thank you. And so for your, you apply to Princeton, Johns Hopkins and UPenn as like your top universities. Did they have the you know, why you Penn? Why Princeton? Why Johns Hopkins? Okay, so what did you write for that?

Shakhnoza
Um, I know UPenn and Johns Hopkins had that. So for UPenn I was applying to the Wharton School of Business. Yeah, so when they said why you pan I just talked about how you Penn. They’re known for their business school and I just talked about how my experiences taking business courses in high school makes me want to study business in college as well. And I said that UPenn is like the number one spot. And then I also talked about Philadelphia and how that’s like a really unique city. Yeah, so I basically just like took all the great qualities UPenn and then I presented, why I want to go there because of those qualities. And then for Johns Hopkins, I think I said something about their research because Johns Hopkins are known for being a research institution. So I talked about, well, I took AP research as a senior. So I had to do like this year long research project. I just talked about how that research experience may makes me want to do more research in college. And I just talked about how Johns Hopkins could be the perfect place for me to do more research.

Kamila
Okay, I see. And then Princeton didn’t have one. No, Princeton didn’t have well, why Princeton? Okay, I see. So, and I know that I already know what I already know this stuff. But like, can you repeat it again, for the podcast? So which colleges did you get accepted and then deferred and then rejected from?

Shakhnoza
Yeah, so in the early action round, I got accepted into UMD and UMBC. But I got rejected from UPenn. With it being early decision, like I really thought I was gonna get in, like, you know, early decision. It’s basically like, if you get in, you have to go. So I was so prepared to God, I was like, oh, Philadelphia, that’s gonna be my city for the next four years. Like I was so ready. But I think that the reason why I got rejected was like, my SAP back then it was so low. It was like in the 1300s. That was before I retook best at so yeah, I think that’s why I got rejected from UPenn. But I got accepted into Princeton. And then I got waitlisted from Johns Hopkins.

Kamila
Okay, and then you didn’t wait to see whether you’d be accepted at Johns Hopkins. Okay, so and then I didn’t accept. So I know UMD and UMBC are like kind of like safety and target schools. What was your top choice between UPenn, Johns Hopkins and Princeton?

Shakhnoza
Okay, so ever since junior year, I’ve always wanted to go to Princeton. Like, I don’t know, um, Princeton was just like, I like the liberal arts and liberal arts focus, and the fact that they had a small undergraduate class size. So at Princeton was always my number one. But I never thought that I would get in, but I thought that I just had a better chance at getting into Johns Hopkins. Because it’s in Baltimore. I’m in Baltimore. So I don’t I think I thought that I would get into Johns Hopkins. So when I was applying, Johns Hopkins was my first choice. I wanted to get into Johns Hopkins more than I wanted to get into Princeton, just because like I thought I didn’t have a chance to get into Princeton. So yeah, when I was applying Johns Hopkins, was my first choice. But in the end, I think I’m really glad that I got into Princeton because like, truly, that was my first choice ever since junior year, like, that’s where I really wanted to go. So it was like that

Kamila
dream school that everybody fantasizes about. Yeah. Okay. So how did you feel when you opened up your acceptance letter into Princeton?

Shakhnoza
Oh, I was definitely so shocked. Like, I didn’t believe it. Like I thought they had made a mistake or something. I remember, I’m in my I was in my room. And I hadn’t told anybody that I applied to Princeton, because I was so sure I wouldn’t get in. Nobody knew. Yeah, I didn’t tell any of my friends that I applied. Did your family know at least? I mean, my mom knew. But even to her, I was like, Oh, I’m not gonna get it. And like decision dad didn’t even tell her that it was gonna come out. Okay. So yeah, decision. It was 7pm. And I, I saw it was like, congratulations, you’ve been accepted. Like, I was so happy. Like, I was like, I was like, screaming and then my friends, they run up to my room. They’re like, why are you screaming? Is everything okay? Like, everybody was so worried that something bad happened. But yeah, I told them the good news. And it was just like that whole day. I was just so excited. Like, I was texting all my friends like, Oh, my God, I got into Princeton like, I don’t know, I was just so elated that day, like, it just felt like four years was like worth it. Like, I had finally achieved my dream.

Kamila
Good. So did you get pretty decent financial aid from Princeton?

Shakhnoza
Yeah, Princeton, they’re known for their affordable price. And they have a really generous financial aid program. So I got a lot of money from Princeton. It’s actually cheaper than what both of my state schools gave me. That’s just amazing. I know, right? State School. My young D was like eight times the cost of really? Yeah, I

Kamila
wouldn’t. I mean, like, you’re really smart, like my relatives. You know, we we know we know each other kind of, but like my relatives told me you were super smart. So I would think you got like a full ride scholarship to UMD.

Shakhnoza
And now, I think it’s because u n d. There’s just a lot of kids that are applying there. And they look at test scores, and look at your transcript a lot. And my test score. Back then when I applied early action, it just wasn’t high enough for them to give me good scholarship money.

Kamila
I see. Okay, but did you apply to the Honors Program in UMD?

Shakhnoza
No, I didn’t. I think the Honors Program applications it came out after you got accepted. So like it came out UMD has their decisions really late. So it came out in like March or April, their applications. And so by that, I was just like, No, I’m not going to UMD like, by that point, their financial aid had come out to me, it was like, it was really expensive for me to go to UMD. So I didn’t bother applying to their honors college or anything like that. It’s

Kamila
great. So basically, you won’t be I mean, so how much of your financial aid is like, loans? And then how much of it is like, just pure grants? Like, you don’t have to pay that back?

Shakhnoza
Yeah, um, all of the financial aid that Princeton gives is in the form of grants. They don’t have any loans that they give to students. Yeah, most of my so cost about 75,000 to attend Princeton, I think that’s the cost of attendance. They gave me like 71,000 and grants.

Kamila
That’s just amazing. So will you be paying for your own college? Because it’s like, so much cheaper, or your parents are still gonna pay for it?

Shakhnoza
Oh, yeah, my friends are still gonna pay for me. It’s so cheap that they could pay Yeah. God, that’s amazing. I’ve do. Wow. I know, it’s so good. I love their financial aid.

Kamila
God, like if I got accepted into Princeton or something, I would be so excited. But like, because of how expensive it is, I probably wouldn’t go. But since you got in for so much cheaper than your state school that she has,

Shakhnoza
like depends on your arm. They give out financial aid based on how much your parents make. So like, once you fill out FAFSA, everybody has an EFC. And your EFC is your expected family contribution, which is basically like an estimate of how much your parents could pay every year for college. And so Princeton, they met my EFC right now, I’m just going to be paying my EFC to go to college.

Kamila
That’s so good. You like won the lottery, you got into Princeton, and you got the financial aid.

Shakhnoza
That’s awesome. Yeah, I’m so lucky.

Kamila
Okay, so what is your desired profession? Or like major when you go into Princeton?

Shakhnoza
Oh, yeah. At Princeton, I’m going to be studying in the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs. And, yeah, that’s me.

Kamila
Okay, so you’re not completely sure about your major yet.

Shakhnoza
Well, I mean, that’s, that’s just the name of the major.

Kamila
That’s the whole major. I thought that was an entire school. Bunch of majors.

Shakhnoza
Yeah, I think it’s the only major that has such a long name, like all the other majors are just like basic, like, mechanical engineering, physics, social, social science. I mean, psychology. It’s been Yeah, I think it’s just like politics.

Kamila
Really, since you’re not in college yet. And like the interview I did before a with April, she was already in college. And I think she was, she was going to be a junior while she was a sophomore that she was going to be a junior. So let’s talk a little bit about college. Like, how excited are you if you do end up physically going?

Shakhnoza
Yeah, I’m so excited. Because, honestly, for all my high school life, I thought that I was going to be going to like a community college or a state college and like commuting, but at Princeton, I’m gonna be staying at Princeton in the dorm. So I’m just excited for like college life, just like staying in the dorms and eating in the dining halls.

Shakhnoza
Yeah, the college experience. Yes, I’m

Shakhnoza
gonna get the full college experience. I think that’s what I’m most excited for. Like, because I never thought that I would be getting the full college experience. And now that I am just like, I’m looking forward to it so much.

Kamila
Yeah. So I mean, because of the pandemic, you may not be going but or is Princeton still doing that thing where you find like, roommates, potential roommates.

Shakhnoza
Um, I think that at Princeton, they find a roommate for you. So like, my housing form, like, you fill out information about yourself, and then they match you to a roommate.

Kamila
I see. Okay, so what kind of dorm Do you want? Do you want like, not just one other person? Two other people? Three other people?

Shakhnoza
Yeah, I think I’m just gonna pick a double room.

Kamila
Sample room. Okay. And I don’t know about the dorms at Princeton because I mean, when I visited I only went on a half walking tour. I don’t even know if you can really call it that. So are the dorms of Princeton. Nice. Do you know anything about

Shakhnoza
me hopefully they are.

Kamila
Yeah. That’s so exciting. So do you know if Princeton has like a set of core classes that you need to take like, you know, your high school had you made you take a few classes, just Princeton do the same thing.

Shakhnoza
Yeah, I know that every freshman has to take what’s called like a writing seminar. So in that class, they teach you how to write well, and like, you just improve your skills as a writer. But other than that, I think that for every major, there’s different prerequisites. So it’s not like at Columbia, there’s like a core set of classes that every single undergraduate has to take before they graduate. But I know that Princeton is a lot more flexible. And like even when you have to take certain prerequisites for your major, there’s a lot of classes that you can choose from, to fulfill those requisites.

Kamila
Okay, so, and I know that you when we were when we talked earlier, you said that Princeton would be telling you whether you’re going to school or not in early June right. Now, early July, early July, yeah. Oh, my God. That’s terrible.

Shakhnoza
I know, right? I stopped. It’s just like not knowing is the hard part.

Kamila
Okay. But do you know how online classes are going to go for you? Is it like high school as well?

Shakhnoza
I have no idea. Like they said that they would be trans starting the transformation from online classes. And in case we have to do it online. But they haven’t given us more information as to like, what that would be like, yeah.

Kamila
Well, that’s, well, I wish you the best of luck. I mean, if I’m giving my honest opinion, here, I highly doubt anyone’s going to go back to school, even if the school allows it. I don’t think anyone’s gonna feel like safe going back. But

Shakhnoza
I feel like we’re gonna have an online semester,

Kamila
go and it’s gonna be weird. If you like, go to your second semester. Go, like, go to the actual school in your second semester, or something that’s gonna be really weird.

Shakhnoza
It’s definitely weird. Like, for freshmen, especially because first semester is supposed to be when we meet new people. Yeah, orientation when we make new friends. Yeah, I think it’s definitely gonna be hard trying to make new friends over the internet and just get accustomed to the university life online.

Kamila
Yeah. And I know that. I don’t know about other schools, but I know Harvard, they have this sort of thing where you like, shop around for classes. So during your like, first week at Harvard, you can like, I don’t know if I’m getting this 100% Correct. But you can go around to different classes, you can just attend them to see what it is. And then you can basically do that your entire first week. And then from there, you can pick your classes. So that sounds really fun to me. And I feel so bad for like the freshmen at Harvard who are not going to be able to you know, do the shopping around for their classes. God,

Shakhnoza
yeah, that does sound fun. I don’t think I’ve heard anything like that person. But that’s pretty cool.

Kamila
Okay, so one thing before we end here, do you have any advice for like, high school students right now, or maybe even middle school students, if they’re listening, I think that,

Shakhnoza
I would say that they should. First of all, enjoy high squat last, because it’s only four years. And you’ll get into college, eventually, you know, you’ll go where you’re meant to go. So don’t focus too much on college while you’re in high school. But I think at the same time, you should definitely be preparing for college because one mistake that I made was not preparing for early enough. Like, I just started worrying about a junior year. So yeah, my advice is to enjoy high school as much as you can while you’re still in it, but also be preparing for college.

Kamila
Okay. So, actually, I lied. This is not the last thing, but what do you think is the what do you think was the strongest part of your application that got you into Princeton?

Shakhnoza
I think it was my essays. Because Princeton, they’re definitely they look into people’s writing. And I think that they admit students who they think have better writing, and who are able to tell a story. And I remember my essays, like I worked really hard on them. I edited them a lot. And through my essays, you could really see what kind of person I was, what kind of things I valued. And so yeah, I think my essays were definitely the strongest part of my application. Okay.

Kamila
Well, thank you very much for coming here. Chef Maza. I really enjoyed interviewing you and I hope whenever you do end up going to the Princeton campus, you’re going to love it because I’ve been there it is. Probably really, like it’s one of the most gorgeous campuses I’ve been to yet. Like I kind I understand that some colleges kind of look the same because they haven’t a Gothic architecture, but something about Princeton was just jaw dropping. It was just beautiful. Yeah. And they have like

Shakhnoza
yeah, I’m so looking forward to I feel like it’s gonna be so pretty.

Kamila
Yeah. And then they have like little cute shops and like restaurants So you can go to like, nearby the campus. And then you can go here friends and stuff. So I hope you I hope you get that experience. Yeah,

Shakhnoza
even if I get it like, I don’t know when second semester starts, I’ll still be happy like I’m so thankful to be going there. Well,

Shakhnoza
thank you very much, Jeff Maza Yeah, thank

Shakhnoza
you for this interview. I really enjoyed it.

Kamila
Thank you. Bye bye. So who cares about college? Well, I do. I want all of you to go on this journey to get into your dream college. I want you to succeed. I believe in you. We are in this together. Adios amigos. Ciao, ciao. This is your host Kamila hooks catch you in the next one. Bye