How I Got to College: Eric Tims
This past spring, U.S. News visited La Jolla High School in the San Diego Unified School District to ask several seniors who had recently gone through the college application process and were then weighing their options for lessons learned along the way -- and their best tips for high school students just getting started.
Set in a postcard-perfect seaside community, La Jolla High is a comprehensive high school serving about 1,650 students. Because of the district's emphasis on school choice, students from an array of San Diego neighborhoods attend La Jolla.
The school provides Advanced Placement courses in 21 curricular areas; 98 percent of students graduate, on average, and 70 percent go on to four-year colleges (about 22 percent go to a two-year school). White students comprise 56 percent of the student body, with Hispanics, Asians and African-Americans accounting for most of the rest.
After applying to three dozen schools, Eric Tims is attending Bowdoin College in Maine -- and it wasn't even one of his original 35.
A high school running back, Tims started with a list of 18 possibilities, a combination of Division I and III schools that included places where he would want to play football -- such as Harvard University and Dartmouth College -- and places he wouldn't, including the University of Colorado--Boulder and the University of Oregon. But the calls just kept coming in from football coaches.
Tims got into half of the colleges he applied to, but no Ivies. Harvard's coach referred him to Bowdoin, and "after doing a lot of research, Bowdoin was a no-doubter," he says.
He could see that it was a strong school academically and liked the sense of community: "It was like a big family." In addition to suiting up for the Polar Bears, Tims plans to major in computer science.
GPA: 3.3 unweighted
SAT scores: 620 math; 500 critical reading; 530 writing
Extracurriculars: Football and working in customer service at an auto detailing firm
Essay: How he grew personally and as a student and focused on schoolwork while aiming for a possible college football career.
Big decision: He had an option to do a fifth-year program at a boarding school for another shot at the Ivies but wasn't interested.
Parental aid: "My parents helped me a lot," he says. Mom kept him organized, and Dad talked to coaches.
Visits: He toured just three schools: Bowdoin, University of Redlands and Pomona College. "Bowdoin looks classy," he says.
Do-over: After finding out that he was close to qualifying for an Ivy, he says he "would have worked harder" freshman and sophomore years.
Clincher: Some $46,000 of Bowdoin's annual $58,000 price tag is covered by grants and other financial aid.
Advice: Do research to find schools of interest, then reach out to faculty or coaches to establish relationships that can help you get in.
This story is excerpted from the U.S. News "Best Colleges 2015" guidebook, which features in-depth articles, rankings and data.
