While many PFHS seniors are still waiting to receive college decisions, scholarships, etc., some students have already committed to the school where they will spend the next four years continuing their academic careers. Here are just a few.

Zariah Ricks (VT)

Zariah Ricks is attending Virginia Tech next fall. Although she was deciding between Tech and the University of South Carolina, she ultimately chose to attend Tech because she was intrigued by its environment. Ricks stated that she picked this school because of a campus tour she had been on. “I’d been on a bunch of tours and none of them really interested me. I also have a cousin who will be a senior there and he loves it, so I just think it’s a good environment,” she said. She believes that her essay, which she wrote about the color pink and how she has grown to love it, was the part of her application that stood out the most. Ricks’s top advice for students intending to apply to Virginia Tech is to “do clubs, volunteer, be you… Colleges really like to see people who stand out.”

Ruhansh Satwik (UVA)

Ruhansh Satwik will be attending the University of Virginia because, like Ricks, he visited the school and loved the campus. He also has relatives who graduated from UVA and “really enjoyed their experience.” He was deciding between attending UVA and Indiana University Bloomington, and he applied to the University of Pennsylvania and New York University, though decisions have not yet come out for these schools. Satwik thinks his essay stood out because it had “multiple people look at it from different perspectives,” and per their advice, he focused on presenting himself in a broader light. “Instead of just focusing on one aspect of myself, I focused on more aspects that highlight what I’m really good at and what I can bring to UVA,” he said. By referencing a Hindu religious book in his essay and the concept of good and bad karma, Satwik emphasized that if he goes to UVA, he will help others and experience good karma. His advice for students who want to go to UVA is to start the application process early.

Bella Miller (JMU)

Bella Miller is going to James Madison University, where she plans to study in the school’s nursing program. “That program specifically was one of the best out of the schools that I applied to. I just really liked the school and the environment,” she said. Originally, Miller was deciding between attending JMU or Virginia Tech, but she said “I decided before I even got my decision to Tech because I like JMU so much.” She thinks that her essay and the classes she took in high school were the highlights of her application. “I did bio and psychology, and that was really good for the nursing program,” she explained. Miller also advises getting a headstart on the application process.

Bella Reuss (Carnegie Mellon)

Bella Reuss is committed to Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She had to decide between attending CMU or the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) because she got recruited to play softball at both schools. Ultimately, because it offered her more money to attend, Reuss chose Carnegie Mellon. She believes that her SAT and ACT scores were the most outstanding part of her application and, therefore, her advice for students who want to go to CMU is to “try to get good scores for the SATs and ACTs.” “I think that these things are super underrated,” she says. “People largely focus on GPAs, but I feel like standardized test scores show a lot more sometimes.”

Mason Dufty (William and Mary)

Mason Dufty is committed to William and Mary to study in its computer science program. “I thought it had a really good computer science program for a school that isn’t fully focused on computer science, so I just decided it was the best for me,” he said. Because he applied early decision, Dufty had no choice but to commit to William and Mary when he got in. He said, “It was my top school, but if I didn’t get in I would have debated between Virginia Tech and maybe Purdue.” In Dufty’s opinion, his essay, which he fine-tuned with a professional, was the best part of his application. “I feel like I really put down all aspects of my life that help me grow, and I feel like this showed me as me,” he explained. He wrote his essay about his time on the Potomac Falls cross country team. Dufty’s top advice for future William and Mary applicants is to volunteer because “William and Mary likes seeing volunteer work.”

Katherine Yashina (University of South Carolina)

Katherine Yashina is attending the University of South Carolina next fall because, like many other committed seniors, she loves the campus. Yashina was debating whether or not to go to an in-state or out-of-state university, but she eventually decided to go out of state because of her love for the area where USC is located. She believes that her activities list was the highlight of her application. “I filled up my activities and they were pretty strong,” she explains. You can find Yashina all around Potomac Falls; she is involved in PEER, the girl’s basketball team, and a multitude of clubs. She advises that, to minimize stress during the infamously nerve-racking college application process, students should finish their essays over the summer and do their SATs and ACTs early on.

Tomi Visigatis (Bridgewater)

Not only is Tomi Visigatis committed to furthering his academic career at Bridgewater College, but an exciting athletic opportunity awaits him as well: Tomi is committed to play volleyball on the first men’s volleyball team at Bridgewater. Visigatis described the recruitment process, saying “I filled out a questionnaire when I saw that they were starting a men’s volleyball program, and their coach emailed me, so I had them come to a couple of my tournaments. I also did a prospect camp at the college and talked about logistics, such as cost, what the team is going to look like, and what my life as a student-athlete is going to look like.” Visigatis explains that, in addition to the men’s volleyball team, he was drawn to Bridgewater because he admired his professors and the community. These factors led him to commit to Bridgewater rather than Wilson College, which he was also considering. “I was between Bridgewater College and Wilson College, but I liked the location and the amenities of Bridgewater more,” he said. Visigatis says that his abundant extracurriculars, which included a variety of clubs and volunteering, stood out the most on his application, and he advises that students should aim to have a “well-rounded application.”

Ashlee Chun (VT)

Intending to stay in-state, Ashlee Chun is going to Virginia Tech next fall. “It seemed like the best school that I was going to get into,” she said. Although she will soon become a Hokie, Chun was heavily considering becoming a Duke Dog at JMU. “For the longest time I was thinking about JMU because my dad went there and the campus is really nice, but I ultimately chose Tech for its academics,” she explained. Virginia Tech requires that applicants submit supplemental essays, and Chun believes that this was the strongest part of her application, despite (or even because of) the fact that she talked about one of her weaknesses: procrastination. “The question was: ‘What is a goal that you want to set for yourself?’ My goal was to stop procrastinating,” she said. Her advice to future applicants is that “being strictly academic isn’t going to help you as much as being more well-rounded and extracurricular.”

Mia Simpson (UVA)

Attending the University of Virginia in the fall, Mia Simpson chose this school for a multitude of reasons. “It was the cheapest and it was in-state. It was also the highest-ranking school I got into,” said Simpson. Simpson was between two other schools: Penn State and the University of South Carolina. Regarding Penn State, Simpson grew up being a fan and both of her parents attended. However, it was costly. “I also considered South Carolina because I got a scholarship and I love the weather, but it didn’t make as much sense for me,” said Simpson. Simpson thinks her application stood out because of not only her high GPA and extracurricular activities, but also the supplemental essay she submitted to UVA, “In my UVA essay I talked about how the nerve damage in my hand has impacted my life and kind of inspired me to go into the medical field.” Simpson’s advice to underclassmen hoping to attend UVA would be to focus on being well-rounded overall. “Most importantly focusing on having a leadership role, because they care about student leadership,” she said. 

Maggie Crawford (Penn State)

Maggie Crawford is attending Penn State. She was also between two other schools, Virginia Tech and the University of South Carolina. However she was encaptivated by the campus life at Penn State, “I chose it because I wanted to go to a big school and I really like the school spirit at Penn State,” said Crawford. When asked about her application, Crawford said that her essay was the thing that stood out the most. “I wrote about my grandparents’ kitchen and just about different aspects of the kitchen specifically,” said Crawford. Crawford advised underclassmen looking to go to Penn State to “get involved in extracurriculars because it’s not just about grades, and get your essay checked by as many people as you can.”