May 1 marks the deadline for high school seniors around the country to secure a spot at the college that they will be attending in the fall. It also marks the end of the long, exhausting college admissions journey.

And boy am I glad the whole ordeal is over! For me, the college admissions process has been extremely stressful. Maybe it's what I get for having high expectations. Maybe it's my fault for applying to 12 schools. But whatever the case, here's the chronicle of my journey.

How it all began...

I guess I began seriously thinking about college in the fall of my junior year. The PSAT was sort of a wake-up call. I've always been involved in extra-curriculars, community service, and gotten straight A's in school, but that was the time when I first started thinking about how to market myself to the admissions committee as the most appealing candidate.

During junior year, I also began taking the SATs and ACTs. I realized that I'm not the best test taker or an early bird, so those four-hour long exams that took place at 8 a.m. on Saturdays were definitely not my cup of tea. I tried studying for them but that just frustrated me more.

Of course, there were also subject tests and APs. Since the courses at Uni aren't exactly targeted towards standardized tests (which is not necessarily a bad thing since standardized tests are already overrated), I had to devote extra time to prepare for those.

Last summer, I found a respectable job working at the Illinois Natural History Survey's entomology department. It was boring at times but a good experience overall. Plus, I thought that it looks better on my resume than some job at a fast food place. I also went on several college visits and started seriously thinking about where I want to apply in the fall.

Senior stress

Come fall of senior year, it was crunch time. I told myself that I would get started on my college essays during the summer, but being the procrastinator that I am, I never got around to that.

Nevertheless, I still spent a ton of time on my essays. For the 12 colleges that I applied to, I had around five different essays. Each of those went through first drafts, second drafts, etc. Some were revised so many times that I stopped numbering them because "BerekelyEssay8" looks kind of depressing. I started naming them with exclamation marks, adding an exclamation mark with each additional revision.

Even the secretarial stuff was extremely time consuming. I had to buy stamps, give teachers and counselors letters of recommendation, get copies of my grades to send to colleges, and figure out the Common App along with the online applications sites of several of the schools I was applying to.

Meanwhile, I had to keep my grades up. It wasn't easy; teachers somehow all decided to assign loads of homework during the fall semester. One teacher was even rumored to have said "applying to college is an extra-curricular" when one student complained about the unreasonable workload.

It was hard going to thrice-weekly cross country morning practices and daily two-hour-long afternoon workouts while getting by on barely six hours of sleep each night. And then for some reason, I was promoted to second chair in my youth orchestra, which meant no more pretending to play the notes since I was directly under the conductor's eye.

But somehow, I managed. I learned the pieces for youth orchestra quite well and I concluded my cross country season with the third fastest time of my life.

Bad news, or not?

But not everything went smoothly. In December, I found out that I was waitlisted at Columbia University, my early decision school.

It was a mix of emotions for me. On one hand, I was upset that I didn't get in. That meant finishing the rest of my apps and waiting until April 1 to hear back from my colleges. But at the same time, I was sort of relieved. After I turned in my early decision app for Columbia, I had an interview with a Columbia alum and realized that Columbia wasn't the way that I thought it was. So I had my doubts about whether or not it was the right fit for me.

Winter break passed in the blur. My free time was dedicated to polishing essays, compiling my list of awards and extra-curriculars, and making sure that all my apps and short-answers were filled out correctly. At 7 p.m. on new year's eve, I sent off my last app. An incredible wave of relief washed over me. I was finally done!

But to my disappointment, I soon found that that was not the case. After the apps were submitted, there were standardized test scores to send and financial aid forms to fill out. It's ridiculous how it costs money to apply for financial aid. In fact, my total college application cost — taking into account everything from the application fees to testing fees — totaled to around $1,500. I could have gone on a week-long vacation in Tahiti for that!

And finally, there came the interviews. I had a total of five interviews, each of which required scheduling with busy alums and researching the universities. But I actually enjoyed the interviews and had fun talking to various people. I never thought that interviews would be that useful, but they really gave me a good idea of what each school is like.

And now I wait...

Finally, by mid February, I was officially done. No more interviews, no more apps to fill out, and thank goodness no more essays.

Then the long wait began as most schools were scheduled to release their decisions by April 1. But it wasn't that bad; I felt a lot less pressured after I turned in all my college stuff. I still tried to get A's in my classes, but I felt that it wouldn't be the end of the world if I didn't. I began catching up on all the episodes of TV shows that I've missed and watching the old seasons of Laguna Beach and The O.C.

Over spring break, I tried to distract myself from the impending April 1 deadline by hanging out with my friends a lot. I had acceptances from UCLA, U of I, and U of Michigan's business school already, so I was slightly comforted by the fact that I at least got into somewhere.

Good news

On March 25, the Wednesday during spring break, I checked my email to find a message from the University of Chicago with the subject heading of "Your Decision is Ready."

I was shocked. I wasn't anticipating their decision to be released so soon. I wasn't ready to face my first rejection. But I opened the email, clicked on a link, and was led to the U of Chicago's undergraduate website. I logged in, nervously clicked on the "View Decision Letter" link, and watched as the screen turn white.

Then the page loaded. I jumped from my chair and screamed as soon as I saw the words "I am pleased..." I got into U of Chicago! It wasn't my first choice school, but it's still an amazing institution. Plus, the amazing interview I had with the U of Chicago alum really made me feel that I would be happy there.

The next day, I got an acceptance from Berkeley. I was absolutely ecstatic! I could totally see myself living in beautiful California. A week later, I was accepted into New York University's business school. I was relieved to know that all my hard work throughout the years had paid off.

But it wasn't over. I still had to hear back from several Ivies, including my top choices — Princeton and Yale. I knew they were a big reach, but I held on hope. I had gotten accepted into six schools already, so maybe the Ivies would take me too.

Ultimatum

March 31 was Ivy Day. After school, several of my classmates rushed to the computer labs, anticipating the 5:00 p.m. decision release time. Afraid of being rejected while my classmates got accepted, I chose to look at my decisions at home.

As I opened each letter, more hope drained from me. I had this sunken feeling after seeing the rejection letters from Yale and Princeton, the two places where I really, really wanted to go. No matter how the letters tried to console me, I still felt horrible about myself. I realized that I wasn't good enough. I've put so much energy and dedication into everything I do, but in the end, I still wasn't good enough.

The next few weeks, I had this empty feeling inside, like I didn't know what to do with my life anymore. I often found myself in a daze. I've always held on to the possibility of reading under the lush canopy in Princeton or being around the sons and daughters of influential politicians at Yale, but now it was all gone. I had no more motivation for school. I ate a lot of ice cream.

But time heals everything. As the weeks sped by, I awoke from my daze and returned to my old self. I realized that I got into Berkeley and U of Chicago, two incredible schools that I would be lucky to attend. I may be a terrible, jealous person for admitting this, but I felt slightly better knowing that none of my classmates had gotten into my two dream schools either.

I began feeling really excited about college. I had a big decision to make: while Berkeley boasts of a gorgeous campus and "work hard, play hard" environment, U of Chicago has the best undergraduate economics department in the country (I'm planning on majoring in econ) and offered me an amazing financial aid package.

Decisions, decisions

Both schools also have their down sides. At Berkeley, lots of intro classes are so big that it's hard for students to receive individualized guidance. At Chicago, well, they're notoriously known as the place where fun goes to die, so you get the idea.

After much deliberation, I settled on Chicago. I'm going to college to learn, and U of Chicago can provide me with the best education possible. If I picked Berkeley, it would be for the weather and the social atmosphere, which to me are not legitimate reasons for attending a college. Plus, U of Chicago's financial aid was hard to pass up.

I am incredibly excited about going to college in the fall. I can't wait to meet new people, learn from Nobel laureates, and live in the exciting city of Chicago. One of my best friends is also going there, so that's the icing on the cake.

As I write this, I am declining my offers of admission at the other colleges I was accepted at. It sort of hurts actually, seeing each college slips away as I click "decline." But it's all for a good cause. Even though I might not have gotten into my top school, it's nice knowing that I'm potentially giving someone on a waitlist a chance of attending his or her dream university.