My first criterion is rigor. Challenging schoolwork, scholarly competitions, and undergraduate research are examples of colleges demonstrating they have academic rigor. I want a college that will challenge me by giving me difficult math problems or complex physics phenomena to understand. When problems are challenging, I can work on it for days because I know that I can learn from it. I am also highly inspired to participate in a lab or in research in college. Excitingly, Dartmouth has a professor working on quantitative gravitational mechanics, Washington University in St. Louis has a professor working on advancing the current standard model, and Cornell has professors working closely with the Large Hadron Collider. From these institutions, I would be able to work closely with a professor, greatly advancing my skills in their area of expertise, and all of their projects have the potential to create groundbreaking discoveries advancing the field of quantum mechanics.

My second criterion is clubs including sports and academic clubs. When I moved to Wyoming, clubs became a large part of my life. I currently participate in five different clubs (Youth Leaders in STEM, Science National Honor Society, Spanish National Honor Society, Wyoming Academic Challenge club, and math club), and I helped start three of those clubs. In college, I want to be part of a physics club or a math club that connects me with peers who are passionate about quantum mechanics or group theory. Carnegie Melon, MIT, and Dartmouth all have a math club that compete in national tournaments. These clubs would help me find a good community, help me discover unknown passions, and increase my creativity in unique fields of science. I also want to participate in sports in college. At my high school, I am the captain of the tennis team. I have won a state championship in 2nd singles. I play competitive tennis, but not competitive enough to play at a DI college, so I want the college to have club tennis allowing me to still play competitively. Also, I know health will be very important to my success in college, so connecting with friends to play a sport with will be a fantastic way to stay healthy during stressful examination times.

My third criterion is location. The location of a university is important because it includes factors such as climate, size, diversity, and out of school activities. In my life, I have only lived in cities of less than 100,000 people. Since I have found myself liking a close community, I am looking for a college that is on the smaller side. Specifically, I am looking for an undergraduate population between 3,000 and 8,000 people. I also want an institution that is diverse. I want to meet people from around the world, India, China, or Brazil. People with these unique perspectives will give me the opportunity to learn about thoughts from the leading minds from around the world. Also, I think it is important for a college to allow opportunities to its students to hike or shop in nearby towns, allowing them to have fun in ways that the campus itself cannot offer. For me, the location also includes abroad programs. Ever since I have received the biliteracy seal from the state of Wyoming, I have wanted to use my Spanish skills in Europe, Latin America, or South America. I want a college that contains campuses or partner schools around the world. These programs would allow me to explore the world while still learning through the institution.