Meet The Students

TOMMY DEMARCO

Tommy surprised everyone, including himself, by choosing the University of Minnesota's Carlson School of Management. The Cretin Derham-Hall senior has attended Catholic schools his whole life. The U was the only public school he applied to and, at the start, was at the bottom of his list.

The U and other schools offered Tommy scholarships, and he narrowed his choices to the U and the University of St. Thomas. The Carlson School's strong reputation and the U's wide choice of majors, should he decide not to stay in business, tipped the scales. His parents, who thought he might end up at his dad's alma mater, St. John's University, were surprised.

"They kind of assumed I would end up at one of the smaller private schools, but now that I've chosen, they feel good," Tommy said.

Catholic student groups at the U will allow him to continue his church involvement. That the U is cheaper than his other choices was a plus, but it wasn't a determining factor, Tommy said.

"This is what I wanted."

MAO LEE

Last year, Mao Lee said she wanted to go to college close to home to be near family. Though she wavered during her senior year, she ended up doing just that, accepting a full scholarship to the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities.

Encouraged by her coach with the college access program Admission Possible to explore all her options, Mao applied to three out-of-state colleges: Unity College in Maine, Reed College in Oregon and Northland College in Wisconsin. She won a prestigious free trip to Reed, an elite private school, and visited there in November.

But that plane ride, her first as an adult, made her feel even more strongly that she wanted to attend a college close to home. In the end she had to choose between full ride scholarships at Southwest Minnesota State University in Marshall or the U of M-Twin Cities.

The Twin Cities campus won out for the quality of its wildlife and natural resources programs and its proximity to family.

"I just feel most comfortable at the U," Mao said.

JENNIFER VONFELDEN

Jen's heart won out over her pocketbook.

The Richfield High School student wanted to attend a big public research university and applied to only two schools: the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the University of Minnesota's Twin Cities campus.

She chose Madison, despite a scholarship offer from the U that would have added up to $24,000 over four years.

Madison has been Jen's dream school ever since she visited a cousin who was a student there. Though she will have to take out loans to pay the cost, she decided it was worth it.

"I just finally came to the conclusion to do what I really wanted. I don't want to compromise," she said.

Jen, who is interested in pharmacology, sat down with her parents to talk about her decision a week ago. She said they were supportive.

"Money is going to be a concern, but we just have to figure out how to pay for it," she said. "I'm very, very excited."

RUI LUNA YANG

Rui, 17, goes by her middle name, Luna. Luna chose the only school on her list that was west of Minnesota and one of the few on the list she didn't visit last year: Stanford University in California.

"They have one great major that I'm interested in, management sciences and engineering," Luna said. "I think I'll have fun the next four years."

The Wayzata High School student had a perfect SAT score and her pick of some of the premier schools in the nation: Harvard, the University of Pennsylvania, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Duke, Washington University in St. Louis, and the universities of Chicago, Minnesota and Michigan. She was wait-listed at Yale.

As the decision deadline approached, UPenn and Harvard were high on her list. But Stanford jumped ahead when Luna discovered the business/engineering major and when she talked to Stanford students. They had an enthusiasm that students at other schools lacked, she said.

She admitted a bit of sadness as she mailed off her Stanford confirmation Monday. "It was exciting and disappointing at the same time because I had to reject all the other schools," she said. "Technically, there's no right choice. There really is no perfect school."