Speakers: Peter McLean
The basics! What's your name? What college are you going to & what do you plan to study (if you know)?
Peter McLean: My name is Peter Mclean, I'm a freshman at Clemson University and I'm double majoring in sport communication and Political Science.
Describe your experience working with your counselor. Do you have any examples (selecting courses, universities, essay topics, anything!)
Peter McLean: From the very beginning, compiling a list of colleges I wanted to apply to to the end when I actually picked a school. My college wise counselor was an amazing resource, an amazing guide for me throughout my entire process, and really made sure my true self shine through my application. And I knew what steps had taken when I had to take them, and really kept me on track throughout the entire application process. And I could not have asked for a better person to go through this process with.
Tell us about getting into your school. Where were you? How did it feel?
Peter McLean: I was driving to work when I got the email saying there was an update to my application portal for Clemson. So I was alone on my phone in an elementary school parking lot when I virtually opened my decision letter and I just remember being overwhelmed with joy when I saw congratulations, you've been accepted or however they phrase it exactly, just because it was really the culmination of over a year of hard work um all coming together, coming into the school that I knew I wanted to go to and the relief that came with knowing that this whole process has um had ended and I was lucky enough to have a college wise counselor that made it significantly less stressful. But anyway, you slice it. The college process is a stressful one. Um so really that knowing that I was done, I was in the school I wanted to go to was really a massive relief and very exciting for me at the moment.
Why is your college the right fit for you? How did Collegewise help you get in?
Peter McLean: Clemson was actually not my top choice at first, but the more I visited and the more I researched the university, the more I really just fell in love with it. I knew I wanted a school in the south from Connecticut. I really didn't want to deal with any more snow. Um, I wanted a school that had a big university, I wanted a big school, um, that had a strong athletic department, partially for the work opportunities that came with that. I knew I wanted to um work in college athletics, doing graphic design and photography, which is something I had done throughout high school and I wanted to step it up to a, to a bigger division one university and intern with them and Clemson provides that opportunities to, it's students. I also knew that I wanted to be a sport communication major with a constant focus and that's something that is so niche that it's, it's hard to find at schools around the country. Um, Sport communication alone is a major, that's few and far between universities and to have that constant focus and not so much of a broadcast focus. Um, it's even harder to find. So it was really just doing a ton of research and I visited the school a few times and just fell in love. The campus we have down here is absolutely beautiful. Um, and just all those things kind of added up to really show me that Clemson's where I wanted to be for the next four years and then being partnered with college wise was just amazing because they really helped me take the image that I had in my head for myself, that I wanted to show my application and get that onto paper and guide me throughout the process. And really, especially the essay portion, did a great job of showing, of helping me get how I wanted to show myself. And the way I wanted to preserve Myself in towards and onto paper because it really is hard to sum up 17, 18 years of one's life in a few essays and really show all parts of all the parts that someone is in such a short space. And college was really does a great job of helping you get all parts of your personality into the essays and the activity list and the rest of your application. So that's what shines through and puts together really a compelling application for the admissions office.
