Believe in Yourself Zaira Gonzalez
The odds were against Zaira: Only 11 percent of seniors at Southwest High School in El Centro, Calif., on the Mexican border, go on to four-year colleges. A first-generation American, Zaira got little family help-her parents, separated and living in Mexico, knew nothing about U.S. higher ed. She applied to 10 schools and was accepted by five. Living with an aunt and straddling two cultures, Gonzalez is plunging into the Midwest, heading to the College of St. Benedict in St. Joseph, Minn., to study biology or chemistry. She wants to be a physician.
SAT scores: 600 math, 580 critical reading, 610 writing
GPA: 3.8 nonweighted
Extracurrics: Judo (took third place in Mexican Nationals), Ventures scholar
Essay topic: Working with her judo coach and mentor
Biggest concern: Whether she could afford it
Advice to 11th graders: Believe in yourself. Her judo coach and a counselor "saw more in me than I did."
In hindsight: Would have applied only to smaller schools, not to larger ones where class sizes could swell
Biggest reach: Applying to Princeton (she didn't get in)
Hardest part: Juggling parents' Mexican tax and income statements for FAFSA
Biggest surprise: $86,000 in grants and scholarships over four years. "I thought I was going to have to take a year off or go to community college."