There are a few circumstances that I left out of my article that might alleviate Julia's confusion. 1. My financial situation is very different because my stepmother recently died of cancer, which meant giant medical bills and the loss of an income. I was not aware that this misfortune would befall my family when I applied to college. 2. My year abroad serves two purposes (a) the fulfillment of a lifelong dream, and (b) the chance for my family and me to raise more money during that year instead of taking out loans the first year of college. 3. I did apply to several safety schools, that unfortunately did not recognize my special circumstances. Please never insult the intelligence and capability of the wonderful Lisa Micele, who did all she could to help me. We both thought that I was a qualified applicant to all of the schools I applied to. That is all I'm going to post on this little article of mine that has received so much attention from outside of my school. Thanks for reading! Hopefully if I do end up at Wellesley the women there will be mature enough not to judge me by a 1,000 word article. Oh, one last question. How did all of you outsiders find this article? Peace, Bethany