By Derek Schlom

Some of the class of 2009 rode waves of delight while others were forced to withstand disappointment in mid-December when early admission decisions at most major universities were released.

For those who were not accepted, the rest of the month was consumed by last-minute application work in time for the early-January regular admission deadlines.

Denise

Denise, who applied exclusively to schools on the West Coast, is still playing the waiting game.

She was accepted early action to Lewis & Clark College, one of her top choices, and to the University of Arizona, but has yet to hear from any of the other ten schools to which she applied, including University of Southern California and Occidental.

"It was exciting to get in to those schools, and Lewis & Clark is a viable option, but I want to wait and see where else I get in," she said.

Though she has wavered throughout the application process, Denise has honed her choices, with the exception of the Lewis & Clark and Arizona, down to schools in the Los Angeles area, including four Claremont colleges: Claremont McKenna, Pitzer, Scripps, and Pomona (which she calls a "super long shot").

"I first learned about Scripps during the dean meetings and I looked into the rest of [the Claremont colleges] and liked all of them," she said.

Denise hasn’t fallen ill with "senioritis," despite her offers at Arizona and Lewis & Clark.

"I’m definitely still working," she said. "I’m not looking at this semester any differently. I’m excited that it’s second semester, but I’m doing what I need to do."

Holly

Holly, who was accepted in December to Northwestern University’s School of Communication, refuses to fall into complacency, not out of fear that her acceptance will be revoked, but for her own contentment.

"It’s weird — you think that second semester is going to come and all of a sudden you’re just going to stop working. I found that it makes me way too uncomfortable to do homework," she said.

"It’s so ingrained into my daily routine and my mentality that I just can’t not do it. I still want to do well in school, but now I can do that completely for my satisfaction. I don’t have to try and impress anyone anymore."

Brian

Brian, a varsity athlete, was rejected early from Stanford, but received a "likely letter" from Harvard notifying him that he will be accepted when official decisions are made in the spring. As a result, he only applied to Harvard.

"I haven’t really planned for [not being accepted], so hopefully it won’t happen," he said.