Diamond Ranch Senior Faces College Smorgasbord

Name: Roberto Perez
Grade: 12th
School: Diamond Ranch High School

senior Roberto Perez has a good problem: he's going to have to choose from a smorgasbord of the nation's top schools.

Perez, who will be a first-generation college graduate in his family, said he was surprised as the acceptance and "likely" letters rolled in from Stanford, UCLA, Columbia, Amherst, NYU. His mother, however, was not shocked.

"Over the summer, my mom said that I was applying to too many schools," Perez said, "she said I would get in wherever."

And Mom was right.

"It wasn't what I expected," Perez said, "it blew my mind. It was crazy to get a likely letter from Stanford."

The "likely" letter, Perez said, indicates likely admission if he keeps up his grades and other activities.

Perez said his choice is now based on the atmosphere of the school, a choice that could land him at a woodsy liberal arts college like Williams College or a large urban school like New York University.

"I want to be close to a city," Perez said, "but I might be willing to compromise to go to Williams."

Perez said he expects to study math or biology, but that his interests could be subject to change in college.

At Diamond Ranch, Perez is the executive treasurer of the Associated Student Body, has been vice president of Invisible Children United — raising money to support education in Northern Uganda — and has participated in debate and the school's environmental club.

Perez will look to make a decision about which school he will attend by May 1.