While most of all high school seniors anticipate responses from the universities they applied to and with some seniors still finishing up their college applications, seven Diamond Bar High School seniors have already received an early “welcome” from their dream universities.

This year’s early application acceptances include senior Brahmas Alyssa Wu, Akash George, Eileen Zu, Emma Fu, Ella Chiu, Irene Park and Andrew Shi, all of which will be attending highly prestigious schools from across the nation during next fall’s school year, ranging from Stanford to Claremont Mckenna. 

Looking to further advance his ever-growing interest in the field of business, George will be planning to attend the reputable Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania this upcoming school year.

“A Wharton degree prepares you for business rather than beating around the bush,” George said via Instagram. “I am looking forward to connecting with America’s future business leaders.”

George gained his interest in the field of business through having an opportunity to hold an internship with the career development company. 

In addition to this particular opportunity, George partook in business courses at Mt. Sac to better prepare him for this major. 

“Now that I am accepted, I feel like I can focus more on developing my soft skills and work on broadening my perspective,” he said.

Chiu, who will be joining Claremont McKenna College as a finance major next year, managed to secure her position at the school thanks to a sports commitment following her success on the DBHS golf team. Having been a member of the team since her freshman year and qualifying for CIFs all four years, Chiu said she received a lot of support from her coaches to apply for the school early. 

“The coaches volunteered to come to watch me play and analyze my golf games,” Chiu said. “They were impressed and highly encouraged me to apply to their Early Decision Application and invited me to meet them again on the campus.”

Chiu looks to participate in Claremont McKenna’s nationally top-ranked economic program due to her interest in finance.

“During my sophomore year, I took the role of Treasurer for Interact Club and this developed my interest in finance,” Chiu said. “Because CMC’s School of Economics and Finance prepares its students for business management, I wanted to develop my leadership skills so I can be prepared for any role in my future profession.”

Double-majoring in Mathematics, Computational Science, and Music, Shi was admitted into Stanford University. 

“Stanford has been my dream school ever since I visited their campus nine years ago,” Shi said. “There is a really strong tech culture, research spirit, and entrepreneurial drive that serves as the underlying philosophy for many disciplines.”

Shi has competed and performed on international stages as a classically-trained pianist. Intrigued by the intersection of music and technology, he hopes to use computer programming as a medium for music-making. 

“I think it is important to show colleges what makes you different and unique from other applicants,” Shi said. 

Making her way into the medical field, Wu has been accepted to Johns Hopkins University as a pre-med student.

“I really was not expecting myself to get accepted, so upon seeing the news when my decision was released, I was shocked,” she said via Instagram. “At the same time, I was quite glad that I no longer had to complete the rest of my regular decision applications; this took a huge burden off of my shoulders.”

In terms of her application, Wu said she tried to take a more humble approach toward drafting her personal statement and supplemental essay.  

“Instead of trying to be outwardly boastful about achievements or awards, I wanted to capture my perspective in linking my past experience with future passions, especially for a highly-competitive field like biology and pre-med,” Wu said.