First off, big congrats to those senior AoPSers for earning acceptances into top-tier universities! Some of you read my blog (!?), so you know who you are.

It's definitely inspiring and at the same time a confidence-booster for myself, as the class of 2018 is next in the manufacturing line. I've been thinking a lot about where I'm going to spend my 4 years after next year, so here's a tentative college list (in alphabetical order) I'm thinking about (note my school only allows us to apply to 10 schools despite protests from parents; this is a rant for another day...). This list is also likely to change as I find more info on each school.

In the meantime, Wed is back to school again. A lot of things to do - a sinking GPA to salvage, teachers to please, 5 APs to cram for. In the week before break (AIME week), I was pulled into a meeting with a counselor who recommended me to always plan ahead and organize for the events that'll occur between now and end of school, especially considering I have to find a way to squeeze out time to rage-study USAMO and ISEF. I'm still not sure how much juice I have left to squeeze from my trash body (fat af now again, also serious acne!). I've also been banned from drinking red bulls by an overly-concerned dad, so I'll have to live only on coffee.

This week is also a huge butt-clenching week - USAMO qual list, SUMaC decisions, Ross decisions - all coming out, so stay tuned.