Not all students choose to go to college after graduation, but for those who do, the month of March is especially important. College acceptance and rejection letters start rolling in from across the country, affecting the decisions of the seniors at Cascade. The class of 2025 is one of the highest performing classes Cascade has ever seen, with multiple Ivy League acceptances, seven eligible Valedictorians, and eleven 4.0 GPA students.
Most CHS students choose to go to college in Washington, whether that is Wenatchee Valley College, a private university, or one of the five Washington state schools. These include Eastern Washington University (EWU), Central Washington University (CWU), Washington State University (WSU), Western Washington University (WWU), and University of Washington (UW).
“I am going to Eastern Washington University. I visited my sophomore year, and I felt welcome, and they have a good amount of clubs. I feel like it’s a place where I can be outgoing and succeed. I want to study psychology, maybe go into industrial organization psychology. I also applied to Central, but I always knew I wanted to go to Eastern. I could have given myself the opportunity to apply to other colleges, but I have visited a lot of other colleges, and I didn’t really connect with them. I just feel like I really connected with Eastern,” explained Sophie Oropeza (12).
“I’m going to Central Washington University for construction management. I chose it because it’s not too far from home, and it’s not too expensive and it has the degree I want. I was going to do Perry Tech, but they ran out of space already, and I’m still hearing from Wenatchee Valley as my backup. I want to do construction management, because it’s a field where you have a lot of freedom for how you want to work. You can take your degree and lead into owning your own business and more,” said Chris Cacho (12).
“I am going to Washington State University. I just think it fits my personality the most, even though it’s in the middle of nowhere, it’s still driving distance from a lot of things. I don’t know exactly what I want to study but it will probably have to do with business, accounting, or engineering or some kind of management. I also applied to Seattle Pacific, Montana State, Louisiana State University, Oregon State, Eastern Washington, and Wenatchee Valley College, and I got into all of them,” said Talen Johnson (12).
UW is one of the most sought-after schools to attend at CHS, and year after year students vie to be one of the few students admitted. This year, the class of 2025 had a record-breaking number of acceptances. Seventeen students were accepted into UW, and four were accepted into the engineering program, the most competitive program offered at the school.
“I was really excited [when I got in]. I started crying. I was in shock because I didn’t expect the decisions to be there because I checked it before the time they were actually supposed to come out. I was shaking," explained Karla Cacho (12).
“I was really excited [when I got in]. I started crying. I was in shock because I didn’t expect the decisions to be there because I checked it before the time they were actually supposed to come out. I was shaking. I want to go because I really like Seattle, and I went to visit it with my avid class my freshman year. Ever since then I have wanted to go. I want to major in biology so I can go into dentistry. I am really happy and proud that so many people got it, we all deserve it, and we all worked really hard. It’s kind of crazy because UW doesn’t really accept a lot of people,” explained Karla Cacho (12).
Some students choose to go further afield than Washington and attend university out of state. One factor that influences these decisions is the Western Undergrad Exchange (WUE) scholarship. Through the WUE, some colleges give students from out of state significantly reduced tuition, almost matching the in-state tuition.
“It's a great opportunity for kids who want to go out of state but pay in-state tuition. Some schools have it for specific majors, or you have to apply, while other schools just give it depending on your permanent address,” explained Mrs. Rieke, the Cascade career counselor.
“I am going to attend San Diego State University next year. What appealed to me is that it’s in San Diego and more of a bigger city. I have family there and I love that area so much, and a lot of my family went there. I want to study journalism because I find it’s fun and I’m passionate about it when I’m locked in. I also applied to WSU, University of California San Marcos, and I got into all of them,” said Jackson Feeney (12).
One of the most competitive and stressful categories to apply for is the Ivy League as well as other high level/ low acceptance rate schools. The Ivy League consists of eight historically significant and highly prestigious universities, some of the best in the U.S and the world. These include Brown University, Columbia University, Cornell University, Dartmouth College, Harvard University, Princeton University, University of Pennsylvania, and Yale University. This year there was an unprecedented amount of Ivy acceptances at Cascade, including schools with acceptance rates as low at 4%.
“If felt amazing to admitted to Dartmouth. It’s a school that I’ve been working towards for a long time, so it felt fulfilling to get it. I not really sure what I want to study, but probably economics and comparative literature. I applied to all the Ivy schools and got into Dartmouth, Harvard, Yale, Brown, and Cornell, and was waitlisted at Princeton,” said Caroline Menna (12). Dartmouth was founded in 1769 in New Hampshire and has a 6% acceptance rate.
“I was really excited when I found out I got into Columbia. I really like New York city, and they have a strong engineering program. I am planning on studying either electric or mechanical engineering. I did the early decision application, so I only applied to UW, Cal Poly, UC Berkly, and UCLA, but I withdrew my applications as soon as I got into Columbia,” explained Caden Peterson (12). Columbia was founded in 1754 in New York and has a 4% acceptance rate.
“I will be attending Princeton. They have some incredible programs that I would like to be a part of and many resources that I look forward to having access to. The campus is also really beautiful. I am currently planning on studying engineering and comparative literature. I was also accepted to the University of Washington, Cal Poly, Western Washington University, Oregon State University, Northern Arizona University, Montana State University, and Whitman College,” said Hazel Eschen (12). Princeton was founded in 1746 in New Jersey and has a 4% acceptance rate.
“I felt really surprised when I got accepted to the University of Santa Cruz. I did not think I was going to get in, so I was really excited. I need to know more about it, but I like how many resources and how much funding they have. It’s also in California so I can go to the beach. I got into UW, Western, CU Boulder UCSC, and Cal Poly,” said Savanna Rowles (12). USC was founded in 1880 in California and has a 10% acceptance rate.
[The class of 2025] is a really high achieving group and I’m very happy with what everyone is doing.
“[The class of 2025] is a really high achieving group and I’m very happy with what everyone is doing. There is a really good variety of plans. There is a differentiation in the schools’ people are going to from years past because a lot more kids applied for Ivy schools and did early decision. There are also more kids planning to go to college than in the past,” stated Rieke.
The class of 2025 is one of the most diverse, successful, and high achieving classes at Cascade. As the students make their final decisions determining what they will pursue after high school, they will continue to shine in and out of the classroom. No matter what they end up doing, this senior class will make a lasting impact on the world around them.
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