Dreams Come True: Class of 2029

Maclay Seniors Accepted to Their Dream Colleges

Photo courtesy of Gray Burleson (left), Gavin Slocum (middle) and Vuk Usina (right)

An acceptance letter from a dream school is something that many high school students dedicate their lives to. Top colleges require strong academics, extracurriculars, test scores, essays and more for admissions, and the acceptance rates are decreasing every year. The competition was especially intense for the graduating class of 2025 with record-breaking numbers of applications. Many colleges have released their decisions, and Maclay seniors Gray Burleson, Gavin Slocum and Vuk Usina have shared exciting acceptance news from their dream colleges.

Gray Burleson: Wake Forest University

Burleson was accepted to Wake Forest University, where she applied during the early decision round, after visiting the college and falling in love with the environment. She is known at Maclay as the co-president of student council, editor-in-chief of the yearbook and a captain of three varsity sports. Outside of school, Burleson founded an organization that donates sports equipment to the Boys and Girls Club in Tallahassee and worked as a counselor for a summer camp in North Carolina. As a leader of many organizations, Burleson found joy in benefiting her communities. She highlighted this aspect of her character in her essays, which portrayed who she is as a distinct individual beyond numerical values.

“I remember very vividly, the summer going into my freshman year, I had so many goals that I wanted to set for myself,” Burleson said. “This whole process was just up to me and no one else, so that was probably my biggest motivator.”

On top of extracurriculars and sports, Burleson took 13 Advanced Placement (AP) classes throughout high school. Balancing countless tasks every day was her biggest struggle, and staying up until 2 a.m. became increasingly common. However, she took every little or big opportunity and accomplishment along the way as a source of inspiration. For college admissions, she wrote her essays during the summer before senior year and researched each college carefully to produce unique supplementals.

“Applying [to colleges] was probably one of the most stressful but the most rewarding things because at the end of the day, I felt like it’s such a privilege to even be able to apply to these schools,” Burleson said.

At Wake Forest, Burleson plans to double major in business and communications with a minor in marketing. She is looking forward to stepping into new opportunities in Winston-Salem and entering the real business world.

“My biggest piece of advice would be to just realize that at the end of the day, once you submit your application, it’s out of your control, but what’s in your control is working as hard as you possibly can and giving yourself as many opportunities as possible,” Burleson said.

Gavin Slocum: California Institute of Technology

Slocum was accepted to the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), the most selective college in the United States with a 3% acceptance rate. Slocum developed a passion for science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) while taking advanced math courses in fourth grade. After succeeding in AP Calculus AB in eighth grade, he continued to take college-level math courses throughout high school. Outside of school, he has worked with professors at Florida State University on meteorology research involving computer programming and mathematical calculations.

“I was very sick while I was opening it [the acceptance letter], but I was very happy,” Slocum said. “My whole family and I were. It was one of the best feelings I’ve ever had. I can still remember that feeling.”

Slocum has been playing soccer competitively for 13 years. In addition to playing for clubs and school, he attended numerous soccer tournaments and college ID camps, where he got to play in front of college coaches. At one Surf Cup tournament in San Diego, he connected with a Caltech soccer coach who was impressed by Slocum’s academic profile and performance on the field. To pursue world-class STEM education while continuing his soccer career, Slocum applied to Caltech through restrictive early action and received a likely letter a few months prior to being finally accepted.

“[The most rewarding part] is just having it be over and being able to finally relax because I poured so much time into the essays,” Slocum said. “I’m also very happy that I get to play soccer in college because I’ve been doing it my whole life.”

Slocum looks forward to studying math and physics at Caltech and exploring specific career interests through clubs and internships. He is excited for his new soccer team as well as the weather and food in Pasadena.

“Everybody is different, but try to work as hard as possible,” Slocum said. “If you’re a hard worker, you’re going to be a successful person no matter what, no matter where you go.”

Vuk Usina: Vassar College

Usina was accepted to Vassar College, a liberal arts college located in New York. Usina’s high school career has been focused on two sports, soccer and swimming. Similar to Slocum, he attended multiple college ID camps. After reaching out to many coaches, he was offered a position in the swimming team at Vassar College. He visited the campus last year over winter break and enjoyed the college environment and culture. As a student with mixed interests and goals, Usina also liked that Vassar College offers great academics and athletics.

“For the admissions I was just worried about the time [because] I was planning on applying to somewhere between 10 and 15 schools, so just getting all the information and writing all the essays and supplementals [were very stressful],” Usina said.

The most challenging part of high school for Usina was maintaining grades while playing multiple sports and communicating with college coaches. However, he also appreciated the opportunity to bond with his classmates through shared experiences.

“I think it gave me and a lot of people something to talk about since we were all kind of going through it at the similar time and struggling with similar things,” Usina said.

Usina is exploring academic pathways, but he is currently the most interested in majoring in philosophy. He is the most excited about going to college itself and starting a new independent chapter of his life.

“I’d say [the biggest piece of advice is to] stay on top of all your stuff and make sure you’re constantly checking deadlines and any information,” Usina said. “Try to get in contact with anyone, whether through sports or admissions, just so you’re on their radar and you know when everything’s going to happen.”