Motivation-expectations/goals/rewards

o Expectations
Self-fulfilling prophecy
o Goals
Specific but meaningful
Difficult but obtainable
o Rewards
Intrinsic
Extrinsic
Decision Making
o Confirmation bias
o Sampling on dependent variable
o Inattentional blindness
o Change blindness
o Choices
Paradox of choice
Regret and counterfactual thinking
High expectations
Self blame
o Intuition
Identity
o Traits
Openness to experience
Conscientiousness
Extraversion
Agreeableness
Neuroticism
o Personal concerns
o Life story
o Alternative Selves
Self-redefining counterfactual
Become part of self concept

As I looked across the sea of burnt orange flooding the bleachers during the Rice vs. UT
football game, the thoughts and questions started to come back, What if I had picked UT?
Would I have changed majors? How would my extracurricular life look? To this day, my
decision to pick Rice University over the University of Texas lives on in my thoughts and
daydreams. Previously, I considered these thoughts generally unhealthy as they often cast a
shadow of doubt and regret over my choice. Armed with this new knowledge of identity,
however, I can be free to explore deeper into my choice to attend Rice, and how different topics
mentioned in class can be revealed and explored in this decision. After analyzing the big-picture
motivations and ideas behind my decision, I was able to dig even further, reflecting on my
specific processes and circumstances, as well as forming comparisons between my experience
and that of some of my classmates. Then, over two years after making the decision, I provide
closure by lining up aspects of my identity with the character of Rice as a school, and touch on
the exploration of my alternative self. The structure of my essay follows as such.
My motivation to pick Rice definitely stemmed very strongly from expectations I had for
the school as well as goals I had set for myself for my college education. As a top student in high
school, I felt the need to go to the highest ranked school I could in order to justify the work I put
in, as well as to have a prestigious name on my resume. Looking back, these two points both fell
strongly on the extrinsic side of rewards, but it was an undeniable influence on my decision.
Instead of focusing more on finding satisfaction in the school itself, I was much more concerned
about my outward image and how other people, including my parents and family friends, viewed
me. Young, relatively immature, and impressionable, I was easily swayed by marketing
campaigns, and Rice did an excellent job with flyers and materials it sent to me. This is not to
say that there was no intrinsic motivation to attend Rice, or that the flyers were deceiving in any
way. I did eventually gather myself, and view both schools on a more realistic, more internally
focused manner. I judged the average class sizes, quality of majors I was interested in, and
overall campus culture through visits to each school. With all factors considered, I ultimately
decided on Rice, and sent in my acceptance letter, finalizing that decision, and the next four
years of my life.
The low number of choices of colleges I was considering did serve well in allowing me to
avoid the paradox of choice. I became very aware of this concept before even learning about it
by name through observations of fellow friends and classmates. Although having a large stack of
college acceptance letters definitely gave off an air of success, I found that these very classmates
were the most stressed, due to the large number of factors they had to consider, and the multitude
of constantly changing variables to take into account. I frequently found these classmates
constantly flipping sides, changing opinions, and just generally overwhelmed with anxiety, lining
up directly with Barry Schwartzs discussion regarding the paradox of choice. However, diving
further into this issue, I see a deeper sense of regret when presented with such few choices as
two, because both seem so close at hand already. I was able to do so much research and interact
so extensively with both sides that I felt like I was part of the each school already at different
points in time. With such a real taste of the other side, it is almost impossible to avoid a deeper,
more real sense of counterfactual thinking when thinking back to the alternative.
I am a Rice Owl. That is part of my identity now, and I am proud and excited to claim it
as such. My tendency towards introversion and neuroticism does tend more closely to the small
school environment, and it has shown so far. I am able to get away and have my peace whenever
I need it. Deeper than that, Rices location between the hedges instead of downtown Austin is
highly conducive to my favored atmosphere as well. When I have doubts, they often swing on

the idealistic side, as my decision was definitely rooted in pragmatism. I visualize the lively
atmosphere of Austin, Texas, the wider range of major and career options, and newer, fancier
facilities. However, instead of simply pushing these thoughts down, like I used to, I now take
these daydreams and use them to help me appreciate what I have at Rice even more, and how I
can bring those aspects that I yearn for into my experience here. As such, I have tried to
assimilate both experiences by taking on a business minor as well as moving off campus for
greater outside the hedges exposure. Thus, instead of viewing the daydreams as a disgruntled
pout, I now use them to explore any suppressed or forgotten interests, and how I can apply them
to life at Rice. In closing, my decision to attend Rice was not a quick or easy one, but I definitely
think it was the right one. The concepts discussed in class truly helped me break down the
decision piece by piece and analyze my thinking strategy, as well as give me a new outlook into
decision-making in the future.