Pflugerville student featured in New York Times article

By James Rincon

Pflag Reporter

Procrastination is a common trait of the dreaded psychological slacking syndrome known in American high schools as “senioritis,” but it seems at least one Pflugerville High senior is showing signs of immunity.

Seventeen-year-old Cree Bautista was the nation’s first student to apply to college this year via the Common Application, a general application form used by more than 150 independent colleges to evaluate incoming talent.

The form opened for use at midnight Aug. 1, and by 3:30 a.m. the admissions office at New York University had Bautista’s information and essays.

“I was just really excited to kick off senior year, and what better way than applying to college?” Bautista said. “I felt like I was ready. I didn’t feel like there was anything to wait for, so I just went ahead and did it.”

Bautista said out of the four schools to which he plans to apply, NYU is the only one that accepts the Common App. Most of his other prospects accept the Apply Texas application, including Steven F. Austin State University and University of North Texas.

Bautista is a member of the PHS choir and said he wants to major in vocal performance in college. He has never even visited NYU or even the state of New York, but he said when he thinks of New York, romantic images of a bohemian art scene make it an ideal place to get his education.

“NYU is kind of my out-there. If I get in great, but I’m not expecting anything choice. My choice for in-state schools are [Texas] Tech and SFA and UNT,” Bautista said.

If NYU admissions haven’t begun whittling down next year’s applicant yet, they may still know Bautista is among them. Since beating the rest of his class to the “send” button on the Common App, Bautista has been the topic of articles in the New York Times and New York Magazine.

He said he didn’t expect all the attention when he sent in his application, but thinks it’s “pretty cool.”

“I wasn’t looking for anything. I was just looking to apply to school,” Bautista said. “I showed a bunch of people. I told a bunch of people, “Hey I’m going to be in the New York Times.”

But Bautista’s excitement over his publicized punctuality is dwarfed by that of his proud parents. “They think it’s like the coolest thing ever,” he said. “They’re really supportive of it. Obviously they’re a little sad if I would go so far away, but they think it’s great.”

Bautista is about to begin his final year at PHS, which means one more year of choir, cross country and track before years of dorm rooms and roommates. He said he plans to concentrate on using his last year at PHS to pad his GPA as much as possible.

“I’m just trying to get through senior year,” he said. “I want to boost up my GPA with the last chance that I get and try to settle everything out and finish off with a bang.”