The Most Difficult Year to Get into College in the History of the World

What was I Thinking?

The Neurotic Parent has had a serious lapse in judgement. 

Today is March 29th, one of the most important days in the college admissions cycle and we are now in the Miami airport on our way to Belize where we will be living in a treehouse in the jungle with no cell service or electricity.   And then we are moving to a shack on the beach. 

Just in time for:

- Juicy reports from parents of college juniors on their college tours (one directionally-challenged mother and son team is DRIVING from Oberlin to Cornell, and will surely have great stories).  Another pair is traveling in a private plane.

- The results of Ivy Acceptance/Rejection Day - Tuesday, March 31st.  I have a feeling that several of  CJ's friends, including one who was just named a National Merit Scholar, will be getting good news.  And there will be a collective nervous breakdown on College Confidential.

- Families whose kids have multiple acceptances (an embarrassment of riches) will be scrambing to book Southwest flights to Admitted Student Weekends.

- Weird admissions stories.  I already have a doozie to report - waiting for clearance from the mom of the proud new art student.

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So, dear readers, please help me relax and enjoy my time in the jungle by posting comments with your updates.  I will try to check in with a new post or two, but I might have to resort to reruns.

Happy Anniversary to This Blog

A year ago, if somebody had told me that I would become a specialist in college angst AND a well-known internet critic of Ithaca hotels, I wouldn't have believed it.  

But I would have believed that my Cerebral Jock son, who seemed more interested in following the March Madness basketball games than hearing about a capella groups on our eight-state college tour, would still be more interested in basketball than perusing the course catalog at his dream ED school.

In honor of this blog's anniversary, the Neurotic Parent Institute is proud to announce the result of a preliminary research study: This year, in fact, may NOT have been the most difficult year to get into college in the history of the world.

I hereby present preliminary anectodal evidence - some the acceptances received so far by some of CJ's friends, classmates and teammates who have been mentioned in this blog (Briliant Surfer, Compulsive Texter, Computer Genius...plus others whom I have not mentioned):

Columbia (early decision); Yale (early action); Stanford (early action); Duke (early decision), Wash U St. Louis; Rice (almost full ride); Michigan; UCSB (volleyball); Dartmouth (crew); Penn (early decision); Middlebury (early decision); Swarthmore (tennis); Wisconsin; Kenyon ($$); Lewis & Clark; Carleton; USC (film); USC (music); NYU (theater): NYU (film); Syracuse (business); Indiana; UCLA; Wesleyan (early decision and "early write"); UCLA; UCSD; UCSC; Colorado College; U of Colorado; Bucknell ($$); Tulane ($$); Emerson (acting); Barnard; Sarah Lawrence; MIT (early action).

I have heard that only five members of CJ's class have not yet received any acceptances...And those are top students who will have an embarrassment of riches to select from.  Plus, the above list does not include the decisions of many of the early-adverse Ivies (Inconveniently they are waiting until I'm in the jungle to announce those). 

The bottom line: Why were we so neurotic?  Everybody is getting in somewhere. 

Perhaps it is because we have conveniently experienced an economic meltdown which has helped those willing/able to pay full tuition.

Or perhaps it is because the colleges really want our nice, bright students, even though they have only one summer of genome research.

 

The Tables have Turned: Love Letters from Stanford

The tables have turned.  Those who were admitted to Stanford Early Action, which is not binding, have received personal handwritten notes from their regional admissions reps.   Some of these notes, and kind enticements designed to protect Stanford's yield, were posted by proud admitees on College Confidential:

"I admire your hard work in the classroom, with your community, and your family. I am confident you will continue to excel in the remainder of your senior year and I look forward to seeing the contributions you will make at Stanford. ¡Nos vemos pronto!"

I really enjoyed reading your answers to the supplement, particularly the one about a 'library superhero'. We need more people like you. Good luck!"

"You are a brilliant writer. i loved your piece on creationism and evolution.  I can tell that you are a deep thinker and Stanford will be lucky to have you."

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Thanks to expert field work, the Neurotic Parent Institute has uncovered another batch of notes, straight from the Stanford Admissions Reps for the New Economy:

"Your essay about how difficult it is to be the only young prince in your Swiss boarding school class was riveting- Exactly the sort of diversity we're looking for at Stanford.

and

"I enjoyed reading the annual report from your grandparents' foundation.  Thank goodness they were not affected by the Madoff situation.  And what a thrill to discover that you are their only grandchild!"

Rumors

Recent Rumors Reported to the Neurotic Parent:

1) An admissions officer from a prestigious LAC called the parents of an applicant to find out whether the family would be paying full tuition if their daughter were accepted.

2) The husband of a world-famous iconic political figure approached a Stanford alum at a dinner party and asked if he could help his daughter get in.

3) UCSB turned down more students from Beverly Hills High than ever before.  (This officially makes UCSB the new UCSD.)

4) Wash U St. Louis waitlisted almost all applicants with 2350+ SAT scores because of Tufts Syndrome (they assume the superstar applicants are just using Wash U as a safety and will not attend, thus lowering their yield and screwing up their US News ranking).  But many of the lucky few who were admitted received vouchers for airline tickets in their acceptance packets.

5) Contrary to media reports that it will be easier to get into private colleges this year, at least three top universities sent out kind letters to guidance counselors letting them know in advance that they sadly will be rejecting many highly-qualified applicants.

6) George Washington University, located five blocks from the suddenly-hip White House, is officially no longer a safety school.  Good luck getting in.

Passages

I vowed I would not turn this into a teary Emptying Nest blog.  But I must mention that last Friday CJ "graduated" from varsity soccer.  As I watched the highlight reel of his team's miraculous winning season (his school has more of a reputation for Animal Rights Activism and Sweat Lodge Rituals than for strong athletics), images of my fourteen years as a soccer mom flashed before me - the drives to Victorville in bumper-to-bumper traffic, the heat, the cold, the mud, the rain, the nervewracking penalty kicks, the emergency visits to the orthopedist.  The nostalgia was overwhelming as the team hugged their coaches goodbye....but then CJ reminded me that he still has a whole club tournament season ahead of him, in fact he has to be in the far reaches of the OC this very Saturday morning at 7 AM.

And with our younger son BH semi-committed to JV soccer, I can probably look forward three more years of forgotten cleats and unfair refs.

Separation Night

Last Thursday our school sponsored an evening for parents of seniors to prepare us for that day next August when we have to drop off our babies.  

Thirty people showed up.  We sat in a circle with three school psychologists and had a council.  I can't tell you anything that was said (would have to kill you), but you can imagine.  There was laughter. There were tears.  And there were funny, poignant stories about when WE went off to college a generation ago, when the world was completely different...or was it?

Until a few moments ago, I was feeling pretty good about the outcome of the evening.  What I gleaned from it was that it will be incredible for CJ and not so bad for me because I had such a positive experience going off to college in the aforementioned world of yesteryear. 

But I just glanced at the first few lines of the handout we were given, and now I'm wondering just how easy this process will be:

"Tonight we are going to talk about what it means to say good-by to a relationship that has sustained you for over seventeen years.  For most of you, this relationship has been the most incredible relationship you have ever experienced..."

I defy you to show me a handout that is more of a tearjerker.