April Is A Cruel Month

Seniors, the college odyssey is coming to a close for most of you. If you are one of the thousands of high school seniors in the country who is disappointed about your college news, I am sorry and I know how you feel. Trust me, I know. I've got the tissues on my desk and the battle scars of many years of talking to disappointed parents and students from the admissions side and now the high school side. I know from experience that there is absolutely nothing I can say to make you feel better. If you are willing, take a peek at Natalie Perry's post about going through what you might be feeling right now (she didn't get into her top choice school and truly didn't even have a second choice that she was happy about). You know how this ends: she is incredibly happy and hasn't looked back at That School That Was Ridiculous Enough Not To Admit Her. Their loss. http://lifeaftervisi.blogspot.com/2010/11/natalie-perry-08-on-tufts-and-why-plan.html And perhaps yesterday's NPR audiofile will help you to not take all of this so personally. http://lifeaftervisi.blogspot.com/2011/03/its-not-you-its-me.html

Finally, in this month of disappointment for many, there were two bright spots in my office yesterday that I'd like to share.

• A father of a current senior (who had emailed me over break, disappointed about his daughter's recent wait list news from one of her top choice schools) emailed me to say "please don't tell my daughter, but there's a Big Envelope from (school will remain nameless) in the mailbox!" He was so obviously happy for his daughter and couldn't wait for her to arrive home and open the envelope. This reminded me of receiving my own college acceptance a million years ago. The letter was in a thin envelope and my mom and I opened it together. We called my dad before we opened the letter and he was in the car. He was so nervous that he had to pull over.


• Also yesterday, a senior rushed into my office with her Mac open to a college's admissions portal. She had not received a decision letter from this school, but suddenly she had the option of clicking a link to "accept admission" and "pay deposit." She was desperate to know if this meant she was in. I was nervous. I have seen this happen to students before and it ends up that there's some kind of strange computer glitch. Without an official acceptance letter or email, you can never assume anything! And so we called the school (one of her top choices), and she is IN! We jumped up and down and we hugged it out.

Please be sure to share your news - good and not so good. If you are staying on wait list, we want to know about it. Email is okay, but we always prefer to see you in person!

Published by TSM