Details
Details, details. I hate details and live in fear that missing some minor one will render me irreparably screwed. Hans has no tolerance for details either, believing he can overcome or outsmart any missing detail. I fear, he ignores.
And we do miss details. The worst case was totally missing the the scholarship application deadline to one of the schools. We haven’t heard yet the consequences of that blunder.
Less disastrous was when the acceptance letters starting coming in requiring the happy recipient to read every single line after “Congratulations.” Lines that said things like, “to hold your space, send in your deposit of $150.00 by March 1st or 21 days after receiving this letter.” Oops, no one saw the 21 days. I feared the repercussions (that his space would no longer be held) and Hans blithely watched me write out the check and post it a good two and a half months late. (I helicoptered in and called the school to verify he was still in. He was.)
It is irritating that after all this angst over choosing colleges and having colleges choose your kid, we have to stay on our toes, be diligent to the end, even if we don’t know which school he’ll choose.
Get your FAFSA done, get your scholarship essays and applications in, get your “save my space for fall admission” deposit in, get your housing applications and deposits in, wait for college X to send a letter of acceptance, followed a month later by college Y, don’t commit to any until all financial aid/scholarship packages are presented…even if college Z accepted you and offered a kick-ass scholarship two months ago.
And finally don’t forget to write the letters before May 1st to get your deposits refunded if you aren’t going to attend.
How do those who apply to upwards of ten schools ever keep it straight? How many high school seniors are that cognizant of all these little details beyond their applications? As much as we parents and the college admissions folks want the students to be the ones in charge of this process, we have to concede that at the very least, this is a “team” effort, in most part led by parents.
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click on this poster to come to your senses
looking for sanity, normalcy, and the sanctity of childhood, in a whacked out, neurosis-inducing college admissions culture. is the hype worth it?
Speak Out for Students Poster
click on this poster to come to your senses
Sucked in
When my oldest son was in high school and the chatter about colleges got louder and louder, I started realizing how competitive was the world of college acceptance. Then I bought the hype magnifying the importance of getting into the right college, (whatever that is).
But there was one problem: my kids didn't buy into the hype.
This blog consists of thoughts, essays and excerpts from essays chronicling my fight to avoid the dark abys that this current college acceptance culture creates.
But there was one problem: my kids didn't buy into the hype.
This blog consists of thoughts, essays and excerpts from essays chronicling my fight to avoid the dark abys that this current college acceptance culture creates.
Things Are Different Now
A number of us are parents with pretty smart kids, many of whom took honors and A.P or I.B coursework. We'd like these pretty smart kids of ours to go to the "right" college, whatever that may be. But we've been inundated with horror stories about college admissions and the competition to drop upwards of $40 grand a year for the right school.
God, things are different now!
In 1972, around the time my husband and I graduated, three million students nationwide graduated from high school. In 2005, just about the same number of students graduated.
But here's the crazy-making stuff, 62 percent more grads are enrolling in colleges, and by 2014, an additional 15 percent will be joining ranks!
Do you ever look at admissions stats at colleges and wonder whether you'd have been accepted today? My alma mater, The University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, I'm quite sure wouldn't accept me today with my 3.4 GPA. Is it any wonder then that our generation, we uber parents who have more than any generation engaged in micro-managing our kids, is going ballistic?
Oh yeah, things are different now.
Web Sites, Blogs, and Articles of Interest
- A Principal Who Cracks Down on Stress NY Times
- Brain over Belly NY Times
- COLLEGE ADMISSIONS: WHAT ARE STUDENTS LEARNING?
- College Confidential
- College Parents of America
- Collegeboard.com
- Education Conservancy (a group fighting the hype!)
- FIRE Foundation for Individual Rights in Education
- Natl. Assoc. for College Admission Counseling
- Overachievers USA Today
- Princeton Review
- Simple Tuition Financing College
- Student driven college search Unigo
- Tell All Campus Tour NY Times
- Tense Times NY Times
- The College Admissions Derby (Pope Clark)
- WE ADMIT…GUIDANCE FROM THOSE WHO DO
Just Thinking...
The Brand Game
It is really a sign of the times when the hype to go to a particular college is so great that it is akin to driving a Mercedes or carrying a Prada handbag.
As the Ivy Leagues become less accessible for even the legacy kids, the so-called second tier schools are flaunting their selectivity. Can’t own the Prada? Go for Coach. But if you want Coach, you have to play the game too.
The clincher is you have to know the rules of the game before you start high school, and complete the game before your senior year. At age 17.
It is really a sign of the times when the hype to go to a particular college is so great that it is akin to driving a Mercedes or carrying a Prada handbag.
As the Ivy Leagues become less accessible for even the legacy kids, the so-called second tier schools are flaunting their selectivity. Can’t own the Prada? Go for Coach. But if you want Coach, you have to play the game too.
The clincher is you have to know the rules of the game before you start high school, and complete the game before your senior year. At age 17.
Just Thinking...
Angst and Awe
This generation of kids has been so busy pleasing teachers and administrators in the quest for college admission, that I wonder with angst what will become of our society.
Conversely, I think this generation of kids have been exposed to incredibly superior educations, and such full life experiences that have them doing missionary work, leading student governments, and starring in school plays, that I wonder with awe what will become of our society.
This generation of kids has been so busy pleasing teachers and administrators in the quest for college admission, that I wonder with angst what will become of our society.
Conversely, I think this generation of kids have been exposed to incredibly superior educations, and such full life experiences that have them doing missionary work, leading student governments, and starring in school plays, that I wonder with awe what will become of our society.
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