The Waiting Game

The way a student spends his or her summer during high school is crucial to the college application process.  I would have made a very good paycheck if I was paid per hour the time I spent scouring the internet for a good summer program.  After much deliberation, we narrowed it down to three -- Phillips Academy at Andover and Exeter, and the Smith College Summer Science and Engineering program. 

Each required recommendations (3 for Phillips!), essays, and transcripts.  I had mailed out the finished products at the end of February and for four weeks it was excruciating.

I found myself so anxious for the mail delivery each day.  I wondered how acceptable our back-up plans were (WPI Frontiers and Camp IF, plus local volunteer work).  I couldn't write so freely during these weeks because I felt so affected by the stress of not knowing how my daughter's summer schedule was going to be -- where? four weeks or five? cost?  financial aid?  I found myself wondering and wondering how things were going to work out and I had no focus to even read a novel or write a short letter.

At one point I even e-mailed each school, with the pretense that I wasn't certain if the guidance counselor mailed in the 9th grade transcript along with the current year (indeed, he did forgot to do this for one of the schools).  The responses were positive, except for the one school, and at least they had everything.  All I had to do for the remainder of the weeks was play the waiting game.

Our first decision came back surprisingly by emailed, followed the next day by a letter.  My daughter was waitlisted to Andover.  Though the committee was "very impressed" and commended her for her "drive," there apparently were a "larger number of applications" to their program. 

I was appalled.  My daughter looked it over and commented it was probably because we requested financial aid.  I frantically emailed back the dean, and politely inquired if she could hint how we could improve in the case my daughter applied next year -- were the recommendations too standard?  could the grades be any better?  do her extra-curricular activities make her look unaccomplished?  To my incredible surprise, the dean replied that my daughter was a qualified candidate, but that the lack of financial aid on their part required them to waitlist her.  If there was any way we could cover the full tuition ($7,600), she would certainly be accepted to attend. 

My daughter was right, and what a relief that was!  One down, two to go.