We were in a restaurant having a late lunch before the finals of our daughters big soccer tournament. Just as food was being delivered our son checked his portal on his iPhone. He stared intently at the screen, turned to wife and I, smiled and gave a thumbs up. He was accepted at Stanford. He stayed calm, but wife, daughter and I went crazy. The diners at the restaurant must have thought we hit the lottery. Later, as we watched our daughter play soccer under the lights, I realized that my son had, in fact, hit the lottery.
It so happened that the only physical acceptance package DD received was from USC. It was the first acceptance for her after EA deferral from MIT and Caltech. We knew that most of the people at our location received packages already, but she did not get anything. Two days later my neighbor who was out of town for a weekend brought in the package from USC that was left at his doorsteps. DD was jumping and dancing around the house. It was so much joy! She got many acceptances that year. Including the one from MIT. But that very first one was the most memorable.
The first acceptance was the best and the school he attends. DS had left for a team dinner when I arrived home to see a big envelope sticking out of the mailbox. I hesitated to call because it was the night if a big game but I could see the beginning of a word on the outside of the envelope and decided to call. I told my DS that there was an envelope and waited for him to respond. His question was “would you like me to come home to open it?” My “YES!” Got a laugh but he did come home. When he opened the envelope and saw the size of the scholarship offer he said “We did it!” It was great of him to acknowledge that while all the grades, test scores, ECs, and applications had been his effort, locating the right school and keeping him on task to meet the many deadlines had been a joint effort. He also played the game of his life that night and the team completed their league season undefeated. When he got home after the game he said, “I’m flying so high right now that I may never sleep!” Great memory. Only one other school notified by snail mail. The outside of the envelope gave it away so not nearly the same, but yes I was right there when that one was opened also. Portals were not nearly as exciting and were checked whenever, but usually by me because he already had the acceptance he really wanted.
When I heard sitting at another room a sharp scream, followed by a stifling cry, I knew my kid got into Stanford REA. After that, all other acceptances reactions were non-chalant. My kid no longer thought about high school or college after that and started to look for a paid summer job. He threw out Harvard, Georgetown and Yale applications he had been working on.
One of my daughters liked only one school, no matter how many we visited or researched. She applied ED, and because I had her dedicated college app email coming to my phone too, I saw an alert that her portal had been updated. She was out shopping with her sister at the time, and all I could do was wait to hear from her – it wasn’t my place to check. I’ve never felt so sick with worry as I did for those 20 minutes before I heard from her. She’s the kind of kid who needs a certain environment, and also this school has great financial aid, so the stakes were really high. It worked out, and she’s thriving. There were many happy tears and much adult beverage was consumed that evening.
I tried to be with my son when he got the notifications, more for support than helicopter parenting. The school he enrolled at sent the notification while at school (email) so we weren’t there. Probably better that way. :-S
,