<p>I really really reallllllyyy hate the college application process. I decided to apply to 5 schools. Just 5 schools. I'm overseas this semester, and all of the headache and heartache associated with this process, it honestly just makes me feel sick to my stomach, every single day I think about it, or have something to do with the process. For 5 schools alone, I had to write 10 individual essays, I had to find a fax machine with long distance enabled here to fax all these transcript requests cause anything sent by certified mail from saudi is 92 bucks. For 5 schools alone, I spent hundreds of dollars just APPLYING. All of our credit/debit cards were canceled for security reasons, so paying all of these fees is another headache and a half to add to the mix ... and I have to do this all by myself, my parents hate paperwork and tell me if I really want to give any decent university a shot, I better be prepared to do every single thing on my own. It's 2 am here, my eyes hurt, but I can't sleep because I keep having nightmares that ALL of this money and time and hardship will go down the drain to a couple of rejection letters in May and then I feel even more sick. :(:(:( </p>
<p>...is this normal? To feel so frantic and paranoid and nervous and just downright ill? Sometimes I feel like I don't care if I get rejected, I just want to KNOW and have it be over with. This waiting game is soo incredibly cruel. :( It must take some person to volunteer their lives to the admissions process...cause I seriously abhor every single second of it.</p>
<p>I also had to write and fill out or complete my entire application + financial aid and do all the talking once applications were sent it. The only thing my parents did was give their tax records. From the people I talked to and myself, getting sick of the admission process is normal. I even decided not to apply to Caltech after having to go through the tiresome process of generating seemingly unique ideas and trying to convey it through writing so well (Caltech demanded more creative thinking than any other applications) for 8 other essays. </p>
<p>A few days after my mind took a break to the haunted paranoia house. The waiting game ain't so tormenting but it does tick you off and slowly rubs you with impatience as the month in which colleges reply back closes in (in my case, March).</p>
<p>That said, this stressful process can be a strenuous process if you started your application early. I started mine in October, but with procrastination, writer's block, and a teacher who was a diction nazi, I almost ran out of time for my last application (Stanford).</p>
<p>That makes me feel a teensy bit better =)You know, my parents couldn't even be bothered to give me their tax records. Instead they gave me the name and email/cell phone number of their ACCOUNTANT to send me copies via email ... well I guess independence now is good later when we have to cope with living by ourselves for months at a time. =\ I was the same, I originally wanted to apply to 7 but cut out two cause the entire process just drains all of your physical and mental energy, like FORREAL! I mean I've actually been a member of this site since like 2003 so I knew what to expect and everything but I never really felt the angst when someone wrote a thread like "OMG THEY LOST MY TRANSCRIPT TWO WEEKS BEFORE DECISIONS", until I was actually in the process myself and realized that that could've very well been my application . . . and oh geez, writer's block is so irritating when deadlines are looming :(</p>
<p>I applied to nine schools, all of which I had to submit way before the deadline due to vacation stuff, etc.. paid for it out of my own pocket (~$700) and to top it all off, I'm a writer who usually goes about 2000 characters over the world limit and can't find ANYTHING to cut out of her essays..</p>
<p>my parents were like that too for fin.aid:</p>
<p>"Mom, what's (insert tax-related thing here)?"
"I don't know.. I'll call the accountant later."</p>
<p>and yes, we all freaked out. Good luck with your your apps!</p>
<p>wow, haha. i was pretty chill about the whole thing... i wrote five essays for one school, i applied to 12 schools ... the whole shebang must've been at least 800-1k with app fees, sat fees (i took sat i 2x, sat iis 3x), transcript fees, finaid css profile fees, developing my portfolio/slides, mailing everything out, and other junk. </p>
<p>now i'm just sitting back, relaxing... waiting seems to take eternity :(</p>
<p>Yup- it's making me quite anxious as well. Overall I'd guess I paid ~$500, that's app fees plus CSS profile fees plus sending SAT scores. I applied to eight schools, still waiting to hear from five.</p>
<p>Does anyone else feel really useless right now? I feel like I should be doing something to help my application, but the only thing I can do is sit back and wait.</p>
<p>Mmhmm, I'm ridiculously anxious.. and I check my e-mail/mailbox every two seconds. Okay, my mailbox less frequently, but I still always make sure that I get it ASAP.. (:</p>
Does anyone else feel really useless right now? I feel like I should be doing something to help my application, but the only thing I can do is sit back and wait.
I agree.</p>
<p>I heard that someone at my school received a likely letter from Dartmouth, and I didn't. It makes me nervous about my chances at all the schools I'm applying to, especially considering I didn't get a likely from Amherst or Williams either... and logically I know that doesn't mean anything since the majority of accepted students don't get them, but in my crazy, all-or-nothing mindset, if I'm not good enough to get a likely, that must mean I'm a complete failure and will be rejected everywhere.</p>
<p>The feeling I got after I submitted all my application was as if I was in a gray cloudy plain, the wind chilling over your skin that's not too cold physically but chills and ices you inside, its shards piercing your heart, with no sign of life other than yourself.Basically, I felt very empty, not lonely nor depressed, but as if I had no purpose in high school now: the world was there, but I was not to enter it until 3 months later :(</p>
<p>Then possible realities caused me to become paranoid for a few days >_></p>
<p>This illusion shattered now that I am focusing on college applications: not as stressing as college applications, but the whole "state you financial situation" section of these applications makes me wonder how doing taxes in real life would be.</p>
<p>saaaaarah, that's exactly what most international applicants have to go through. At first I was afraid that I could not even sign up for the SAT. No credit card, and getting a check drawn on a US bank is about $100 and takes 4+ weeks.</p>
<p>Well I'm writing examinations that are pretty much the culmination of my schooling career over the next month; so I've got something else to worry about :) I'll still torture myself though, that's just me...</p>