<p>Just thought I'd share this email with the rest of you that I received this afternoon from the fellow parent of a student applying to bs:</p>
<p>
[quote]
January 15th is looming. We may not need to worry about it after all, because [my son] may not survive until Saturday. If his head doesn't explode from stress, I may have to strangle him.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>This was the highlight of my day . . . :D :D :D</p>
<p>Ds is carefree, but I am feeling the pressure. Schools should have all paperwork in hand, but the sites don’t have it all documented yet. I called one school and they said they had a 7 day backlog that needed to be entered. What happens if a piece of paper goes missing?</p>
<p>They’ll let you know if they are missing anything. Don’t worry about it.</p>
<p>D has three more to submit. I can’t wait for my stomach to stop hurting. Gah! The good news is that after Saturday, it’ll all be done. Whether she finishes them or not, it’ll be over and I will have survived my third year in a row.</p>
<p>Of course, I whole new kind of anxiety starts after the 15th.</p>
<p>I have a question for you guys. For one school I had the SSAT scores sent A WHILE AGO but just sent in the app recently (we had filled out a pre-app info sheet and done the interview ages ago). The scores don’t show as logged, though they show as sent via the SSAT site…and I know that other schools on our list received them. Is there a possibility that the formal app was needed to begin the logging in process at this school? Do schools let you know what’s missing (if anything) before it’s too late?</p>
<p>The schools do contact you if something’s missing. Some send out postcards or, as everything’s online these days, emails, when everything’s complete. </p>
<p>It’s a good idea to monitor the arrival of different items. Many offices are opening mail at this point, and logging papers in, so it’s possible your items are in the office, but not yet opened.</p>
<p>It seems like I remember ssat scores not showing for a long time a one school last year, but I don’t remember which one it was. You can PM the school and I’ll see if I remember. Generally though, I’d wait until Feb 1st to start worrying.</p>
<p>@Sevendad: I believe I know what school you’re talking about and I’m having the same issue. I took the November SSAT and the scores STILL haven’t been logged in. But similarly I sent in the formal application later. I’m sure they wouldn’t have lost the SSAT scores from both of us. </p>
<p>I’m just going to wait until after the time in which they said not to e-mail about the checklist and if the scores are still not checked off, then I’ll call.</p>
<p>One more school submitted! yippee </p>
<p>I couldn’t find the Deerfield parent’s statement anywhere. Is there a form or do they suggest you write a letter?</p>
<p>Deerfield does not ask for a Parent Statement as part of the application.</p>
<p>There is an “Additional Information” section on Deerfield’s App but it does’t specifically state whether its for parent or applicant comments. D used the space so not sure where I could add anything. Almost feels like I am submitting half an app.!</p>
<p>Guess who’s done after we drop off one final app at the post office tomorrow AM (and yes, I will ask to see it postmarked 1/15/11!)?</p>
<p>Us.</p>
<p>Thank goodness. The discrepancy between MS Word’s character count (and yes, I always include spaces in my counts) tool and the Gateway engine counter really drove us crazy the past few nights…</p>
<p>Thanks to all the fellow CC parents (prospects, currents, and alum) for their advice, wisdom, encouragement, and commiseration these past few months.</p>
<p>SevenDad, We are also using the MS word count. What discrepancies have you faced on the Gateway engine?</p>
<p>Good luck 7d! how many schools have you applied in the end?</p>
<p>@sunrise1: For example, MS Word count says you have 996 char (again, with spaces), and max allowable for a specific Gateway question is 1000, so you think you’re good and go and cut and paste…and Gateway copies over everything BUT your strong closing sentence, with an error message that says you are over the char limit.</p>
<p>This happened on both parent and student essays, so I can say that it was a PITA to try and guess how short I had to be on the Word doc for it be fully accepted by the Gateway system. And then even after that, I’d double check the PDF test file and in one or two cases, the last line was cropped visually, and not wanting to risk anything getting cut off, we’d have to edit again. A lot of trial and error.</p>
<p>@DA: Thanks for the well wishes. I’m just happy to be done (for now). In the end, despite considering and visiting many more schools than we originally intended to back in the summer, we are applying to exactly as many boarding schools as we thought we would when we set out. That number is three (3), and as I think I’ve noted in other threads, only one remained from our original “apply to list”. From what I gathered from other posters here, this figure is on the low side — but, again as I’ve also noted before, we have a strong day school backup.</p>
<p>I think the “right” final number for any family depends on so many factors.</p>
<p>Done!</p>
<p>Everything fit the spaces fine. But I don’t tend to spill as much digital ink as 7dad ;)</p>
<p>@neato: Ouch! DAndrew owes you one for that jab! ;-)</p>
<p>Seven: Ish. Didn’t have that problem last year–the paste in from word let us get away with the “extra” characters. It’s really a problem that should be fixed–why have word limits if technological glitches keep you from following them? Anyway, glad you all got it done…and really glad I’m not you…this year anyway. :)</p>
<p>Clearly, the whole online application process is still in its infancy (what I call the “stone tablet” stage). Years from now, people will look back on these complaints and not have a clue what we’re talking about.</p>
<p>For what it’s worth, the Exeter online app offers almost unlimited space, while another well known school just piloted an application that sets almost Draconian word limits on application questions that previously allowed one to attach “as many pages as needed.” To their credit, though, they’re allowing students to use either the online or the written app - or even a combination of the two!</p>