<p>I just spent an hour reading horoscopes, searching for a sign that Brown would accept me Thursday - and I hate astrology. The empty, blathering usually makes me ashamed of society, but today it gave me a warm fuzzy feeling. Then I remembered this article explaining my uncharacteristic behavior:</p>
<p>[Superstitions</a> spawned by perceived lack of control, study finds - Sunday Features - Macon](<a href=“http://www.macon.com/202/story/520346.html]Superstitions”>http://www.macon.com/202/story/520346.html)</p>
<p>“Now a new study by Northwestern University researchers has found that all such superstitions may have a common source: the feeling of a lack of control, which spurs people to concoct false patterns and meaning from the noise of life’s chance events.”</p>
<p>Since I submitted my Brown application in October, I have become especially paranoid concerning college admissions. When I have bad dreams about rejection and humiliating interviews, I am completely distraught initially and take longer than usual to decide that these occurrences probably have no predictive power.</p>
<p>I have noticed some superstition among other Brown Early Applicants on the boards as well, and from people with incredible SAT scores! There have been horoscope discussions and conspiracy theories involving an admissions advantage related to the number of visits to the Brown website. When I’m bored, I more often find myself mindlessly prowling the Brown website instead of reading a great book, as if I intuitively feel my interest is being noted and will make a difference in the decision, which could be compared those crazy baseball rituals:</p>
<p>"In baseball, experts believe superstition and ritual pop up most often around tasks where players have the least control.</p>
<p>Batters and pitchers often develop elaborate preparation routines, in part because their success often depends on random factors such as where a fly ball lands or whether the batter anticipates a pitch correctly. Anthropologist George Gmelch once wrote of a pitcher who insisted on washing his hands after every inning in which he gave up a run.</p>
<p>Fielders, by contrast, maintain few rituals - perhaps because a pro player’s success in fielding a catchable ball is so high.</p>
<p>“Unlike hitting and pitching, a fielder has almost complete control over the outcome of his performance,” Gmelch wrote in a 2000 article called “Baseball Magic.” “He knows that, in better than 9.7 times out of 10, he will execute his task flawlessly. With odds like that there is little need for ritual.”</p>
<p>Gmelch said in an interview that he grasped the possible link between religious rituals and the ingrained routines of ballplayers during college, when he also was a minor league baseball player.</p>
<p>“In both cases you’re looking for confidence, some sense that you have control over things,” Gmelch said."</p>
<p>In 2 days, 17 hours, 8 minutes and 20 seconds my life will forever be changed, and between now and then I might as well not exist, because nothing I do will change it’s direction dramatically. How have you dealt with the loss of power that arises post-submission, pre-decision?</p>