<p>What RaboKarabekian doing is the most sane thing. We are doing the same. Before September we had made the first-cut list of about 22 colleges. September and October went by in writing the essays, preparing art materials, the Oct SAT etc. in preperation for the ED. We all felt proud of the application that was finally put together. Rested for a week after that. Then started working on the college list to bring it down to 10. Done. Now working on the 3 apps that need to go out on Dec 1 and Dec 15. Then there are those that need to go out on Jan 1. Then Jan 15 and Feb 1. Even if ED comes through, the work on other apps is not a waste. No work is a waste. For one thing, the new essays will be a new experience. Working on the rest of the apps keeps us all diverted, and also makes us feel secure that we are covering all bases, just in case.</p>
<p>Who is us and what college are we hoping to go to? How many of us will be staying in our dorm?</p>
<p>I obsessively go to the website where the necessary materials are logged. The teacher recs have still not come in. I know they only revise this log-in website once a day, but sometimes I look twice (eek! I can tell you all but don't breathe a word!!) this past weekend son had his interview. He was hoping it would be fun but it was very dry and he didn't get fuzzy feelings from his interviewer.</p>
<p>I have to confess, neither son nor I am obsessed at this point. My older son applied ED last year to a school he had loved for a year, and he didn't get in. Luckily, he had already finished all the other pieces of the other applications (all were on the Common App so it wasn't too hard) and he just sent them, and some money. Within a month he was accepted to one school, and ultimately he was accepted to all 7 of the other schools he applied to. Having to do the other pieces of the other applications was helpful on the day he didn't get in ED...as he had already reminded himself what he liked about all those other schools. </p>
<p>Son#2 would desperately love to not have to do all the other applications- but he knows he has to for practical reasons, and to be ready emotionally...just in case. He has to write an entirely new primary essay (the ED school has a unique essay question). He wrote a terrific essay for the ED school and now has set the bar pretty high in terms of this essay- but it will come.</p>
<p>He saw his brother land on his feet and then some when the ED news wasn't great, so hopefully, if the need arises, he will respond in a similar way...</p>
<p>Cedronella, I am also checking the applicant log in link more than once a day. Yes, his application is complete, but "no record of any financial assistance documents have been recorded." The PROFILE was submitted 10/26. On the PROFILE status page, it says it was sent to the school 11/3, but allow time for the school to process it. Well, it's 11/15 already! The fin. aid did get the special supplement we sent (confirmed by express mail receipt) but the applicant log in page still doesn't reflect that.</p>
<p>Bettina,</p>
<p>Us is mom,dad, two younger brothers, a baby sister and a dog. And sure, we will all be at the dorm. No, just kidding :-)</p>
<p>The ED application was a sort of family project - helping with recording music, scanning art-work etc. and most importantly reading the essays, and brainstorming the applicant's ideas with him. No, we did not write a single word of his essays. But gave plenty of feed-back and he used us plenty to think-aloud about what he wanted to write. It was an intense experience for all of us. And it is taking super-human efforts to come out of that mode and concentrate on doing other things at hand. </p>
<p>The first week after sending the application, we were lapsing repeatedly into 'how will the stats be viewed, how will the essays be viewed, will he, wont he' etc. I realised that sub-conciously we had put all our eggs in one bag, in terms of motivation. And that that itself was putting us under a lot of stress and tension. So, I immediately started telling S that we must begin work on other apps. That we must capitalise on the experience of putting together the ED application, to send off the rest. He was now in the essay writing mode, teachers had just written his reccos, everything was fresh on everyone's minds, so I said let us just capitalise on it.</p>
<p>Like the Walgreens ad, in a perfect world, the ED aplication will be accepted and we need never fill out another. But in the real world, we have to be ready for everything. We too went through pretty rough times in the last 4 years, and S stood by very well, and I really wish this will happen for him. But I will be more devastated if he keeps on thinking about this one, and gets rejected finally.</p>
<p>Sugee, keep him going in essay mode, DD has only one more to go, because her high school asks to have all apps in by Dec 1. The essays are getting better with each omne she writes - I wish we could get back that ED essay, it was the common app one, but even it has been revised now.</p>
<p>You know, I still am of the belief that "WATER seeks its own level." I have taught my children that no matter what school they absolutlely LOVED, for whatever reason, it was the school that was the best match for them that would accept them...the one I genuinely believed in which they could excel and feel successful! Now the problem herein lies with the fact that SEVERAL great schools accepted them. Now, what do you do? Then they need to spend a night on the campus, mingle with the kids on an informal basis..like sleeping bag weekends and such...before they then can experience the "social fit" that is critical for success. We never took into account scholarship offerings or the like. ALAS! I had one S turn down the RPI Award worth $50000 and big bucks at Carnegie Mellon and a D who turned down $25000 at Stevens Institute of Technology. My thought? They need to take ownership of their decision and in that way they can either work to stay in the school of their choice or fool around and flunk out without external parental interference. When my D got waitlisted for U of Chicago, she was marginally devastated. Her thought? If they don't want me, I guess I would have some difficulty there with the workload. So, rather than pursue a false hope she became more determined to look at all other options afforded to her and visited as many schools that she could so she could respond affimatively as an "informed" decision maker. IT has paid off...she selected Carnegie Mellon MCS and states during every telephone conversation..."I fall at the mean or above on all of the tests I have taken." And believe me, she does NOT study herself to death! So that is my advice....let the good times roll...and roll with the punches.</p>