<p>Anyone else experience this? We are waiting to hear if my daughter gets accepted into Auburn University for the Fall of 2013. She applied for Early Action but did not qualify. She will be considered in the next round beginning in November. The waiting is absolutely killing me. She scored a 23 on her ACT (she is a horrible standardized test taker), has a 4.34 weighted GPA, and is 3rd in her class. Should I be as stressed out as I am?</p>
<p>Thank you for any advice!</p>
<p>Use your nervous energy to research more schools or send out a couple more applications, just in case.</p>
<p>She has also applied to Troy, but AU is where she wants to go. I gather from your response, we shouldn’t be confident that she will get accepted.</p>
<p>As long as she’s covered by having applied to acceptable safeties there’s nothing you or she can do about the decision at Auburn at this point so it’s best to try to put it out of your minds at this point, don’t dwell on it, don’t have daily discussions with each other about it, etc. Don’t stress yourselves dwelling on something you can do nothing about. You’ll just have to wait for the decision to be made. In the meantime, if anything, try to get enthusiastic about at least one of the safeties. I’m not saying that in the context of your D’s chances at Auburn not being good, just that if for some reason she doesn’t get accepted to A then she’ll perhaps be less depressed if she has a good alternative and if nothing else it’ll perhaps give her something else to think about.</p>
<p>I know, it’s easier said than done, but really, you might be able to reduce the stress by not discussing all the ‘what ifs’ on the acceptance decision day in and day out. Maybe focus more on what she’s doing right now in HS to maximize her final time there.</p>
<p>I know this isn’t very helpful, but I just don’t get being stressed over an application that’s already out the door. Either your daughter will get into Auburn or she won’t. Not the end of the world if she doesn’t. Toledo was just trying to give you something to fill the time. If she’s applied to a few other schools that are good possibilities–great! If not, couldn’t hurt to throw in a few more applications. This is so early in the process. Try to enjoy your daughter’s senior year.</p>
<p>Thank you so much for your advice. You are absolutely right. That being said, she will be crushed if she does not get into to Auburn. I will try not to dwell on it too much. Again, thank you.</p>
<p>Wareagleblonde, It’s normal to be stressed out about it…it’s that mother-bear instinct! We all want our kids to achieve their dreams, and while some things may be out of our control, it’s impossible not to think, hope, and pray for a positive outcome. Sending good thoughts your way…</p>
<p>OP–I was stressed out the whole time. I knew it was silly, but I felt that way anyway. The best advice I can give you is to come here with your stress instead of visiting that on your kid. My son did get into his 2 safety schools EA and I kept stressing. Then he got an early write from one of his A-list schools and I thought that would change things and it really should have–a great school that he ended up choosing in the end–but I continued to be anxious all the way until April 1. I hope you’ll do better than I did, OP. It’s a total waste of energy, but I couldn’t seem to stop myself.</p>
<p>The other thing I did do, OP, was help my son come up with a really solid list. All 10 had a lot in common that would have made any one of them a great and interesting choice for him. I encouraged him not to pick a favorite until he found out where he was accepted. The way I did this was isolate the qualities that were important to him and help him find schools at all levels of selectivity that had those qualities.</p>
<p>If you could help your D figure out what she loves so much about Auburn, I’ll bet there are a larger range of schools that could give her what she’s looking for in a college experience.</p>
<p>Thank you for your responses and support. And you are right about not letting my stress affect my daughter…it has been, and that’s not fair to her. She has one goal, and that is to go to AU. I just don’t think I could handle seeing her heartbroken if she doesn’t get in hence my stress level. But, we will wait albeit impatiently, and I will not vocalize said impatience. Thanks again!</p>
<p>wareagleblonde: I hate the waiting too! All I can think of is “The waiting is the hardest part…” and I am NOT a Tom Petty fan! LOL!</p>
<p>I’m trying to keep myself busy by focusing on my work, but I am on CC way too much! DS heard from a safety so far, should hear from another school pretty soon, then a couple in Jan/Feb, and the others in mid-late March. I don’t want to wish the time away, but I am as anxious as you!</p>
<p>D2 applied ED last year. As soon as she sent out her ED application, she started working on 10+ other RD applications. It made her feel like she was being productive and she was doing all she could. We also stopped talking about her ED school during the wait. We were very anxious few days before the announcement. D2 also happened to be away on a school trip on the decision day. She asked to be excused from the school activity for an hour in order to have some privacy. The result came out at 5pm, she called me at 5:01. It was all good.</p>
<p>My daughter didn’t get into what she thought was her first choice school, ED. She had others on the list, and she got into all of them. We’re told not to get our hearts set on one school, and that we should love our safe schools. Well, she went to one of those and it worked out well. She met a boy who also didn’t get into the same first choice school, ED. Similar stats, etc. They are still together after 5 years and I’m pretty sure will stay together. He did get his dream job at 23, she’s switching majors and will go to grad school. It all works out in the end, even though you think you will be heartbroken for your daughter. There’s more than one way to get to where you want to be. There’s more than one right school. That said, good luck to your daughter!</p>
<p>Our older daughter didn’t get into her ED school. She was heart broken, and we were as well, because we all thought she was a shoo-in. Second time around we were a lot more cautious.</p>
<p>Good luck.</p>
<p>I think your D will get in. auburn accepts about 70% of applicants. They don’t reject many.</p>
<p>I still did manage to enjoy every other aspect of my son’s senior year though; two wonderful plays, a state championship and good grades until the end. And people here did help me every single day with information, reassurance and just support. Some of my friends IRL got sick of hearing about it, my H thought I was barking mad, but someone here will always listen. Much appreciated!</p>
<p>Working on the impatience is probably easier said than done! </p>
<p>This said, throwing more irons in the fire is the surest way to keep one’s sanity and mitigate the effect of a possible rejection. </p>
<p>This is why working the application process from the bottom-up is so important. Schools with automatic or rolling admissions are a true godsend for students (and their parents) as knowing that there IS a school ready and waiting for you next Fall is important in an otherwise taxing process.</p>
<p>My husband (her stepfather) can’t believe how stressed out I am. Her father is deployed and for obvious reasons isn’t in a position to give moral support. </p>
<p>As far as Auburn goes, nothing will sway her. My husband is an alum, and we are big fans. She loves everything about it. She wants to cheer there as well. I would just hate for her to have to settle. We will keep our fingers crossed.</p>
<p>I am so glad that I discovered this board. You all have helped immensely. Thank you.</p>
<p>My D1 did not get into her top choice school five years ago, and ended up at her safety with great merit aid. It worked out GREAT for her (Phi Beta Kappa, honor thesis submitted to a contest by her college as one of the top in her field in the country last year, has a full time job with benefits in her city of choice that she loves). Just in case things do not work out for Auburn for your D, there IS life after rejection from a school they think is so important at the time. And it isn’t actually “settling” a lot of the time.</p>
<p>I can’t tell from your posts how many other schools she is applying to (I think you only mentioned one) – she should take a look at the Fiske Guide to Colleges book and pick a few more schools that she is likely to get into, and apply. She will be much MORE unhappy if Auburn does not come thru AND she does not have some other options to choose from on the table. </p>
<p>I think the advice that is given often out here is to discourage your kids from getting too attached to a “dream” school for many reasons… sounds like that ship has sailed this time, but if I were you I would ask her to look at and apply to some other options. No matter how badly a student wants to get into a school, that does not translate into desire on the college’s side every time. Part of your job as a parent is to help her see that reality and start making contingency plans.</p>
<p>Oh, and my daughter now says that the admissions people totally knew what they were doing, and she is glad she did not get into her top choice (for what it is worth).</p>
<p>I still don’t have a sense of what it is about Auburn that makes your D think it is a dream school for her. She might be admitted, but surely there are some other schools that could also be great choices for her. I helped my kid find 10 great options. The Fiske Guide was one of my best friends.</p>