<p>Good advice.</p>
<p>Thanks</p>
<p>We’re trying to set ourselves for remaining sane and balanced by making sure that the schools DS is applying to would - any of them - be good places for him for college.</p>
<p>Your advice will help keep us on track.</p>
<p>Kei</p>
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<p>Could have done without that sentence. I don’t know why it’s always important to throw in the obvious, that getting into a great school doesn’t necessarily mean great things will follow (insert comment on the Unabomber here). But the rest of the post was spot on.</p>
<p>once again, the wisdom of Blossom! I will save the post for the next couple of years until D2 goes through the process, but in the meantime this is the part I will print out and hang above my desk:
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<p>thank you.</p>
<p>Hey blossom - My children are both past the college app process but I loved reading this post! In fact, I really enjoy all of your writings! Is there a blossom blog somewhere…</p>
<p>blossom that was the best! It should be an op ed piece in papers nation wide.</p>
<p>blossom, I had to chuckle when you suggested that we show life goes on…by baking cookies. My kitchen is a wreck because I’m preparing cookie dough for a week of baking next week…thanks!</p>
<p>I don’t have a senior, but that was such good advice that I copied it and put it with the important college info I’m accumulating. Thanks!</p>
<p>Blossom,
Thank you so much for this post. It is SO relevant.</p>
<p>A personal anecdote: S1 has always been an achiever/over achiever. He was a part of the “really smart group” in high school, but always felt like an imposter, always felt like he was working hard to keep up. He did very well on the SATs; his friends–all of them–did at least 100 points better.</p>
<p>However, he had some some very good ECs with involvement on the national and international level, which his friends did not have; and he also was a varsity athlete, which none of them were. These things probably made this difference in his application.</p>
<p>He and his friends all looked at top schools. S1 fell in love with Emory, and applied ED. All of his friends sent in EA and ED applications to a lot of top, top schools.</p>
<p>On December 15, he was the only one accepted at his ED school. Every single one of his friends was deferred.</p>
<p>On the day of his life that he felt most like celebrating, he kept quiet. He did not want to make his friends feel any worse. He did not wear his Emory gear out of the house until his friends began getting good news in March.</p>
<p>What was really sad, though, was that some of his friends were less than kind…some seemed almost outraged that he had gotten in to his choice, while they had not gotten in to theirs. One actually said, 'well, I would have gotten into Emory too if I had applied, after all, it’s not Columbia…" (where she had applied).</p>
<p>To this day he is still hurt. And he still feels he was deprived of his big celebration. But he knew the sensitive way to behave.</p>
<p>Blossom, I have so been there! I love your post. My oldest did EA/ED for several schools three years ago, and was accepted to all of them except – his top choice. He was devastated, and I was heartbroken on his behalf. The worst part from a parental perspective is watching your kid feel that pain. You want them to know that IT WILL PASS, but for them, in that moment, I know it doesn’t feel that way.</p>
<p>On the other hand, we’ve also experienced the joy of getting into that perfect school. And he is a very happy kid now, in his third year of school. This week, we are awaiting early decision for kid number two. (He is calm – me, not so much! 
You’d think I’d have learned by now. . .) </p>
<p>There are far too many things that matter in life to get hung up on one decision, made by people who don’t even know you. You can’t package a person in a college application. It helps to remember that, and to know that they are not rejecting you, personally – they are rejecting a simulacrum of you, a poor facsimile expressed in an essay or two and some numbers. If they reject that, it doesn’t really mean anything. You can still go on and have a happy life!</p>
<p>Thank you, Blossom, for your very grounded words. They brought a much needed smile into my day.</p>
<p>Amen and amen. I only wish I’d read this a year ago.</p>
<p>Thank you, Blossom, for such good advice from the heart. College admissions is just one step along a long journey.</p>
<p>Blossom I love your post. It should be tagged, at least until May.</p>
<p>Blossom - I’m new here. My D applied ED and is anxiously awaiting an answer in the next week. She and I are a mess waiting on this. I copied and forwarded to my D. Great advice. She has middle 50% SAT and high middle 50% ACT. Her ECs are very good and her grades are excellent. We think we’re probably in but very nervous anyway. We’ll have a private happy dance if she gets the good word. Life will not be so pleasant if its not good but I’m sure she’ll get over it. I’ve tried to tell her it’s not where you go to school but what you do with the education that counts. We’ll see what happens. Thank you for your post!</p>
<p>Very true!</p>
<p>Hugs to all the parents who are dealing with disappointed kids this weekend and next.</p>
<p>It is hard to see the people you love feeling sad and doubting their abilities.</p>
<p>It is nice when their accomplishments are recognized.</p>
<p>By May every single one of you will have reasons to celebrate as you prepare for HS graduation so take heart-- the disappointment will pass if you help your kid move on.</p>
<p>Great post. I’ll be re-reading it in another week.</p>
<p>Blossom:</p>
<p>Great post. Thankfully, no more college or grad school applications for him and us. I’ll keep it for when my S applies for jobs! :)</p>
<p>Beautiful, Blossom, and I will print this and try to read your words through my private tears this week S received THREE rejection letters in the mail yesterday. Yes, that was “THREE” on the same day! 4.2 GPA, 1st in class, super kid, but has chosen for himself a career path where rejection is part of everyday life. He reached for the moon, which I admire. Any advice on how to help him move away the clouds so he can see that moon once more?</p>
<p>Yes. Great post.
Had to laugh when I realized that I was very focused on figuring out exactly how a deadline had been missed. I like to know how errors are made so I don’t repeat them. ( I’ve had plenty of experience with my own errors! lol) S says to me: “Why do you even care? I’m the youngest and you will never have to live through this again.” He’s right, of course.
And I think I figured out that colleges where he wasn’t planning to apply EA, send out postcards saying that they have extended the EA deadline or waived the fee if the app is submitted EA. So suddenly, S gets wicked motivated and decides to apply EA to 4 schools. Basically, the kid wants to save the app fee. He seems to have little concept of the difference between a $20,000 and a $40,000 school loan. But he sure knows the value of 40 or 50 bucks!</p>
<p>Yes. Great post.
Had to laugh when I realized that I was very focused on figuring out exactly how a deadline had been missed. I like to know how errors are made so I don’t repeat them. ( I’ve had plenty of experience with my own errors! lol) S says to me: “Why do you even care? I’m the youngest and you will never have to live through this again.” He’s right, of course.
And I think I figured out that colleges where he wasn’t planning to apply EA, send out postcards saying that they have extended the EA deadline or waived the fee if the app is submitted EA. So suddenly, S gets wicked motivated and decides to apply EA to 4 schools. Basically, the kid wants to save the app fee. He seems to have little concept of the difference between a $20,000 and a $40,000 school loan. But he sure knows the value of 40 or 50 bucks!</p>