<p>Momof WIldChild: Your child did what my D did - she gave each secretary/assistant that is responsible for getting out the school packets a bag of German candy. She never had to worry about blowing a deadline because she didn't ask for something 2 weeks in advance. Those ladies are the unsung heroes at this time of the year and other than a thank you oncle in awhile, go unappreciated. It is the smart kid that "courts" these hard-working and badgered ladies.</p>
<p>Last year, my D was to get the UVa app done for January 1...it was a safety back up to Berkeley and she did not think she would end up heading east (she did not) but we had to have more than 2 apps! She was traveling over break and just decided not to do it. Right around deadline time they emailed her that she had until January 24th to finish the app- it was started online, so she did it after all and got in and got likely letters and visited, and still did not go there :( But my H wants to go there! He loved it!</p>
<p>I think the kids know in their hearts and the apps they let slide are the emotional back-ups, they knwo they should ahve them, but are not truly invested.</p>
<p>I've struggled with this since my daughter decided to apply ED in October. Guidance advised her to wait until 12/15 to send out other apps. My D used this to procrastinate, and I had to force her to complete 4 apps. over the Thanksgiving break. She lazily filled them out, and really didn't put forth her best effort. Although we had a productive weekend (4 apps were filed on-line, and paperwork readied for school) I don't feel great about the quality of the apps, specifically her short essays. In her mind, she is going to her ED school, and the others were completed to keep me happy. I now think that I'll get the paperwork ready for 4 more apps, and send them into school for the first week of Dec. If or when my daughter gets the dreaded news, I believe that she'll rise to the occassion and properly work on the colleges with a renewed spirit. Fortunately for us, the other 4 apps. were at more or less match/safety schools, so I'm hoping that her stats alone will gain her admission.</p>
<p>JennsMom, apps can be "completed" but not submitted unless the app date is already upon you. Many schools have 1/1 deadlines. Thus if you get bad news around 12/15, you can still have 10 days to review those apps and edit the essays if necessary...but most of the app has already been done. D got several out on 12/28...I remember it clearly as it might be yesterday. </p>
<p>(signed) Been There, Done That</p>
<p>Update... d finally showed up home, verified she did submit the UC app and printed out the confirmation screen. So huge sigh of relief on this end. (And she gets to be the one who can gloat with "I told you so's")</p>
<p>OK, we're on a roll here. D submitted the Univ. of Washington app online at 10:48 pm.</p>
<p>booyah Calmom! 2 in one day, better head on over to SA for a celebratory flaming grapefruit martini!</p>
<p>Already did, but I went for a tequila. I count it as 4 in one day, since she ticked off 3 campuses in California. Next deadline: Brandeis blue ribbon, 12/15. (But as noted above, now that the state apps are done, I wash my hands of all further responsibility until FAFSA's come due)</p>
<p>I thought my S was the only procrastinator so am happy to learn he is not alone. S is devoting way more time to his social life than college apps. He is certain he will be accepted to his ED school -- and this is giving me angina. Plus we are going on vacation 12/20 and have informed him numerous times that he will stay home if his apps are not complete. He actually has surprised us in the last two wks. Thank goodness that his school requires all Guidance and teacher paperwork to be in this week -- that motivated him to move and submit 8 more apps. Of course it helps that most were Common App. He has one more app to do -- difficult questions. And he decided against doing one high reach app which has very unique questions. Since his main essay is good but not great, I wonder if he might perfect/change/etc. if he receives an ED deferral. I feel like calmom -- as soon as his two safeties were done, I was more relaxed.</p>
<p>Wow. I just read this whole thread in one gulp. I did not realize how fortunate we were to have RD application deadlines pass for all but two schools before EA results came out in mid-December. It may not have been purely coincidental that daughter was rejected by both of those with the later deadlines because we were both getting pretty tired of the process by then. </p>
<p>Good luck to everyone waiting for a decision in the next few weeks.</p>
<p>Last year, S got his rolling admit to Umich right after he submitted his ED app. This was a big relief, as safeties and matches went out the window at this point. However, I kept bugging him to work on other reach RD apps, and he resisted. In the end, he did get into his ED school, but long afterward, he admitted to me that he'd already decided he was going to Mich if ED fell through, had no intention of applying to others!</p>
<p>Last year, my son's GC provided no help at all as far as enforcing deadlines. He kept saying don't give him materials until after my s. would hear from his 1st choice EA school (except for one school which had a mid Dec. RD deadline). This stance really played into a dangerously optimistic attitude, and made me extremely uneasy.</p>
<p>Donemom,</p>
<p>That hurts. Surely this wasn't a general school policy? Seems like there should be a school guideline that would prevent an individual counselor from doing that.</p>
<p>CalMom, is it just me or is does doing the FAFSA make getting a root canal look like an attractive option?</p>
<p>Two down, a third come up, and then one more to do. For undergrad.</p>
<p>I'm going to have to do the FAFSA for multiple colleges twice this year - and not happy about it - because my son is also applying to colleges as a transfer. So it is going to be a real pain, but I've kind of gotten used to the whole process. </p>
<p>The big hassle is getting ex-hubby to fill in the CSS Profile Noncustodial Parent form. I'd rather do 10 FAFSA's than have to deal with the ex over anything involving money.</p>
<p>calmom,</p>
<p>I recall us conversing about this Noncustodial stuff some last year. Now this year I will be trying to get my ex to do the forms again for S1, and DH has to get his ex to do the forms for S2. Double whammy!!!!! YIKES!!!</p>
<p>Cami215: This young counselor had fairly limited experience with HYP, ---and as it happens, one of his recent students (med size heterogeneous school where only a few apply) got in the previous year. So, he had this view (believe it or not) that there was no way this wasn't going to happen for my son, who admittedly was a strong candidate. When I tried to explain to him the odds, it seemed he thought I was just being negative about my child. So after a couple conversations, I gave up, knowing that 1. he did not want to do any "unnessesary" work (he knew my s. was set on his EA school) but, 2. he would do whatever was necessary to make sure the remaining six apps were taken care of if it came down to that. (he had also been my daughter's guidance counselor, and he had been meticulous and helpful in every other way.)</p>
<p>Back to the original post and how to handle the disappointment of deferral. My daughter was deferred last year from a college the whole family felt was a wonderful fit. After one day of grieving, she was willing to move on. Many of her friends were also deferred which helped her not take the deferral as personally. This is an important point: the deferral should be viewed as an admissions decision based on many unseen factors, not a personal rejection of the applicant. </p>
<p>However, given her heavy workload senior year, my daughter was not able to really make progress on apps until her holiday vacation. We requested all materials to be sent by the high school before holiday break. All our plans went on hold -- no cookie baking and no gift shopping -- and we finished 9 apps over vacation. She wrote essays, I filled in basic info, and she reviewed the final result before submitting. The long wait for April 1 began. </p>
<p>However, in February, she was pleasantly surprised by early letters from three top schools. She even danced in the snow on her way back from the mailbox. She began to seriously consider these schools that really wanted her and had enthusiastically selected one by the time April 1 rolled around. She never was accepted at her ED school but she remarked that if she had been accepted early, she would have never experienced the thrill of receiving all the affirming RD acceptances. </p>
<p>Daughter is now thriving in her first year in an equally wonderful college. So my advice is to keep in mind that students qualified for the most selective schools can find the RD process very rewarding -- particularly sweet when overcoming the disappointment of deferral. I suspect that many of your children will be dancing in the snow as well.</p>
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I suspect that many of your children will be dancing in the snow as well.
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<p>Nice sentiment. However...</p>
<p>we live in Florida! ;)</p>
<p>Parel - Your post warmed my heart and calmed me more than any other. My DD's ED school is really a perfect fit for her personality and educational goals...but it is a reach for her and there is a good chance that she will be either deferred or outright rejected. Hopefully, if that happens, my DD will dance "under the palm trees" (since we do not get snow) this spring. Unfortunately, she may have to spend her 18th birthday (late dec.) finishing the last two or three college applications.</p>