Our life is being taken over by our senior son’s college application process. I don’t remember much about my own over 20 years ago, but for some reason I feel like it wasn’t this involved. Times change. His school started getting them familiar with the process late last year, and fall of senior year is when all the real action begins.
We’re touring schools, attending admissions days and open houses, and he’s started applying to his schools of choice. Some will keep him local, or at least in state, while his dream school takes him over 2,000 miles from home.
His school hosts “college workshops” every week, guiding the students through the process. A summary email last week encouraged students to have most of their applications in by October 15! That’s less than two weeks away. He has already applied to one school, his favorite that keeps him in town.
“Back in my day…” or “Back when your dad and I were applying to college…” have been phrases uttered in our house for months now. Well, back when I was applying for college, there was no application on a website. It didn’t take 20 minutes to submit all the information and get a reply back in a couple weeks. There was no portal where you could apply to multiple schools at once with a single application. There were no fee “waiver codes.” His high school can email or fax his records in a blink. Instead, there was a stack of papers thicker than a book, a paper check, and the U.S. post office to send in an application. My high school had to mail my transcripts as well, and that took time. Then the waiting game. Depending where you applied, your application may take a week to get there, another week for processing, and even longer to get it to the right people for review. You waited months for a response – the “big” envelope – stuffed with more papers for roommate selection, housing reservations, and all the rest, or the “little” envelope: “Dear Student, we regret to inform you…”
Instead, he logs in to an application portal to receive the good or bad news. Either way, we will be there to support him.
What was your college application process like (if you went to college)? Did you go to your dream school, or did you take a more practical option? What were your requirements for your school?
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