Academic

Tomorrow's The Big Day - And No, Not U.S. News Rankings

By Dan Filler

When old folk like me applied to college, we waited to get the envelopes from our target schools - wondering whether they would be thin or thick, and what their particular dimensions might imply.  You didn't know what day it would arrive, exactly, and you didn't see it til you got home from school.

For today's nervous high school senior who has applied to one of the selective schools that admits on April 1, tomorrow is the big day.  On March 31, at 5pm - or whatever time you've been told by the relevant university or college - you are to log in to your account and retrieve your admissions decision.  It makes me tense even to think about this ritual.  Thousands upon thousands of anxious 17 and 18 year olds waiting around their laptops til the clock strikes 5.  Thousands of high schoolers descending on yale.edu, harvard.edu, and princeton.edu - to name only a few.  Thousands of teens discovering, all in the same minute, whether they will get that much coveted admission prize.

I wish everyone luck.  Especially the migrained parents who will no doubt place themselves strategically close to their kids' rooms, awaiting the news. 

Full post as published by The Faculty Lounge on March 30, 2009 (boomark / email).