The NP has heard of a very qualified senior who was accepted to Berkeley, NYU, Vassar and WashU, but was waitlisted at _______, where both of her parents attended AND her mom is an interviewer.
Moral: Apply early or forget about your legacy perks.
But in the case of this girl, she wasn't ABSOLUTELY positive she wanted to attend _______, so she gambled and it didn't work out. (At least not yet – the waitlist domino action does not officially begin until May 1st.)
Meanwhile, at the moment I am on my dream spring break trip – at a B&B in a gorgeous mansion a block from CJ's campus (my regular hotel of choice was full). I am pleased to report that my son has survived the pledge process and his new brothers-for-life are actually very impressive dudes who can hold their own in a discussion of current events at dinner, not as "fratty" as I feared.
Now that I have approved his friends, I can worry about the 3.5" flying cockroach we found in his room, nestled in a pair of boxers on the bottom of a semester's pile of unwashed clothes. Luckily, after numerous tropical travels, I am not as neurotic about insects as I am about college admissions.
Mr. NP had to miss this trip. But he is here is spirit – and since I've trademarked my brand, he has finally become supportive of this blog. He even sent some links to share with readers:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/04/06/hardest-schools-to-get-in_n_526881.html
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/04/13/the-highest-paying-colleg_n_535061.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/14/education/14waitlist.html?src=me&ref=homepage
maybe in 2 years from now when my second is through all of this I will be able to laugh. This whole process has devolved from when we were kids to now, where you have to be Jonas Salk at 16 in order to be accepted. My friends and I all joke that none of us would be accepted at our alma maters today. We just have to build realistic goals for our kids and let them know they are terrific people who will do great things no matter where they go to school.