On the day that her college applications were due, Elisa Juarez went to the post office literally kicking and screaming. Despite having spent months on her applications, she felt she wasn't yet ready to turn them in. It was her boyfriend who finally pried them from her hands and handed them over to the bewildered postal worker. “It was really nerve-wracking,” says Juarez. But while she was relieved to have mailed off her applications, she slowly came to realize that her odyssey to get into college was not over. What came next was the big wait. The worst part about it was that after months of working on her applications, Juarez suddenly found herself feeling helpless. Like Juarez, many of you are now in the middle of your big wait. As you anxiously check your mailbox for the coveted acceptance letters from colleges, you, too, may feel powerless. But while this can certainly be a stressful period, there are some actions you can take to help you survive the waiting game. What to do during the wait The first step to making it through the wait is to continue to maintain the status quo. In other words, keep your grades up and stay involved in activities. “Continue to focus on your senior-year courses,” says Frank Bevec, assistant vice president for enrollment and director of admissions at Saint Joseph's College in Rensselaer, Ind. “Many offers of admission are contingent upon the successful completion of your senior year.” Bill Conley, dean of undergraduate admission for Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio, says that almost every year, the university suspends the admission of two or three students, requiring them to explain their second-semester underperformance. Once you make sure that your grades don't take a precipitous plunge, this waiting period can also be a great time to re-evaluate your college choices. Because you chose where to apply way back in the fall, make sure that your academic and career goals as well as personal preferences have not changed. “You need to say, ‘I'm a work-in-progress, and I want to be thinking about why I applied to these schools. Do they continue to resonate with who I'm becoming?'“ advises Conley. Besides reviewing your personal priorities, another way to evaluate your college choices is by considering your financial situation. If you have not done so already, have a heart-to-heart conversation with your parents about what colleges are within your financial reach. Work with your parents to complete the financial-aid paperwork, and spend time to seek out and apply for scholarships. The three April outcomes In April, you will start receiving decision letters from colleges. There are three possibilities: acceptance, denial and the wait list. If you are denied from a college, it's important to keep things in perspective. Realize that for many colleges there are many more qualified applicants than there are spaces available in the entering class. “You can't look at rejection as a failure,” says Svati Singla, a junior at Duke University. “There are circumstances beyond your control.” But between being rejected and accepted is the wait-list option. Colleges create a list of students who meet the admission requirements but for whom there isn't space. Some students on the wait list are eventually accepted. Saint Mary's University of Minnesota has a short wait list—about 10 to 12 students each year. Typically, 75 percent of these students are admitted. If you are placed on the wait list, write a letter to the college indicating that you are still interested in being admitted. “I personally do not mind hearing from a wait-listed student or his or her parents or guidance counselor. It often helps me in making a final admission decision,” says Tony Piscitiello, vice president for admission at Saint Mary's University. The most welcomed letter you'll receive from colleges is an acceptance. Along with your acceptances, you'll receive packets of information about the college and perhaps even calls from admission officers or alumni encouraging you to consider the college. “The roles are now reversed,” says Conley. “We had you for months chewing your fingernails. But what goes around comes around. We're now biting our nails and wondering if you're going to choose us.” Is that your final answer? In making your final decision, Singla suggests that you visit as many schools as possible to get a feel for the area. She got the e-mail addresses of students she met at Duke to ask them what it was like to be a student there. “Don't be afraid to ask questions. I'm sure there are 15 more people out there who have the same question as you,” says Singla, who now gives her e-mail address to high school students with questions about her college. In the end, it all worked out for Juarez, the student who had last-minute doubts about her applications at the post office. Last spring, she received the decision letters from the colleges. Some were small, signifying denial letters. But the one that was most important to her was large. She opened it to discover she had been admitted to Brown University. “I was jumping up and down,” she says. She then made one more trip to the post office. But this time she could not wait to send off her acceptance of admission to Brown. Gen and Kelly Tanabe are Harvard graduates and authors of several books, including Get Into Any College and Get Free Cash for College. Reach them at www.supercollege.com. --- Tips for accepting a college's offer of admission Once you've selected the college you want to attend, the last thing to do is make your decision formal by letting the college know of your decision. Typically, this involves sending a reply form along with a deposit check. Here are some strategies for this final step: Make sure it feels right. Confirm to yourself one last time that the college is the best fit. Tony Piscitiello, vice president for admission at Saint Mary's University of Minnesota, says you should ask yourself: “Do you feel good being on campus and meeting faculty, coaches and students from the college or university? Does it feel like a right fit?” Review your financial-aid package. Before accepting an offer of admission, make sure that you have communicated with the financial-aid office and understand exactly what aid is being offered. Take a hard look at your finances to insure that you and your parents will be able to pay the bills. Meet the deadline. Typically, the deadline for notifying colleges is May 1. This is one deadline you don't want to miss. Bill Conley, dean of undergraduate admission, says that two years ago, students admitted to Case Western Reserve University who sent in their deposits a few days after the deadline had their checks returned and were not allowed to enroll because the class was already filled. Ask for an extension. If you can't meet the college's deadline for informing them of your decision, ask for more time. Communicate with the other colleges. Inform the other colleges that you don't plan to enroll there. This is not only the polite thing to do, says Frank Bevec, director of admissions at Saint Joseph's College, but it also “will stop the mail and telephone calls to your home.” Celebrate. After you've mailed your acceptance of admission, you have officially completed the college admission process and are now ready to graduate and get ready for school!
