DEL.ICIO.USIt's time for college acceptance letters
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 03/27/08
High school guidance counselors stock up on tissues this time of year.
They know they'll be meeting seniors devastated after being rejected by their dream colleges. Some students cry and some yell. A few say they want to die. Nearly all say it's stressful.
 Kimberly Smith/AJC | ||
| Francisco Jung, a senior at Norcross High School, checks the mail at home daily to see if he's received any letters from the colleges and universities he's applied to attend this fall. | ||
 Kimberly Smith/AJC | ||
| Maggie Yancey, a Norcross High School senior, talks about the waiting game as she and other seniors anxiously wait for acceptance, wait list or rejection letters from the colleges and universities where they have submitted applications. | ||
 Kimberly Smith/AJC | ||
| Mahogany Harris has been accepted and is planning to attend Valdosta State, so her waiting game is over. | ||
 Kimberly Smith/AJC | ||
| Francisco Jung has been accepted at Syracuse University and is sill waiting to hear from Cornell, Cooper Union, the Pratt Institute, Ga. Tech and NYU. | ||
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"It's scary because you realize you have no idea what you'll be doing in five months," said Carolina Matheson, a senior at The Westminster Schools in Atlanta.
March madness is more than basketball. This is the time when thousands of high school seniors wait for college acceptance and rejection letters. Students have spent the past few weeks opening "fat envelopes" — acceptance packages stuffed with housing applications and financial aid information — and "thin envelopes" containing nothing but rejection letters.
Applicants to the University of Georgia can go online later today to learn their fate. Many Ivy League schools will post their decisions online March 31. Most students should receive their answers by April 1.
The waiting makes some students obsessive. Norcross High senior Clarence Williams Jr. checks his e-mail nearly every hour. Classmate Francisco Jung checks the mailbox in front of his house every morning and afternoon — even on Sundays.
"Acceptance letters haunt me," Jung said. " I dreamt I wasn't going to college and I'd have to live in my parents' basement forever."
Jung has experienced highs and lows. He got wait-listed at Georgia Tech, where he thought he was a shoo-in. When that happened all his friends had been admitted to at least one school, but he had yet to get a single yes. About a week later Syracuse University accepted him. The future architect is still waiting to hear from Cooper Union, Cornell University and New York University.
Students will be OK if they don't get into their first-choice schools, said Nancy Beane, a college counselor at Westminster.
Beane and other counselors say part of their job is to talk students off the ledge when things don't go their way. They help students develop a plan so their ultimate goals can still come true. For instance, some students will transfer to their dream college after starting somewhere else.
Still, some students will be disappointed for a few weeks, Beane said.
"Kids feel where they get in is a measure of their worth," Beane said. "I remain convinced there are a lot of good college matches out there for students. College is a match to be made, not a prize to be won."
College admissions have become more competitive. The current high school senior class is the nation's largest in 20 years. They applied to college in record numbers. The bigger applicant pool means schools can be even more selective.
Some students say adults can't understand the pressure.
"All during spring semester you hear people talking about it and it's on everyone's mind," said Matheson, who got in everywhere she applied. "You hear someone got into a school that you applied to but you haven't heard anything yet so you assume you didn't get in."
Students admit their parents try. Maggie Yancey hopes to get good news today from UGA — her first choice. The Norcross High senior was accepted by other schools, so no matter what she has a place to go.
"My dad will randomly say it will be OK if I don't get in and talks up the other schools," Yancey said. "I still want UGA. I should have applied early decision but I was too scared. This waiting is worse."
A whole new set of challenges comes after the acceptance letters: Deciding where to attend and how to pay for it.
Students say they've received cards, notes and even gifts from the colleges telling them to visit again. Norcross senior Catherine Trippe got a T-shirt from Emory University, but that's not enough to sway her decision.
"I don't want a T-shirt," Trippe said. "I want money!"
