April 2nd -- It is amazing how much I did not like the college search process this past year. And most parents whom I speak with about this agree. It's just not fun. Maybe if we had unlimited funds, then it would be a cakewalk but we don't, so it isn't.
I was reading an article in the paper today about college rejections. This past week was the target week for all of the responses to students who applied for the January 1st deadline. It talked about how bogus some of the letters to the students are...Georgetown's letter said something like, "we are so sorry you cannot join us..." (As the reporter said in the article, it really does sound like they're talking about an invitation to a social gathering!)
Most articles about college applications cite at least once that the number of college applications have gone up dramatically in the past year or two. This is largely due to the common application which, when done, can go to a vast majority of the colleges throughout the entire country. Because kids don't have to do a completely new application for each school they apply to, they are more likely to apply to more schools. Which leads me to my "aha" moment. The schools are doing the happy dance! They are riding the wave created by all of the parents' intensity and competitiveness as they encourage their kids to apply to many, many schools. (One of Luke's friends applied to like, 14 schools!) So the reason why schools are so happy is because they are making lots and lots of money! Sure, they have to evaluate more applications but at $85 a pop, they are still making a profit. Yale had nearly 28,000 applications. Multiply that by each application fee of $85 and Yale made nearly 2.4 million dollars!! Crazy.
Which leads me to the college luncheon for scholarship recipients that Luke and Brian went to today. He and Brian had an awesome time being wooed by the school hosting the luncheon. One of the speakers put it this way, "a few months ago, we in admissions had all the power. Now all of you have the power. We want you to come here but it's all up to you. We hope you pick us." Seeing as it is an excellent school with a strong academic reputation, and that it costs the least out of all the schools he got accepted to, I think that's where he will end up going. Brian said he was beaming at the luncheon today. Luke hasn't "beamed" a real lot lately. So I have to say, albeit with some trepidation, I am getting excited. Is it the best choice? Who knows? But it's the best one for him at the moment. And that's all anyone can ask for. Including (and especially) Luke.
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