The Waiting Game - Round One

Round One of the College Waiting Game ended with today's mail. Katie had applied Early Decision to NYU. What makes Early Decision special (and definitely not to be confused with Early Acceptance) is that if you are accepted by the school, you have to withdraw all of your other college applications. It is a legally binding contract to go to that college. So basically you must be certain that the school you applied to is definitely THE ONE for you. As a highly selective school, Katie believed her chances of being accepted would be slightly better through Early Decision. Jim and I had mixed emotions about going this route because Katie would have no way of knowing by the Early Decision deadline of November 1 if she was being awarded any merit scholarships. But we allowed her to proceed as the business program she is interested in at NYU is ranked third best in the United States. In the meantime, she has been accepted by Loyola-Chicago and offered a scholarship to go there. While they don't have as strong of an International Business program as NYU, the thought of fewer student loans has a definite appeal. Plus they invited her to apply to the honors program, which then opens the door to further scholarship money. As I had pointed out to Katie, if she receives a nice scholarship, we could then supplement her study abroad program at a different school. As it ends up, today she received a letter from NYU stating that she had not been accepted. She is understandably upset, as she really feels NYU has the best program for her. But I am a firm believer that things happen for a reason. And as her mom, I can now admit that the thought of having my baby in a huge city a thousand miles away was somewhat terrifying. So we wait to see what Round Two brings...