<p>Cur- I SO know how you feel. My son’s ED application is on the way, and since he is an athletic recruit, he has a really good chance of getting in. I am already sad about the schools he WON’T get to attend! If the ED doesn’t work out, there are other applications already in and a few that I hope he’ll get ready.
Coincidentally, my big regret will be losing Emory. He hasn’t visited, I haven’t visited- BUT, I feel it would be a perfect place for him. The coach has called him a number of times, but the opportunity for a visit just hasn’t presented itself with all the official recruiting visits that needed to be done in the northeast. The Emory application is easy, and I have encouraged S to keep showing interest when the coach calls. I will also be sad about University of Georgia, the wonderful safety my son chose completely on his own- teaching ME something in the process! I love his ED school (unnamed in public just so as to not jinx things), but I can feel the doors starting to close.<br>
One fun thing is that I am so excited about your daughter’s search, Andi’s son’s results this year and all of my other online friends…</p>
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Me, too. I can’t wait to hear.</p>
<p>Did Emory kick the bucket, then?</p>
<p>I found the thread I started last April when I had “the road not taken” feelings about my son’s choice. Some very thoughtful and wise words were said in that thread, perhaps it would be worth reading for some of you.</p>
<p>Curmudgeon,</p>
<p>A few things for me and my first son. He had researched a number of schools and got his list down to 9. I would not let him apply ED to any school because of the doors it closes. But he did get his applications done early. All were done before Thanksgiving. Though he was still getting enticements to apply even after January 1 where one school offered to extend their application deadline for him.</p>
<p>The real pain was in April when he had to choose between a number of great options. One of the things that I noticed was the psychological benefit of the number of choices he had. He was clearly desired by a number of schools that offered him fairly substantial financial or merit aid. At the end of the day he did not choose the school that cost the least but the one that he felt was best.</p>
<p>Looking back on it now it is not so bad . . . for me the melancholy occured throughout the summer before he went away knowing he was leaving. </p>
<p>Now with son #2 I have the same rule, no ED applications. It is interesting to note that son #1 did not apply to any school that had an ED program. Son #2 is applying to 4 that do. I know that means that it may be harder to get in to some of these schools but so be it. It will be their loss . . . I put a lot of stock in the Krueger and Dale research. ;-)</p>
<p>One final note, I prefer to think that when one door is closed another is opened. The trick is finding where that door is. I have every confidence that you will be able to find it.</p>
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Yes, that was the melancholic door-shutting phase for us, too. DD has 8 great colleges to choose from, and she had spent hours researching, visiting, talking with adcoms and students at the colleges. Turning down these wonderful opportunities was really difficult; kind of like saying goodbye to cherished friends! But, she is very happy where she is, so it all worked out well. Cur, I think you’ll really feel it at the end of April when youngCur has to choose. Hopefully, there will be a clear favorite academically, socially and financially to make things a bit easier!</p>
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I am choosing to remain delusionally optimistic that a clear winner will emerge. </p>
<p>I mentioned to somebody, somewhere recently (Dodds? Blue?Audio?) that darling d has a history of sitting in the middle of the floor at the toy store trying to choose between stuffed animals. Clutching one to her chest, then the other, testing their huggability before descending into a paralyzed tear-filled wail of indecision. But this past year has been better.;)</p>
<p>Reminds me of me when I was dating. </p>
<p>Kinda. </p>
<p>A little bit. </p>
<p>Well…not really.</p>
<p>Curm
I’ll throw in another option. Your darling D is busy getting applications in now, in a very timely fashion. Let her finish. Then–in Dec–suggest 1 or 2 other schools, “just to be on the safe side”. Especially if these are Common aps, with just one additional essay, she may bite. Aing her to do moe work now will most resoundly earn you a “no”.</p>
<p>Cur,</p>
<p>I’ve come to this thread late, but I really sympathize. I keep having second thoughts. Should Son have done this or that…? </p>
<p>The biggest question is ED. It just seems like such a nice fat carrot sitting there. Son is a legacy at Brown and that was tempting. We are not boxed in by financial constraints but son simply couldn’t make up his mind. Have we passed up something we’ll be sorry for? Son is leaning to Chicago, which is why he went EA there, but even that decision isn’t a hundred percent certain yet. (If it was, we wouldn’t be scrounging around, considering adding other schools!) </p>
<p>I am sure this will turn out all right, but it’s hard not to worry when that magic date of November 1 passes. I go in tomorrow to pick up a DVD with clips from Midsummer Night’s Dream that son plans to include in his applications. (We speed the first copy overnight to Chicago.) Then he works on his “safeties” next, which are all variants of the common app.</p>
<p>Good luck to you and your daughter!</p>
<p>I am just very happy we made the deadline at her two 11/1 EA’s and her 11/1 Scholarship Deadline. We now have an easy time on the remainder of her common app schools. I do hope that at the end of the process and well before RD deadline she will consider writing a couple of more essays for some reach-y schools. BUT-I’m happy.:)</p>
<p>Congratulations, Curmudgeon! It does get easier as the process goes on. I think that anytime we approach what looks like a monolithic task, we are overwhelmed – especially if we are 16 or 17. If you can break the task up a bit, as you have done by using the EA option at a couple of schools, it becomes more manageable, and the pressure lessens. Also, as little C gets into the habit of whipping out an essay or short answer, you may find that the results become more refined and more truly representative of who she is. It really is an iterative process, and we found that our son’s later applications just distilled the essential information in a better way.</p>