Here is a poem I wrote for all of the frazzled CC parents…
Hope it makes you giggle.
It doesn’t have the strongest ending but isn’t that a common theme as well??
Good luck to all.
'Twas the night before EA and all through the house
Every finger was whirring, attached to a mouse.
The LOR uploads were assigned with great care
In hopes that the buzzwords all would be there.
Common app edits were all done in red,
While parents on CC were shaking their heads.
DD and DS had snuck off for a nap,
Dreaming of finishing that one late night app.
500 posts later, there arose such a chatter
Which ECs are great and which ones don’t much matter?
Can College Board get scores sent in a flash
Or are all of our hopes about to be dashed?
Supplemental essays were ready to go
And short answer questions written just so
Closets were brimming with fun college gear
Waiting for when acceptances might just appear.
Showing off talents is quite a great trick
With so little space you have to think quick
What is important and what will seem lame?
Did you remember to change the school name???
Now AP, now IB, now DE and GC
On EA, on RD, on NMF and CC
So many acronyms, stay on the ball
How on earth does one remember them all?
And just as we thought we were getting by
A new slew of paperwork fell out of the sky.
Now it is FAFSA and CSS too
To see how much money will be leaving you.
The formula straightforward and fairly aloof
Watching your money disappear in a poof!
Too bad if you are financially sound,
Better to not have much dough lying around.
Blood sweat and tears on the forms you must put,
All of your retirement plans totally kaput.
Too late now, there is no looking back.
Hey wait – did DD just wake up for a snack?
Her eyes, how they twinkle, her dimples how merry.
Is that a transcript in her hand she does carry?
Did she finish the SAAR? Is it ready to go?
The tears from my eyes they are starting to flow.
My credit card, it is time to unsheathe.
Oh – look at that baby picture tucked underneath.
Back to the business at hand we must get,
Finally it might just be time to submit.
Check 3 more times, in spite of myself,
Wishing again for a fairy grammar elf.
With a wink of her eye and a nod of her head,
My kid has come to the moment I think I most dread.
She spoke not a word but went straight to her work.
Submit, submit, submit - then she turned with a jerk.
“Do you think this is it? Do you really suppose?”
And then in that instant we both simply froze.
We looked at the clock and we felt quite blissful.
Then we looked at each other and were a little bit wistful.
Hours spent on the Common App site,
Would hopefully bring mail that soon would excite.
