March Madness Has Nothing To Do With Basketball.
Shane’s college search has been a wild ride. We’ve visited nearly a hundred campuses. We’ve taken at least 20 official tours. He’s done countless virtual sessions. He narrowed it down to 15 colleges that he believed were worthy of an application.
I have noticed on various Facebook pages and college admissions chatter sites that there seems to be a discrepancy about how many college applications are “acceptable.” There are thousands of parents who say that two applications are enough; some only apply to one. Those parents usually have kids who only look at a handful of schools, and base their decision strictly on location and finances.
This is absolutely a fine way to do it. Location and finances are wildly important. From what I’ve gathered, most parents don’t even venture out of state.
Obviously these parents are not nearly as obsessive as I am. I can’t imagine limiting the search to that extent. We did a mid-pandemic tour of New York that covered 10 colleges in 16 hours – just to be able to tour during the pandemic! (We did not see a soul on any campus, as it was mid-summer.)
I bought and borrowed dozens of books about colleges. When I go to bed at night, they are the only things I want to read. I just read and read and read about college admissions, as if it matters. I’m not sure my obsession has done anything for Shane, except to introduce colleges to him that aren’t located in our area.
This may have been a mistake, because now his favorite choices are incredibly far from home.
And he’s been getting acceptances like crazy! We are still waiting for some of those more selective schools to see what they decide.
For me, “March Madness” has nothing to do with basketball. I check Shane’s email a hundred times a day, waiting to see if those last few decisions have been announced yet. I don’t open Shane’s email, of course. And Shane is merrily romping through play practice every day, blissfully unaware that another day is going by without a decision. He doesn’t even get home until it’s nearly dark outside.
So even if those decisions come in, he won’t know until the end of the day. But this doesn’t stop me from reading College Confidential all day, finding out more about colleges that may or may not accept him. In the past week, I have also prepped myself for decisions from colleges to which he has never even applied! College Confidential is a good way to lose an entire day – or year – of life.
I’m not sure what I think is going to happen once all the decisions are in. But I do know one thing for sure: as soon as they’re in, I can start planning our spring break trip! And that is my favorite thing to do.