That's two Carolinas...checked off the list!

This will go down in the history of Team WestEnders as the week of %$*& College Deadline...Distress. First off, I did mention in a previous post that the applications were all available more than 2 months ago, right? And that the Senior (bless his heart) procrastinated until the calendar read October before actually, you know, beginning to take any steps to complete them? (Which is the reason why it has become a code word in our family--if anyone mentions putting off a task, or not having enough time to do something, someone will cut them off by yelling "AUGUST!", effectively silencing their complaining and letting them know there's no sympathy for those who wait until the Last. Possible. Minute. Yeah, we've heard that word a LOT in this house lately, as you can imagine...)

Even though the actual applications are now online (unlike when I was doing them, and had to copy the details by hand, over...and over...), they still involve a great deal of information, and therefore take time and effort. (I mean, seriously--name, address, parents, blah blah blah...sure, those are tedious, but make sense. But is it really necessary to enter each and every class you've taken in High School...one at a time? When you're getting an official record sent to you separately anyway? I'm asking for a frazzled friend, of course...) Also, we were dismayed to discover that, after all the big talk about the Common App, only one of Derek's potential schools actually uses it. Another two use the Coalition App, but that still leaves 4 unique submissions he's going to have to manage. (Bottom Line: more work. Yaaayyyy....)

Then there's the fact that he neglected to ask for recommendations...until 2 weeks before they were due. "Um, honey? It would probably be in your best interest to give your very busy teachers more of a cushion...to come up with and write down complimentary things about you." (Since it's your future, and all....just sayin'...) Aaaannnnd, the transcript requests, which the Guidance Department would process and send out...with the properly completed form, an address (email or physical), an envelope if the particular university demanded a paper copy rather than an electronic version...and the designated fee, of course.

But before we could even turn in those "please send my transcript to X, Y, and Z institution" papers, Derek informed me we had to sign...the FERPA. I'm sorry, the what, now? (All I could think of when he told me was the Disney cartoon, Phineas and Ferb, and I couldn't imagine what they had to do with higher education. In my defense, it was nearing midnight in the midst of a grueling session of college...stuff...and I was a little loopy at the time....) Anyway...I would say that both of us are intelligent, computer literate, and sensible people...and I'm here to tell you that it nevertheless took our combined efforts, 2 different attempts, and about 30 minutes of precious time to locate that stupid FERPA thingie, nestled deeeeeep within the Common App's endless pages of data. Aaaaarghhhhhh!

But with that having been digitally accepted--by simply typing your name into the box, thank goodness--we could once again move forward. Um...where were we? Oh, yeah: checking to see whether Derek's test scores had already been sent to the various schools...which at least for the ones due this weekend, was a "yes". (Whew! We'll order those other ones...soon....) And then, I kid you not, Derek finally faced the writing portion of his job. You heard me: the day before the deadline, he composed 2 short answer responses and modified a longer autobiographical essay his AP English teacher had assigned at the beginning of the term...for just such an emergency. (Wise man, that one...remind me to thank him profusely...)

He then asked me to proofread/edit/make suggestions--which I was quite willing to do, of course. However, he was probably...less pleased...with my actual comments, since they involved such things as, oh, reworking entire sections, adding more personal examples, and in one case....starting over from scratch. (Yeeeahhh, it was a loooong afternoon o'fun, I tell ya...) Oh, and let's not forget the crucial step of--how shall I put this? "Cutting the fluff and tightening things up" to meet the strict word-count requirements of those unforgiving boxes in the online applications. Oy. I'm pretty sure it's the left side of my brain that hurts at the moment. (So what am I doing in my free time? Yep, writing about it...that's it, I've officially lost my marbles, y'all...)

Finally, at long last, there was only one step left: pay the piper...er "Admissions Office". Could it possibly be as easy as entering the credit card number and clicking "Submit"? Hahahahaha--of course not! The Common App caused us a bit of panic, since after we'd dutifully, thoroughly "Reviewed" the details...no magic "Continue" button appeared to guide us along our way. Derek and I each tried...multiple times...even clearing the browsing history and closing down Chrome to see if it could be a random glitch in cyberspace. When even those drastic measures failed to solve the problem, we abandoned Derek's computer to try another machine...which for whatever reason cooperated beautifully and allowed us to finish the process. ("I don't know, honey--maybe it's something in your security settings....you know....cookies...or whatever." Yeah, they don't call me Tech Support for nothing...snicker...)

Derek and I looked at each other--somewhat weary and shell-shocked--and suddenly broke into huge grins, and high-fived. "Whoo hoo! Two down, buddy! Doesn't that feel great?" He agreed that it did, indeed...and what he tactfully DIDN'T say was that it was also a huuuuuge relief that now his mother could quit nagging him about it for a while...or at least until the next 2 are due...at the end of October. GAH! But for the moment, he's earned some video game time, and I'm gonna spend a quality evening with whatever light and cheerful TV programming I can find. And just maybe...do some preliminary testing of the Halloween chocolate...all with the goal of resting up and mentally preparing for Round 2, naturally!