Senioritis

Having a senior in high school in the house is a new experience for our family. Had I known what it was like, I would have "circled the wagons" to prepare. That is to say, I would have shut down life to the greatest degree possible.

Entering the senior year, we had our college choices narrowed down to University of Missouri-Columbia and Duke. Considering that Duke enrolls less than 1700 out of the 20,000 plus that apply, I felt confident we were settled on Mizzou, but giving God room to work "just in case".

Now, the picture is entirely different. He comes home with a new idea about where to apply almost weekly. Before, I was willing to go "anywhere" to check out colleges. Now, I'm not. We have been on four college visits, one of which required a 20-hour day to fly to the east coast and back. Unless we are on the final horizon of choice, I'm staying put.

The list today includes: Mizzou, Duke, Washington University, Vanderbilt, and Princeton. Thankfully, most of them take the Common Application, so we only had to fill out extra supplements.

Okay, so why the time issue? It takes a lot of time to educate oneself on the merits of various colleges to make a "short list" to which we will apply. Then there are senior parent meetings. We have to meet to discuss fundraisers to raise $14,000 (yes, you read that correctly) for the senior all night party and breakfast. Oh, but that is a whole other blog. Do you have any idea how much time is consumed in throwing away the dozen college brochures that arrive in the mail daily? The biggest time consumer is just the talking. Giving feedback on essays, discussing schools, test scores, making sure the applications are filled out on time and the letters of recommendation have been requested.

I'll be glad when this decision is made.