Got the Letter: Now What? - Nancy Federspiel, Director

April is just a time of anxiety. We are anxious about taxes, we are anxious for spring to come, the kids are anxious for the ball fields to dry out. But the April anxiety that takes the cake lies within the high school senior who is anxiously checking the mail and e-mail for those college acceptance letters. Those notices bring with them the highest of highs and the lowest of lows. Emotions aside, let's look at what the next steps are after those letters come in.

The good news about a rejection letter from a college is that you don't have to take a next step. The pressure is off. You have no move to make and no decision to ponder. It's easy - you're done with that particular school.

What about those letters that come in saying you have been placed on a college's waitlist? This is happening more and more often these days as colleges are less and less certain about what their yield (the percentage of accepted students who actually matriculate) will be since students are applying to a greater number of colleges than ever before. My advice is don't count on that waitlist status to change to accepted status. The percentages of students who get into schools off of the waitlist can sometimes be frighteningly low. According to an article in the Wall Street Journal yesterday the proportion of waitlisted students who are actually admitted is 35% nationally. And yet I have seen statistics from some of the more competitive schools that reveal percentages of 0% off the waitlist and 2% off the waitlist. The truth of the matter is that this fluctuates greatly by school - again, "don't count on it."

But, if you are waitlisted at a school that you are truly interested in be sure to let them know that you are still very interested. The colleges want to take people from the waitlist who want to come - they don't want to go back to the pool of applicants again and again. If a school is your first choice school then let them know that. Send a letter updating them on your activities if appropriate and let them know that they are your first choice school. (If it is not your first choice school don't say that it is…this will come back to haunt you.) Don't bother sending flowers or cookies to the admissions office…just let them know that you want very much to go to their school via a letter.

The students with the toughest next step are those who get acceptance letters at multiple schools and have at least two that they like equally well. How do you decide? What is the next step? These are the students who have a lot of work to do in April. The answer, after all, has to be arrived at and the college deposit sent before May first. Here are some tips if you fall into this category: First, remember that you are buying four years' worth of experiences and not a college name. This decision impacts all facets of your life, not just the academics, so remember to think of the big picture. Second, try to revisit the campus if possible and dig deeper this time. Sit in on a class if possible. Talk to students in the dining hall or student union and ask them what they like and don't like about the school. Can you picture yourself fitting in among the students you see? Visit the registrar's office and get a hold of a course catalogue. Highlight the names of the courses that have descriptions that sound interesting to you. Which of your schools has a catalogue with the most highlighter marks in it? Third, think through the finances - are there significant differences in the financial hardship that one school will create versus another school? Fourth, spend some time thinking about the activities that you hope to be involved with in college. Does one school offer more or better opportunities in these areas than another?

The truth of the matter is that a few weeks in April is not really a lot of time to make this big decision - it's just one more reason why anxiety runs rampant in April. The more methodical and thorough you can be in the process and the more advice you can seek out the more confident you will be with your decision. And remember, having a decision to make is a good thing.