Question:
Our son hasn’t gotten in anywhere. What do we do now?
L.C. — Long Island
Answer:
First, calm down. Don’t panic. And don’t play the blame game. (Yes, we know, there‘s lots of finger-pointing going on.)
Your son can certainly go to college in the fall. But it probably won’t be to one of the “name” schools to which he applied.
So now it’s time to re-assess.
First, understand the landscape: this was the largest class of high school seniors ever to apply to college. Add to that the largest-ever influx of international applications. More kids each applying to a larger number of colleges made for a really complicated, competitive situation. So the numbers were working against you.
Second, you should probably ask whether you were realistic in your choices of where your son applied. Candidly, although we don’t know the specifics of your son’s high school record or selection, it sounds like you weren’t. Kids should always have a real “safety” where they’d be happy attending.
OK, so what should you do now? Talk to your high school guidance counselor/college placement person. Our guess is that a fair amount of your frustration is currently targeted at that person. Get over it, at least for now. It is time to help your son., and to realize you may need this person’s help. (If your son’s school doesn’t have a college placement person, we’ll address that in a bit.)
Most counselors have a network of college admissions officers whom they can call and get the latest scoop on where there are last-minute opening. Many counselors belong to NACAC (The National Association of College Admission Counselors.) In early May of every year, NACAC publishes a list of schools with openings or taking late applications. And many colleges do indeed have openings. Call this counselor and ask him (or her) to start making calls. You want him to use his network and make the effort on your son’s behalf.
If he really doesn’t have a network – he was just thrust into the job – or your school has no counselor, you have two options: start making calls yourself or consult with an independent counselor in your area. Though they will charge a fee, their insight may prove valuable. And they may have contacts with particular schools. You should ask them whether they have such a network; and for references.
But if you decide to tackle it yourself, the first question is: where should you call? To less selective colleges. You can find out which schools have less selective admissions criteria from most of the college guides. The Fiske Guide and the Princeton Review’s “Best 345 Colleges” each cite the percentage of applicants who are admitted. And the U.S. News Guide even lists categories of schools as “less competitive.” Here’s the surprise: even among those 345-or-so colleges listed in Both Fiske and Princeton Review, there are dozens of schools that admit more than 80% of the applicants!
When you call the college admission office, don’t complain about the injustice done to your son by his rejection at X, Y or Z. Ask politely and simply: are they still accepting applications? If the answer is yes, there is a fair chance your son will be admitted: the school has slots to fill.
Surprisingly, there is one other option. Many colleges will allow you to appeal the decision they have made. You might think how to package your appeal. Are there some late grades/new information to share with the college that sheds more light on the application? Can you secure a letter of recommendation from a senior teacher? Would the college consider accepting your son for a mid-year admit? Did you apply for financial aid but really didn’t need it? Obviously this strategy would work best with a lesser selective college, but we’ve even seen an Ivy League school reverse a decision.
There is one final approach: consider a community college for a year or two. And not necessarily near where you live. If your son’s high school record was less stellar than hoped for – resulting in the current situation – consider a change of venue. We know two kids from New York City who went to two-year colleges in California and blossomed! They needed a fresh start. True, they didn’t live in dorms – they found roommates and got apartments – and the college experience was different. But it worked for each of them. You and your son should consider that option, along with a gap year, which would give him the opportunity to work and mature. This is often a particularly good choice for boys. We’ll talk more about the gap year in a later posting.
Finally, we’ll reiterate what we said earlier: don’t panic. This isn’t the end of the world. And if you treat it calmly and rationally, you’ll all come out of it just fine.
