The long-awaited admissions letter arrives / Photographer: Thian Armenia
The class of 2021 is now facing the same plight as the generations of students that have come before them: waiting to hear back from college admissions. Many of this year’s students have spoken out about the focus issues caused by long-term worry over the lengthy decision process. To their credit, it can seem like an eternity waiting to get that letter. Unfortunately, for some, it very nearly is.
More and more schools are stretching out their application timetables. They now require applications earlier in the fall and the winter months, which seemed to inflict further pain on the senioritis-stricken students. But for the most part, students receive their decisions in early spring.
Certain colleges however, usually those with larger applicant pools or more exclusive admittance standards, take longer. Normally these schools only take a few weeks longer to turn around an admissions decision, but on occasion they debate on accepting someone for months or even years.
We reached out to one such school for comment. “We feel taking our time is the best way to guarantee the best educational experience for our students,” said the admissions director. We can all respect a commitment to education, but where do we draw the line? Is the perfect education worth waiting your whole life for?
In February of this year, an OIHS alumnus from the class of 1972 reached out to the school to announce that they have finally received their letter of acceptance from their school of choice. This surprising development comes just a year after the release of their award-winning autobiography, “From Senior to Senior Citizen: My College Admissions Journey.”
“I applied to a few colleges back then. Of course I was accepted by a few schools, but my school of choice never got back to me until now,” the alumnus said in an interview. When asked whether or not they would now attend the school, the alumnus said they are “considering it, but I’m mostly content working on my next book. Sometimes life moves on while you are waiting for others to catch up.