Jeanie Grimm, College Consultant

Decades ago, when the writer of this piece received her college admissions decisions, there was no internet (Cue: gasp!) Colleges did not even communicate with students. There were no portals, no websites with “Important dates and deadlines” subsections…nothing. You learned that decisions were out when your friends called (on a landline, which might have been ringing busy for hours, if you had teenage siblings also living in your house) to tell you their news.

How did our decisions arrive? By mail. Good ol’ fashioned snail mail. This meant that we watched for the mail truck and sometimes even chased it down the street in an attempt to beg the carrier to pull your mail before they even got to your house.

While many parts of that sound awful, even having lived through them, let me tell you what was fabulous about this: I got to take my letter into my room, close the door, and manage my environment before I had to manage my feelings. A little privacy, a little cry, a little time, and I was ready to go in my kitchen and tell my family my news, then decide what to do next.

At different points in the college search and application process, you may have felt like you had little control. Colleges set the rules around so much: how to apply, when to apply, whether or not test scores matter, how they make decisions…So we have often encouraged you to control the things you can control: your effort and your attitude.

What does this have to do with decisions? We encourage you here, too, to control the things you can control.

Where do you want to receive your decision? In your room alone? With a parent? At rehearsal or practice with lots of people around you? (Pro tip: We do not recommend that!) Colleges often send an email letting you know when decisions will be released, and then may send another one letting you know the decision is available in your portal. This means you get to plan! Think now, before decisions start arriving, about what the best environment is for you.

Speaking of environments, now that school has started, you’re likely discovering that there is a lot of talk about college. You may even be experiencing this outside of school. While we believe you should always conduct yourself in a way that makes you feel proud, you can set some parameters around college chatter. Protect yourself! And enlist some help. Practice a response to the inevitable questions about college with a trusted family member. One option is certainly to say, “I would rather not talk about college right now! Go Bills?” While a clearly Western New York, use it. Or change it up a bit. This is all stressful enough! You don’t need to add to it by having conversations you don’t want to have.

We hope that you are surrounded with support in times of good news and not as good news. At McNealSams, we are here to celebrate with you and to support and guide you. Please share your decisions with us!