The First Decision: A Rejection

The very first decision Rachel received from a college was a rejection. I came home from work to find her bravely tapping away on the computer keyboard, working on her dreaded A Portrait of an Artist as a Young Man essay. But I knew something was amiss. Her eyes were red. The desk was strewn with wadded-up tissues. An empty tissue box lay in the trash. Being observant and a born detective, I just KNEW.

"So how are you?" I asked politely. "Fine," she said with a wan smile. I sat down on the bed and examined her watery eyes. That's all it took. The floodgates flew open.

"Oh Mommy, Davis rejected me!" she blurted out. It was that bad: I had become "Mommy," not "Mom." Obviously, a new box of tissues was in order.

As I ran to the cupboard and foraged for the tissues, I admit I was shaken too. The University of California at Davis — my alma mater — always seemed to be a shoe-in for her. Davis is not necessarily an easy school to get into these days, but it's not out of her reach. Her grades and test scores where right in the range published on the U.C. Davis Web site. The thought crossed my mind, "What if she doesn't get into any of the schools she applied to?"

A crazy thought. Silly. I did my research. I had a handle on the stats. But ... had I miscalculated the intensity of the competition these days? Was the bad economy to blame here?

Rachel, I knew, was thinking similar thoughts, that her dreams might need to be adjusted downward.

Returning with the tissues, I gave her a hug. "Honey, hang tough. This is just the first of many twists and turns on the road to college." How wise I sounded.

It was enough to get her through the evening. She went back to her essay and even managed to come to the table for dinner.

Comments

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i think my dreams have to be adjusted downward too =(
i've been rejected from 3 out of 7 colleges so far and accepted to one (my safety). duke was a reach so i wasnt too disappointed (i still thought i had a good shot though) but vanderbilt and bradeis were supposed to be targets. i dont understand whats going on!!