Sunday, March 9, 2008

No Affirmation Here

I received offers of acceptance for college this week. Far from being the overwhelmingly exciting event that university acceptance would have been (even though it's now almost a moot point), being accepted into the college program of my choice was pretty much a non-event. I think it's commensurate with the effort required.

For my university application, I arranged for roughly ten assorted documents, from 7 or 8 different academic institutions (!) and wrote an essay. Although they have receieved a mountain of paperwork from me, the status of my application still apparently hangs pending on a transcript for a course I'm actually taking now. I'm jumping through hoops; I feel like quality control on who goes to university is high. You get in if you deserve to get in.

College? Well. I supplied them with my not-too-bad high school
transcripts from 20 years ago. The transcripts for the night school courses I have been slaving over for the last two years hadn't even made it there when they made their offers. Subtext? You probably have a pulse, and you're not a complete idiot, so you're in.

It's not at all the benediction or affirmation I was longing for. That being said, practicality trumps all (this time) and I'll need to continuously re-adjust my expectations.

3 comments:

kate said...

Ouch! Any way you look at it - from your point or mine, that smarts!

I was always glad I could get into college courses and programs without much behind me,'cause I never seem to have much to back me up, and University seems so overwhelmingly about where you've been, not where you're going. Still you make great points that never considered.

Sorry you are so disillusioned by the process, but I think you'll still have to work hard in class!!

Anonymous said...

When I was applying at 18, there was only one college I really wanted to go to, and rumor was they rejected a lot of people. I applied to two others as backups, but I really really really wanted to go to just that one--which lost part of my application. It didn't get straightened out for months, not till the very last second, and I was really sweating it, but I got in. Phew!

Five Ferns Fibreholic said...

OUCH that hurts!!!....I WANT to go to Algonquin. At least now I won't worry about getting in.

I do realize that getting into college seems like a let down compared to Uni. Just think of it as a stepping stone to what you really want.