May 1--Tired of Waiting

(Yes, of course there's a song!)

Why Are We Waiting?

We're waiting because the admissions world has created a Mexican standoff:

• The US News Rankings that used to be published in March are now due out April 15th;
• Many law schools have moved their application and seat deposit deadlines back by two to four weeks;
• Both Stanford and NYU have instituted binding seat deposits; if you pay, you're not allowed to wait for Harvard;
• Even in the "now recovered" economy, people are more reluctant than ever to pay multiple seat deposits. 

Schools lower down the food chain won't know anything at all until schools higher up finish playing.  They try to buy their top end (the pre-emptive strike), then read files and wait list or reject, but they can't admit until the food chain wanders down to their level.

Why can't they?  Because bad things happen when they over-enroll. 

• Students paying upwards of $40,000 a year don't want folding seats in the aisle, and the classroom has a finite number of seats. So your admitted students get unhappy and try to transfer out.
• Your USNews ranking drops because your student-faculty ratio has risen and your selectivity (the number of offers you made) has declined. So your admitted students get unhappy and try to transfer out.
• Your professors get unhappy at having overcrowded classrooms, so you give them bonuses, sabbaticals next year, or whatever else y0ou have to give them to keep them from leaving; this could get expensive.
• Alternatively, you offer students money to take a year's deferral; this also could get expensive.

When Will the Impasse End? 

I don't know; nobody knows.  That's the whole point of a Mexican standoff.  Someone will move, and the whole line of dominoes will fall. 

What Do We Do Until Then?

Wait.

But wait productively. 

• By reading some of the books we recommended in 2008;
• By looking up anything at all on the Cultural Enrichment list we posted on 2009;
• Or by looking at history in action!  Thanks to Kevin McGrath, who uses You Tube to view inaugural addresses (while I use it to watch Mick Jagger sing with Tina Turner), we have a list of nearly 100 You Tube links. 
  • Watch Churchill and FDR, Nazi trials, Freedom fighters of various sorts.  See Kennedy take on the issue of anti-Catholic prejudice in the 1960 campaign or Nikita Kruschev at the U.N. in  the same year.
  • See famous women and minority leaders in the nascent struggles for civil rights.
  • And, okay, I've added Mick Jagger and Tina Turner; after all, I can't tease you like that.   And Live Aid, We Are the World, and That's What Friends are For were all politically-motivated musical events. 

More Admissions News

Justin's still holding at Georgetown, and waiting for that Mexican stand-off to settle.

Jaimin got into Duke, and withdrew all his other apps in a jiffy! 

Juan-Carlos got into about five schools so far; the ones we're seriously considering are Arizona State and Cal-Davis (since he lives practically around the corner).

Megan added Texas to her options;they made her admitted students' visit a glorious one by handing her a fabulous scholarship letter on the spot. In fact, she's seriously considering withdrawing all other apps. 

Eric almost miraculously got George Washington (it's a long story; you'll have to buy me a drink to hear it), as well as Santa Clara. 

Kevin got a seat at his beloved New York Law School, so he can stay in the city if he chooses. 

Dennis got a seat at George Washington, and withdrew all his other apps.   

Dante has three acceptance letters; New York Law School is the easy winner over Quinnipiac and Touro, because it's a much easier commute from Hoboken. 

Santa Clara made José an offer he doesn't think he can refuse, although the jury (Mom, Dad, girlfriend, and banker) isn't quite finished deliberating.

Robert's almost certainly going to choose Texas from his hefty list; it has the home-team advantage.

And Sameer is pretty happy with Emory, although he's stuck with Justin in Tired of Waiting limbo.