Peabody is the building, Jack is the dog, and I'm Dean J (she/her, btw).

There are years of posts here. The search box works well, but please consider the age of the posts when you find them. The college admission process changes every year!

References to emailing updates to your application are from the years when we didn't have the current applicant portal. Please follow the instructions in your portal to submit all updates.

Welcome to the blog and thanks for reading!

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Focus

This is the time of year when college-bound minds start to wander.  You've been back at school for a little bit and the routine of the new term is in place.  You mind starts to wander.  All those applications are in, but you're worrying about them.  Will that minuscule typo you discovered at the end of your list of extra-curriculars ruin your chances?  Was it wrong of you to go over the 250 word suggestion on the personal statement by 27 words?  Should you have used a special font? What about double spacing?  Should you quadruple check that your counselor sent your transcript even though she said it was sent in December the last three times you asked?  If your neighbor's hair stylist's cousin was waitlisted in 2003, should you take her advice?

Stop.

I know that everyone is freaking out about the college admission process, trying to assess their chances right now.  It's surprisingly contagious.  You have a semester's worth of work to get through in the next few months, though.   Worrying about an application that is already submitted isn't going to affect the outcome of your application and it's apt to take you away from more pressing tasks.

It's time to focus.




 There's also a little virus called senioritis that starts to make the rounds at this time of year. Resist it!

You have to focus.




It's going to take us a few months to get through this process. So, tune out all that background noise.

 No matter how exciting the distractions are, keep your focus.




Hang in there! 



(adorable distraction provided by CavDog's "cousin")