College Applications

So, daughter has been madly submitting college applications and portfolios over the weekend.

4 applications, and 4 portfolios.

Funny, we visited 12 colleges with her before we narrowed it down to these 4.  And we didn't visit any of those 4 colleges before this fall.

The portfolios have been the difficult part.  While the applications have been made easier with the advent of the Common App, the portfolios have not.  Each school requires a different portfolio.  Each one requires 10-15 pieces of their very best work - whether for writing or art.  Daughter has been submitting both writing and art portfolios for every school.  With each school, she's gone with a slightly different focus on her portfolio submissions.  Each school requires a variation on an Artists' Statement, and has a series of questions that need to be answered that are separate from the questions on the Common App, and is different from every other portfolio submission out there.

With early action deadlines fast approaching, the pressure is on.  Thanksgiving is next week, and the deadlines are right after Thanksgiving.

Looking at my stressed out daughter over the weekend, we decided she needed a day off of school to finish her portfolio submissions and statements.

By noon today, all of her portfolios had been submitted, and she is much more relaxed.  "All" we have to do now is wait for the decisions to begin arriving.

When all is said I done, I think the waiting is the hardest part.