Counselors Cautious

Rough Draft

There are many mysteries of life that we as young adults are left to solve on our own. How many bites of my sandwich can I get before my teacher notices? Do I have enough time to get Starbucks and beat tardy sweeps? Why can’t an 89.95% be rounded up to an A? While these decisions won’t have too powerful of an aftermath, others place us in a precarious position, such as choosing whether to hold onto hope or stick with what’s safe when looking at colleges. Luckily, as more counselors concernedly step into the circus ring of choosing a college, we are not unaided in our time of need.
Starting this year, California public universities are making use of waiting lists in their decisions this spring, and causing some considerable damage to the self esteem of their applicants. High school counselors throughout the state are worried about the emotional toll these actions will have on a student’s capability of choosing a college wisely. While there is a thrill to making the waiting list of a number one school, statistics show few students ever make the leap from waiting list to enrollment, causing unnecessary anxiety and hopes in a time already brimming with stress and chaos.
University officials have reported that at least six of nine UC campuses plan to use waiting lists, excluding UCLA and UC Merced, who have decided not to expand the number of students who are waitlisted. Admissions officers said waiting lists are used to maintain the target of enrollment despite budget cuts forcing them to accept fewer freshmen. Many are upset with this new implementation due to its forcing students to deal with a system more commonly associated with private colleges. INSERT QUOTE FROM A COUNSELOR, NEED TO GET IT STILL, WILL BE THEIR OPINION OF THIS THING.
*My friend Elisa, graduated last year, was waitlisted for Columbia, but b/c she waited until she found out she didn’t make it, she had to pick a school she didn’t want as much b/c she missed the deadline for the others. I asked her to summarize her story for me so I can quote her, and I will insert it here.
With college acceptance letters arriving in just a few weeks, the choice is entirely up to the seniors. INSERT QUOTES FROM SENIORS ON WHAT THEY ARE MOST LIKELY TO DO AND WHY.

Rough Draft

There are many mysteries of life that we as young adults are left to solve on our own. How many bites of my sandwich can I get before my teacher notices? Do I have enough time to get Starbucks and beat tardy sweeps? Why can’t an 89.95% be rounded up to an A? While these decisions won’t have too powerful of an aftermath, others place us in a precarious position [precarious positions], such as choosing whether to hold onto hope or stick with what’s safe when looking at colleges. Luckily, as more counselors concernedly step into the circus ring of choosing a college [colleges], we are not unaided in our time of need.
Starting this year, California public universities are making use of waiting lists in their decisions this spring, and causing some considerable damage to the self esteem of their applicants. High school counselors throughout the state are worried about the emotional toll these actions will have on a student’s capability of choosing a college wisely. While there is a thrill to making the waiting list of a number one school, statistics show few students ever make the leap from waiting list to enrollment, causing unnecessary anxiety and hopes in a time already brimming with stress and chaos.
University officials have reported that at least six of [ insert "the"] nine UC campuses plan to use waiting lists, excluding UCLA and UC Merced, who have decided not to expand the number of students who are waitlisted [wait-listed]. Admissions officers said waiting lists are used to maintain the target of enrollment despite budget cuts forcing them to accept fewer freshmen. Many are upset with this new implementation due to its forcing students to deal with a system more commonly associated with private colleges. INSERT QUOTE FROM A COUNSELOR, NEED TO GET IT STILL, WILL BE THEIR OPINION OF THIS THING.
*My friend Elisa, [insert "who"] graduated last year, was waitlisted [wait-listed] for Columbia, but b/c she waited until she found out she didn’t make it, she had to pick a school she didn’t want as much b/c she missed the deadline for the others. I asked her to summarize her story for me so I can quote her, and I will insert it here.
With college acceptance letters arriving in just a few weeks, the choice is entirely up to the seniors. INSERT QUOTES FROM SENIORS ON WHAT THEY ARE MOST LIKELY TO DO AND WHY.

There are many mysteries of life that we young adults are left to ponder on our own. Why can’t an 89.95% be rounded up to an A? Why doesn’t the author’s “humor” make me laugh? When will I ever use *insert subject here* in real life? While these questions won’t have too powerful of an aftermath, others place us in precarious positions, such as choosing whether to hold onto hope or stick with what’s safe when looking at colleges. Luckily, as more counselors concernedly step into the circus ring of choosing colleges, we are not unaided in our time of need.
Starting this year, California public universities are making use of waiting lists in their decisions this spring, and causing some considerable damage to the self esteem of their applicants. High school counselors throughout the state are worried about the emotional toll these actions will have on a student’s capability of choosing a college wisely. While there is a thrill to making the waiting list of a number one school, statistics show few students ever make the leap from waiting list to enrollment, causing unnecessary anxiety and hopes in a time already brimming with stress and chaos.
University officials have reported that at least six of the nine UC campuses plan to use waiting lists, excluding UCLA and UC Merced, who have decided not to expand the number of students who are wait-listed. Admissions officers said waiting lists are used to maintain the target of enrollment despite budget cuts forcing them to accept fewer freshmen. Many are upset with this new implementation due to its forcing students to deal with a system more commonly associated with private colleges.
QUOTE FROM MRS. MCQUAID HERE
Alumna Elisa Carino faced a similar problem last year when choosing which school to attend: “I was accepted into USC, NYU, and U of Chicago, which are all really great schools, but I was wait-listed at Columbia. I wanted to get into Columbia so badly that I waited and almost missed the deadlines for my other schools. In the end, I wasn’t accepted, and had to rush to choose a school to go to. Now, I regret not picking from my acceptances before because I could have saved myself some disappointment and regret.”
With college acceptance letters arriving in just a few weeks, the choice is entirely up to the seniors. “Being wait-listed presents a huge problem for today’s high school students, and unfortunately its happening fairly frequently as of late,” said senior Emily Litvack. Some may hold out for The Big One so they will never wonder what might have been, while others may choose from the schools that have already expressed their desire for their attendence. However, when making this decision, there’s one important thing to remember. “High school seniors need to realize that a college education in America is an amazing opportunity, regardless of where you go,” remarked Emily. “We need to be grateful for whatever schools we get into because not everyone is as fortunate.”

There are many mysteries of life that we young adults are left to ponder on our own. Why can’t an 89.95% be rounded up to an A? Why doesn’t the author’s “humor” make me laugh? When will I ever use *insert subject here* in real life? While these questions won’t have too powerful of an aftermath, others place us in precarious positions, such as choosing whether to hold onto [on to] hope or stick with what’s safe when looking at colleges. Luckily, as more counselors concernedly step into the circus ring of choosing colleges, we are not unaided in our time of need.
Starting this year, California public universities are making use of waiting lists in their decisions this spring, and causing some considerable damage to the self esteem [self-esteem] of their applicants. High school counselors throughout the state are worried about the emotional toll these actions will have on a student’s capability of choosing a college [students' capability of choosing colleges] wisely. While there is a thrill to making the waiting list of a number one [competitive?] school, statistics show few students ever make the leap from waiting list to enrollment, causing unnecessary anxiety and hopes in a time already brimming with stress and chaos.
University officials have reported that at least six of the nine UC campuses plan to use waiting lists, excluding UCLA and UC Merced [University of California, Los Angeles and University of California, Merced --- it's so long, but it's what the style guide says..i'm gonna ask Debbie and Joanna about this cause we all know what ucla and uc merced are], who have decided not to expand the number of students who are wait-listed. Admissions officers said waiting lists are used to maintain the target of enrollment despite budget cuts forcing them to accept fewer freshmen. Many are upset with this new implementation due to its forcing students to deal with a system more commonly associated with private colleges.
QUOTE FROM MRS. MCQUAID HERE
Alumna Elisa Carino faced a similar problem last year when choosing which school to attend: “I was accepted into USC, NYU, and U of Chicago, which are all really great schools, but I was wait-listed at Columbia. I wanted to get into Columbia so badly that I waited and almost missed the deadlines for my other schools. In the end, I wasn’t accepted, and had to rush to choose a school to go to. Now, I regret not picking from my acceptances before because I could have saved myself some disappointment and regret.” [put "said Elisa" somewhere]
With college acceptance letters arriving in just a few weeks, the choice is entirely up to the seniors. “Being wait-listed presents a huge problem for today’s high school students, and unfortunately its happening fairly frequently as of late [???],” said senior Emily Litvack. Some may hold out for The Big One [quotations] so they will never wonder what might have been, while others may choose from the schools that have already expressed their desire for their attendence [attendance]. However, when making this decision, there’s one important thing to remember. [:] “High school seniors need to realize that a college education in America is an amazing opportunity, regardless of where you go,” remarked Emily. “We need to be grateful for whatever schools we get into because not everyone is as fortunate.”

Final, 570 words, can be cut if needed.

There are many academic mysteries young adults must ponder. Why can’t an 89.95% be rounded up to an A? Why doesn’t the author’s “humor” make me laugh? When will I ever use *insert subject here* in real life? While these questions won’t have too significant of an aftermath, others place us in precarious positions, such as choosing whether to hold onto hope or stick with what’s safe when looking at colleges.
Starting this year, California public universities are making use of waiting lists in their decisions this spring, and causing some considerable damage to the self esteem of their applicants. High school counselors throughout the state are worried about the emotional toll these actions will have on a student’s capability of choosing a college wisely. While there is a thrill to making the waiting list of a number one school, statistics show few students ever make the leap from waiting list to enrollment, causing unnecessary anxiety and hopes in a time already brimming with stress and chaos.
University officials have reported that at least six of the nine UC campuses plan to use waiting lists, excluding UCLA and UC Merced, who have decided not to expand the number of students who are wait-listed. Admissions officers said waiting lists are used to maintain the target of enrollment despite budget cuts forcing them to accept fewer freshmen. Many are upset with this new implementation due to its forcing students to deal with a system more commonly associated with private colleges.
High school counselor Mrs. Laurie McQuaid likens the dilemma to “waiting for your favorite jeans to go on sale.” However, “by the time the sale rolls around, maybe they don't have your size anymore. That was the risk you chose to take.”
In a nutshell, Mrs. McQuaid’s advice is only more questions. “It all depends on what’s important to the student,” she replied. “Are they willing to wait and possibly be denied at a later date? What would their options be at that time, and are those acceptable? Or do they want to take the sure bet this time?” It seems that until one decides something, there waits for high school seniors only more possibilities to ponder.
Alumna Elisa Carino faced a similar problem last year when choosing which school to attend: “I was accepted to USC, NYU, and U Chicago, but was wait-listed at Columbia. I wanted to get into Columbia so badly I waited and almost missed my other schools’ deadlines. In the end, I wasn’t accepted, and had to choose a school quickly. Now, I regret not picking from my acceptances because I could have saved myself a lot of disappointment and regret.”
With college acceptance letters arriving in just a few weeks, the choice is entirely up to the seniors. “Being wait-listed presents a huge problem for today’s high school students, and unfortunately its happening fairly frequently as of late,” said senior Emily Litvack. Some may hold out for The Big One so they will never wonder what might have been, while others may choose from the schools that have already expressed their desire for their attendence. However, when making this decision, there’s one important thing to remember. “High school seniors need to realize that a college education in America is an amazing opportunity, regardless of where you go,” remarked Emily. “We need to be grateful for whatever schools we get into because not everyone is as fortunate.”