You are not alone

Yale, Brown, Columbia, Cornell and Princeton send out most of their decision letters--mainly by e-mail--tomorrow at 5 p.m. If you are one of the many, many applicants to these or any other Ivy this year, stop your pacing and take a deep breath. Not only are you not alone in applying to such a prestigious school, but you will also not be alone if you don't get the thick envelope. I don't mean to be a doom-sayer, I just think that it is necessary to point out that these schools have seen a record increase in applicants this year. No surprise, they are also admitting fewer students. Dartmouth's admittance rate is only 12-percent, a historic low, while Harvard is admitting only 7-percent of applicants--down a whole percentage point from last year.

Learn more by reading Tamar Lewis and Jacques Steinberg's article in the New York Times: "For Top Colleges, Economy Has Not Reduced Interest (or Made Getting in Easier)".

Please keep this in mind when you eagerly check your mail (electronic and otherwise) over the next few days. Perspective is needed in all things. Remember all hope is not lost; a better opportunity waits just around the corner.

Best of Luck!