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Applying to University: Paperwork and the Waiting Game, Part 2

By Editorial Staff
  |  
  6 Min Read
Applying to University

Emily Diehl walks us though the final part of her University application experience.

Finally a letter came in the mail. Provisional acceptance! Hooray! The program I applied to necessitated an audition, so on top of the obvious requirements of graduation in June, I had to schedule and pass an audition later sometime before May. I knew that bit already – not that it was any less stressful.

At this point, my attention turned to scholarships. The university I applied to had a number of entrance scholarships for which I was automatically considered. That was nice: a little less work. However, there was still this huge packet of scholarships to go through and select from. (And that doesn’t even count the online scholarships from other places I could apply for, which I won’t go into.) I decided to apply for two of the three for which I was eligible.

Each of those scholarships needed two reference letters: one from my principal, and one from someone else (not family). I contacted my principal, asking for letters, and I then made a list of people I could ask for references. That was nerve-wracking. Who to ask? (Especially on relatively short notice – with the deadlines for my International Baccalaureate work, I had unfortunately left this to the last couple weeks or so before the deadline… and conveniently forgotten I needed letters of reference.) I picked two people and emailed them; they responded that they’d gladly write me letters (phew) and would get them to me as soon as they could.

These were the days leading up to my audition, as well, and I was practicing whenever I could while also studying for my IB exams. I planned to take the whole package of scholarship application forms and letters of reference with me when I went for my audition… And then I read something on the scholarship application form that I had missed. I needed a transcript. I didn’t have one.

…But I had already sent one in! I was confused. So I emailed the scholarship office asking if I needed another one for sure, or if the one they already had would do. I seemed to be finding conflicting information: one place on the website said I needed a transcript, another didn’t mention anything about a transcript at all.

No answer. Still no answer. (I never did get an answer.) I couldn’t hand in the package without a transcript, so I couldn’t bring it in the day of my audition. Sigh.

Just after my audition, the professors working with me asked me to fill out my registration. I’d been sent a copy of this before, so I knew how it worked, but that is one intimidating form. On this page you determine the next year of your life. Here’s a pen.

Personal info. Course selection. (I was lucky in this regard, since most of the courses I would be taking were mandatory courses, and I only had to pick two electives.) Signature. Done. Next year is set in stone.

The audition was a Friday, so I would have to send the scholarship application the next week. Asked for a transcript Monday, got it Tuesday, spent the evening finding envelopes the proper size to fit everything without folding things, addressed everything (what if something got separated?), noted acutely my propensity for paranoia, and sent the whole thing Wednesday morning.

Back to waiting. The eternal torture of waiting. The swirling vortex of what-ifs.

At least this time I had more urgent things to worry about: my exams. But those weren’t all the time (although I should probably have been studying any free time I had), and when I let my mind wander, it would wander off to worrying about those forms I had sent in.

It would also wander to my residence application, which I’d honestly been procrastinating about for months. I could have applied in September, but I hadn’t. I never did feel like it was the right time to do so. There were other possibilities that I would have preferred, even though they seemed far off and unlikely. Not that I didn’t want to live in residence – no, it was a case of two good things, one of which I simply wanted more.

Due to that, I waited and waited. I got progressively more concerned that if I did end up having to apply to residence, there wouldn’t be a room for me. But I was stubborn, and held on to my hopes… And eventually realized that I needed to suck it up and apply for res.

It took a few tries before I actually hit the apply button (another online application). The part of the application that really made me pause was the start and end date of residence. I didn’t know when I ought to move in, and I wasn’t sure when I ought to move out. I found out the start of classes, and when all my final exams would be. I gave myself a couple days before and after for good measure, and I put my desired dates in (finally).

More waiting. This time with more apprehension, because I wasn’t certain at all whether I would get in – and if I didn’t, I had some searching to do, and some serious financial planning… which wasn’t really an option anyway (uh oh). Also, this time I had very little to occupy me since my exams were all finished. I was hunting for a job (another very difficult, tiring and discouraging process, but that is, again, another blog), and since I wasn’t finding anything, it was hard to focus on – and therefore my mind would drift to whether or not I would get into res.

I finally got a package from the university in the mail, and I’d been accepted! Unfortunately, the acceptance came with a whole other mound of paperwork: terms and conditions, residence agreements, rights and responsibilities – it didn’t seem to end. To make things fun, these forms were couched in more legalese than I’d ever read in my life. The earlier forms were fairly simple to read and understand; these were terribly long and rather complicated. But! I made it through them, signed them and added a cheque for the registration fee, and sent it off.

And… That was it. There weren’t any more.

…That was it?!

I didn’t feel much more fulfilled than I did before. Especially with the knowledge that there would be more paperwork (and probably a disproportionate amount of waiting) in the future… It never does end, does it?

One year’s paperwork down, many more to go. I had now proven to myself that I could get through it. Onward!

Read part one of Applying to University: Paperwork and the Waiting Game.

How did your application process go? Let us know in the comments.

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