Friday's Mailbag

Today's mail held the first notification on my graduate school applications. We learned today where we will not be going, as the first letter I received was a rejection. Family and friends have been very supportive and tell me I have nothing to worry about. I appeciate that, but it doesn't make the rejections any easier. I have tried to prepare myself for the receipt of the rejection notice, but apparently I didn't do very well. It was still disappointing to open the letter. I knew it was a rejection the moment I saw the envelope. It was too flat and thin. Lori tried to reassure me before I opened it that it might be a request for an interview, but, alas, it was not.

I don't know if I was more disappoint because I got rejected, because of the school that rejected me, or because my first notification was a rejection. I had expected to get rejected by some schools because the competition is that keen, but I think if I had gotten an acceptance to another school prior to the rejection, I wouldn't have been as disappointed by it. I think I was also disappointed because of the school that sent the rejection - The College of William & Mary.

I will be honest, the likelihood of me attending the College of William & Mary was very slim to begin with. The job opportunities for Lori in the Williamsburg area were very limited. The nearest family would have been at least five hours away making it difficult for Lori to have any family support for James while I was in school. What was disappointing about the rejection was that the College of William & Mary is one of the premier universities for studying history. It is a top notch program and to have been accepted there would have been an achievement even if I had choosen not to attend.

The letter was a typical form letter. It stated that while the Graduate Admission Committee was very impressed with my credentials, they were sorry to inform me that I had not been accepted for admission.

So now the possibilities are down to five and we know that we will not be heading south, at least for the next few years. The remaining schools are Delaware, Johns Hopkins, Maryland, Ohio State, and Pittsburgh. Wish me luck on being accepted to at least one of these programs.