And the college is not...

After spending hours  over several stacks of paper, I finally know my admission status at all of the schools I applied to. The first four I heard back from were all acceptance letters. Embry-Riddle Aeronautical Engineering University, Pensacola Christian College, Bob Jones University, and Norwich University.

My application to the University of South Carolina was cancelled. Yes, cancelled. The letter I received stated that my application was not completed before the deadline and was thus cancelled. However, I did have all of my stuff in ahead of time. There was some error on their part because the week before the deadline, I checked my application status on the web and it was complete. Now that they have reviewed everyones applications, even if I get everything straightened out, the earliest I could start at USC is 2010.

Duke University had almost 24,000 applicants this year. Did you see that number?? 24 Thousand! That's a lot. With only a 6% admissions rate (less than the service academies), students who would have without a doubt made it into Duke last year or the year before didn't get in this year. Students like me. 

The one we've all been waiting for, the school I know without a doubt is where I am supposed to go, the college that is best suited for me, The United States Air Force Academy. I obtained a nomination from Joe Wilson, Jim DeMint, Lindsay Graham, and my schools JROTC Senior Army Instructor. Sunday afternoon, soon after I arrived home from the SC FCA State Retreat in Garden City, I opened a letter from the Air Force. Sitting in an '07 orange Honda Accord, I read aloud the words "We regret". Silently I finished reading the sentence in my head. I didn't get in. I didn't make it. And after everything I had done to prepare for it, as much as I wanted it, as much as I had put into it, my first thought was "Well, now I don't have to retake the physical fitness test tomorrow." Just like that. 

So as far as next year goes, I have absolutely no idea what I'm doing. I'm thinking maybe attending Norwich for a year and then reapplying to the academy. Norwich is a military college up north in Vermont. It costs almost $30,000 a year but I was offered a full AFROTC scholarship. Only one person can get that at each school with AFROTC and they chose me. I was supposed to sign and send back a letter that was mailed to me soon after hearing I had been chosen to let them know if I would accept the offer. I remembered this on March 23 after receiving a voice mail from the AFROTC commander up at Norwich. I went to my room to retrieve the letter and to my horror read in bold print "Must be returned no later than March 19, 2009." So I mailed it the next day anyway. I'm still waiting to hear back about it. Without that, I do have about $20,000 paid for in private scholarships at the school. But then I still have almost $10,000 owed.

Embry-Riddle sent me a statement informing me that I qualify for the highest amount of Government funding. Including loans (which I do not intend on getting) I would receive no more than $7,000 for an education costing nearly $40,000 a year. Not very promising.

I have yet to figure out exactly what I'm going to be doing with my life or even merely just the next 365 days of it.