I just had to share our story.
I have a daughter in class of 2015 and my father, brother, sister, and brother in law are all grads. My son applied to WP this year and we knew he would on the bubble. Back in March, our local Liaison was told that my son was getting an appointment. Even though he was 6th in our district, none of the 5 ahead of him were going for one reason or another so he was actually going through as Primary even ranked 6th. It appeared the stars had just really lined up for him. About this time, we also learned he had been awarded a scholar award (full scholarship) to a very prestigious Prep school for a Post Grad year...The Liaison and I knew of the imminent appointment WP but did not share with him.
We waited patiently, but no appointment came week after week for about 3 weeks. Finally, we received a letter advising us that he was on the NWL. All of us were very confused, and all we were able to deduce was that they decided not to put through the #6 as the Primary vacancy so they could give spot to possibly a higher qualified candidate from NWL. This certainly seemed unfair to our state as we technically sort of lost a spot. A week after the NWL, sometime in April, we got a 'qualified not admitted' letter....leaving all of us even more confused! But, with the Prep school offer, I was thinking it wasn't meant to be and it would've be so hard thing to turn down their full scholarship offer even for a WP appointment. So, we were in full Prep school mode, and thrilled with the opportunity.
Monday of this week, June 17, I awoke at 8am to find an impersonal and somewhat brash email to my son (that I assumed was part of a mass email) telling him he needed to logon to his portal and accept or reject his appointment or it would be withdrawn! My first and only reaction was anger as I thought someone had sent this by mistake maybe due to all the strange things in March and that somehow WP's system showed he had been offered an appointment when he hadn't. I then logged onto the portal and saw the 4 Admissable mailings and the huge list of requirements which had just been posted that morning! Before we could even stop reeling, the phone rang and a voice on the other end abruptly told my son he needed to accept or decline immediately. When the person that called realized his confusion she said, "You did receive a call from your Senator last week, right?" To which he answered, "Um, I just received an email about an hour ago...." And, she said, "Oh, well I sent that email and the indication was you had been notified last week..." The BFE arrived hours later, and we've since learned, not surprisingly, he is #1204 and the last appointment in the entire country.
Our first reaction honestly was not elation or excitement but confusion and angst! With R day exactly 2 weeks away, and this news completely unexpected, switching gears was difficult and having our mindsets 100% in Prep School mode made this mental transition very hard to process. My son took about a day to quietly think about everything and woke up Tuesday, logged into his portal and accepted the last offer to round out the class of 2017. Oh, and my daughter's CLDT assignment this summer, is none other than a squad leader for Beast 1st detail, so know one is as thrilled as she is, anxiously awaiting his arrival!
His admissions journey makes no sense at all, but seems like a bit of fate was in play here in the path carved out for him. Good Luck to all the incoming 2017s and their families. Having grown up at WP myself, and attended Rday rehearsal as a kid, and witnessed a countless number of Rday Parades, most notably my daughters 2 summers ago, I can tell you nothing can prepare you for the emotion of that day. But, it will be one of the most memorable, and exciting days of your whole life when you see these kids transformed in one day. Deep breaths!!!
I have a daughter in class of 2015 and my father, brother, sister, and brother in law are all grads. My son applied to WP this year and we knew he would on the bubble. Back in March, our local Liaison was told that my son was getting an appointment. Even though he was 6th in our district, none of the 5 ahead of him were going for one reason or another so he was actually going through as Primary even ranked 6th. It appeared the stars had just really lined up for him. About this time, we also learned he had been awarded a scholar award (full scholarship) to a very prestigious Prep school for a Post Grad year...The Liaison and I knew of the imminent appointment WP but did not share with him.
We waited patiently, but no appointment came week after week for about 3 weeks. Finally, we received a letter advising us that he was on the NWL. All of us were very confused, and all we were able to deduce was that they decided not to put through the #6 as the Primary vacancy so they could give spot to possibly a higher qualified candidate from NWL. This certainly seemed unfair to our state as we technically sort of lost a spot. A week after the NWL, sometime in April, we got a 'qualified not admitted' letter....leaving all of us even more confused! But, with the Prep school offer, I was thinking it wasn't meant to be and it would've be so hard thing to turn down their full scholarship offer even for a WP appointment. So, we were in full Prep school mode, and thrilled with the opportunity.
Monday of this week, June 17, I awoke at 8am to find an impersonal and somewhat brash email to my son (that I assumed was part of a mass email) telling him he needed to logon to his portal and accept or reject his appointment or it would be withdrawn! My first and only reaction was anger as I thought someone had sent this by mistake maybe due to all the strange things in March and that somehow WP's system showed he had been offered an appointment when he hadn't. I then logged onto the portal and saw the 4 Admissable mailings and the huge list of requirements which had just been posted that morning! Before we could even stop reeling, the phone rang and a voice on the other end abruptly told my son he needed to accept or decline immediately. When the person that called realized his confusion she said, "You did receive a call from your Senator last week, right?" To which he answered, "Um, I just received an email about an hour ago...." And, she said, "Oh, well I sent that email and the indication was you had been notified last week..." The BFE arrived hours later, and we've since learned, not surprisingly, he is #1204 and the last appointment in the entire country.
Our first reaction honestly was not elation or excitement but confusion and angst! With R day exactly 2 weeks away, and this news completely unexpected, switching gears was difficult and having our mindsets 100% in Prep School mode made this mental transition very hard to process. My son took about a day to quietly think about everything and woke up Tuesday, logged into his portal and accepted the last offer to round out the class of 2017. Oh, and my daughter's CLDT assignment this summer, is none other than a squad leader for Beast 1st detail, so know one is as thrilled as she is, anxiously awaiting his arrival!
His admissions journey makes no sense at all, but seems like a bit of fate was in play here in the path carved out for him. Good Luck to all the incoming 2017s and their families. Having grown up at WP myself, and attended Rday rehearsal as a kid, and witnessed a countless number of Rday Parades, most notably my daughters 2 summers ago, I can tell you nothing can prepare you for the emotion of that day. But, it will be one of the most memorable, and exciting days of your whole life when you see these kids transformed in one day. Deep breaths!!!
