By Matt Glodz
Northside
When I applied to Cornell University, I knew the decision would be posted online at 4 p.m. on Dec. 10.
That day, I was a mess. I wasn’t mentally present in my classes, and I spent my lunch watching “Glee” to make the time go faster. I had a sunken feeling in my stomach, anticipating the worst.
At 4:03 p.m., I logged on to the Web site that would reveal my fate. “Dear Matthew,” the words on screen said. “We are very pleased to be welcoming you to the Cornell class of 2014.”
That’s all I needed to put me out of my misery.
My formal acceptance would come in the mail a few days later, but for some of my classmates, regular mail was their only means of getting the news. For one of my friends, the news never arrived at all.
So while snail mail is more formal and traditional, it can also be less reliable. Of the thousands of decision letters mailed by colleges each year, some are bound to get lost. Being told that your letter will arrive sometime during some random week is brutal enough, but making a kid wait for a duplicate because the first one got lost is just torture. However, if some students absolutely need that hard copy of an acceptance letter, there’s a simple solution: Just delete the e-mail notification and wait for a letter to arrive in the mail.
When it comes to getting into college, many teens just want to know yes or no. Making us wait longer than necessary only causes prolonged stress.
SNAIL MAIL, IT’S TRADITION
Monica Bator
Whitney Young
I would rather receive my college acceptance letter through the mail rather than an e-mail sent to my inbox.
I would probably get nervous and check my e-mail too often, which I believe would be more stressful than waiting for a letter. Also, if I’m waiting for a response from my top-choice school, I would appreciate physical proof that I was actually accepted into that school. Think about it—it’s much easier to flaunt an official-looking letter than to drag your friends and family members to your computer. Also, in the midst of all the excitement, what would happen if a student accidentally deleted their acceptance e-mail?
I also think that e-mail-only notification would be troublesome for students who don’t have Internet access at home. Teens in this situation would have to go out of their way to check their e-mail—especially if the e-mail was set to arrive at night or on a weekend when they’re not near a computer. In those cases, it may cause students more stress because they may not be able to know immediately if they received a response from their college.
In addition, some people like to keep letters tucked away for years. It’s harder to have a sentimental attachment to an e-mail than it is to hold on to a letter that will signal the start of the next chapter in your life. Acceptance e-mails can be more efficient because they can reach college-bound students faster and they may be less likely to get lost. But e-mails can get lost too.
Letters have withstood the test of time and I think it should stay that way in the future.
