The city that never sleeps

So the results are in.... And we're accepted! To NYU, that is.

It had been a couple weeks since I submitted everything. However, on my online application status page thing, it said that the application was submitted, but the process was not complete. I wasn't sure what this meant, but I assumed that once the process was "complete" that would mean that they were finished reviewing everything and the results were in the mail.

So last Friday, the online application status was officially "complete." I figured that the results must be in the mail and it should arrive within a couple days. This was good because we were planning on going to NY this weekend to look at apartments (yes we were planning on seeing apartments without even knowing if we got in or not). Well this weekend was approaching and we were getting anxious. Naturally, we started worrying about whether or not the letter would come in time. So I decided to call admissions at NYU and demand the results. I called them and asked what the deal is. They said that once the application status was "complete" they have BEGUN reviewing the application and it is typically another 3-4 weeks after that. Also I would be notified by email, not mail. OH NO DUDE (in response to the 3-4 weeks part. I wasn't too worked up about the email part. ya know email, mail, its all good. either one works. I like emails. Either one will get the message across, i can't check mail on my phone, but i can check email, etc)!

So planning for the NY trip became very difficult. We have no idea if we are even getting in and off we go spending hundreds of thousands of dollars traveling to New York...

The next day-ish (Wednesday) I have a test in econometrics. Upon finishing the test and walking out, I check my phone and notice that I have two emails. The first one was from Barry Hallsted and the subject line was "Fishing!!" This made me extremely excited. We've gone fishing with Barry a couple times and I am totally addicted. Anyways, before I open the email, I glance at the other email its from New York University... the subject line is "NYU-SCPS Admission Decision Available."

My heart starts pounding. It was like getting my mission call all over again. Except this time it dealt more with school and less with Jesus. Also, with a mission call, there's no such thing as "not getting accepted," everyone wins. Nobody gets a mission call that says, "Actually, you are not called to serve anywhere, but thanks for applying!"

I sit down on a bench outside the library. My hands are shaking as I try to scroll down on the little screen. The email just told me that the decision was available but I have to log into my student account. Trying to type in my username and password on the tiny phone and my extremely shaky hands was a very difficult experience. Also my mind was racing, I typed in like 18 passwords before I finally got the right one (I have like 2 passwords I use for all my accounts. - how did I come up with 18? I didn't. The 18 passwords comment was an exaggeration).

Finally I get into the account and click on the "decision" link. Lo and behold, this is what I found:

I was super relieved. Now the next task was telling Amanda. I called her immediately. As the phone was ringing, I decided that would be super lame to just tell her over the phone. Luckily, she didn't answer the phone, so I left some voice mail and gave an excuse for calling. Long story short, I thought long and hard all day about how to tell her. For some reason, I kept coming back to the idea of writing "We got in" on my stomach and flashing her when she got home. I know, lame idea, but I couldn't get past it. Eventually I did get past it and threw together a little scavenger hunt for when she got home. It worked out good. I thought I was clever. A little bit too clever perhaps, I had to explain most of the clues to Amanda. Either that or my clues didn't make sense. Anyways, the scavenger hunt led Amanda to the freezer where she encountered a giant paper:

Moral of the story is, we are moving to New York at the end of this year/ beginning of next year!
Thanks for being our friends.
Love,
Derek