Twists Of Fate...

Mrs. TBF and I met while we were both attending Northwestern University in the early- to mid-80s. We began dating right after I had finished my senior year, and while Mrs. TBF was completing her junior year.

I often think about the many, MANY twists of fate that resulted in us meeting each other.

Northwestern, I'm pretty sure, is the only school to which Mrs. TBF applied. She was a great high school student, got super high scores on her ACT and SAT, was accepted as an early admittance applicant, and knew by the middle of her senior year in high school that she was going to be attending NU. I, on the other hand, applied to several good schools (all in Minnesota...for whatever reason) and was accepted to all of them. I was in the top 6% or 7% of my high school class, got decent but not exceptional scores on my college entrance exams, and was involved in tons of extra-curricular activities (probably what tipped me in).

During the winter of my senior year, I went and toured the schools in Minnesota, and...I ended up not really liking any of them. I felt that the schools were too small, too isolated, and too homogeneous. I came back from Minnesota, and decided to apply to Northwestern. I ended up filling out the application in long-hand because I didn't feel like typing it, and I had to totally "ride" my guidance counselor to get my transcripts together because he thought going to Northwestern wasn't a "good match" for me. My counselor, in my opinion, attempted to sabotage my application by handing me my transcripts at the end of the school day on the last day for me to send in my application (mumbling something about me "making a big mistake"). I put them in the envelope with the rest of my application materials, drove to the post office, and watched the postal employee stamp the postmark on the envelope before dropping the envelope in the outgoing mail bin about fifteen minutes before the post office closed.

I had made the application deadline by the skin of my teeth.

A few weeks later, on a Saturday morning, my parents came into the house holding a thick envelope from Northwestern containing my acceptance letter. I met the future Mrs. TBF a couple of years after receiving that letter. A couple of years after meeting each other, Mrs. TBF asked me out (...topic for a future post!), and a few years after that...we got married.

So what's the point of all this?

Well...here's the point. Earlier this evening, I read in our alumni magazine that applications to Northwestern reached an all-time record this year. A total of 21,947 high school students applied for next fall's freshman class. Approximately 5,400 students were accepted for the class of 2011, which is expected to number about 2,025.

When I applied back in 1980, the number of applicants was something in the neighborhood of 12,000. Amazingly, this year's record for number of applicants was set despite the fact that the total costs for the 2007-08 school year for undergraduates at Northwestern will be around $49,000! That's $200,000 for an undergraduate education, people! Oh, and by the way, the median household income in the United States in 2005: $46,326! Ya better start those college funds!

Anyway...

Had I been applying for admission to the class of 2011 instead of the class of 1984, I am almost certain that I wouldn't have been accepted. Hell! I've always contended that I just barely squeaked-in back in 1980!

What if I hadn't put pressure on my guidance counselor? What if my application had been late? What if I hadn't been accepted to NU? What if I had gone to school in Minnesota instead? What if I had never met the future Mrs. TBF?

I don't even want to think about it!