© Peter Gene

When I was applying to colleges in 1987 and 1988, it was sort of a scattered process. My parents helped some but my grandmother was in a coma from Thanksgiving until New Years Eve when she passed away. My mother was grieving and my College Search wasn't always the top priority. Don't get me wrong, she still took me on a trip to check out things but no one was really making sure I was covering all the bases.

My first school waitlisted me. I was crushed when I got the thin envelope but at least it wasn't a rejection.

When I took the SATs, I had them sent to my backup school before I applied and they gave me a preliminary acceptance based on there but I didn't want to go there.

So there I sat, confused until a very practical friend and her mom stepped in and gave me the list of places I should look at - my friend even drove me to the one I liked the most. It was actually not long before graduation and thank goodness I was accepted in the interview and able to enjoy the rest of my final days.

I've often wondered what would have happened if my plans never came together. Would I have gone to a community college? Spent months calling around for colleges? Or gone to my backup school?

I was reading an article and saw a really neat tool called the College Redirection. It is run through the non-profit primary college lender in my state (North Carolina) and it serves to "allow denied applicants who have not been accepted into their school of choice to be recruited by colleges they may not have considered; it allows NC colleges seeking to fill admissions openings to prospect from a pool of interested, qualified candidates."

That's an awesome idea - it's match.com for college admissions. You fill out a generic application there and NC colleges and universities which still have open admission slots can offer you admission. I'm sure other states have something similar.

Any child who wants to go to college should have the chance to go. Colleges continue to grow and thrive with enough students. It's a win-win.