4-21 “Help From Home”

I started this blog when I was about to go to law school, and really made it a thing in part because of a need to interrupt the demands of law school with something that was truly enjoyable. I had to schedule sanity time, and this was a large part of it.

The timing means that many of my readers don’t know that before I went to law school, I spent ten years as an admission counselor at a major public university. My focus was underrepresented student recruitment, but I worked with and read applications for all sorts of students all over the country. Even though I didn’t specifically work with international students, my connection to rugby gave me a foot in that door too.

Recently, I’ve been able to go back to the work that I loved by reading college applications online in my home office. It’s the height of the season and I have loads of work to do right now, and I remember how much I enjoy it. But it does take time.

I’m working on figuring out how to structure my time so that I can keep up with my college applications and also make sure my Cousin Geri readers get fresh content at least once a week. But I owe you content now, so I give you Facts and college admissions.

Emily here has been rejected from the college of her choice, and Natalie is trying to interview her for a newspaper story about the seniors getting their acceptance and rejection letters. Natalie’s suggestion of the University of Anchorage doesn’t make Emily feel any better (Anchorage is a lovely place, Natalie. Don’t be a jerk), and Emily runs out of the room. This conveniently leaves Natalie alone so that Tootie can approach her, with Alex (the princess who showed up nine episodes ago) in tow. At this point it’s still not known whether Facts will continue with the cast (including Blair and Jo) or the location (Eastland), so Alex’s character development is relevant. And terrible. Thank God they went the route they did.

Tootie says that most of the seniors have received fat envelopes, which means admission, because the envelope contains registration and dorm paperwork. A thin envelope means rejection. This is not inaccurate even today, although some schools are going toward, if not fully into, online communication. The minimal paperwork Northwestern sent me pointed to the website, while Vanderbilt sent me an entire tree.

Blair joins the group in the cafeteria. She looks despondent as she informs them she got something in the mail. Tootie asks whether it was a fat envelope, and Blair says no.

Ha. It was three fat envelopes! Blair received acceptance letters from Wellesley, Smith, and the fictional, but prestigious in the Facts canon, Langley. Blair’s good friends Natalie, Tootie, and Mrs. Garrett congratulate her.

Natalie, still collecting quotations for her story, asks Blair which she intends to choose, and Blair says it’s no contest for Langley. Apart from its reputation, her dear friend Dena Becker (from the season three episode “New York, New York”) tried like hell to get in, “and they wouldn’t have her.”

This tiny little scene is involved in my life in more ways than should be acceptable. I went to Northwestern Law in part because my husband didn’t get in (even though he was a legacy). Moreover, when I moved to the mountains, I tried like hell to get into admissions or financial aid at the local university “and they wouldn’t have me.”

Jo strolls in to announce that she’s heading home to hang out with her folks. Blair excitedly shares the news of her admission to Langley with Jo, and Jo is happy for her.

Natalie prods Jo for information about her own college admission, and Jo says she doesn’t have any news. No one believes her. Blair clearly thinks Jo hasn’t gotten in anywhere and assures Jo that she’s her friend no matter what.

Blair hustles off to clear out her closet for her new college wardrobe, and Tootie and Natalie follow her so that Mrs. G can be alone with Jo when she turns to head out.

Mrs. G: “Wait a minute – you’ve got something fat back there!”

It’s an envelope, of course. Specifically an admission letter to Langley, including a partial scholarship (half of $14K/year tuition, we learn later). Mrs. Garrett is filled with joy, while Jo pooh-poohs it.

Turns out Jo never intended to go to Langley; she only applied to see if she could get in. Mrs. G doesn’t understand, but Jo explains that it’s still too damn expensive for her parents. She doesn’t get that her $7K/year scholarship doesn’t cover need-based aid, and she does what so many first generation college students do. She assumes she can’t go and she won’t hear any more, end of story. Jo’s off to visit her mom, the admission letter is in the trash, and we fade to commercial.

In the Bronx, Jo’s mom, whom we might be meeting for the first time, tells whomever is on the other side of the apartment door that she’ll occupy Jo for a minute. Jo arrives; they hug.

Jo’s mom references a season 3 joke when she tells Jo that she recognized her “buzz” (from the motorcycle, that is). How? “A mother knows.”

There’s a hilarious joke about them being locked out of the apartment and the super, Balducci, being a hapless handyman, before Balducci opens the door from the inside and welcomes Jo to her party.

Jo’s great idea to keep her admission secret from her parents failed when her mother received a bunch of financial aid forms to fill out. Poor Jo, thwarted by the Feds’ insistence that a college student is still a financial dependent, whether or not the parents actually support them.

Jo’s family and friends from the neighborhood trip over themselves with pride about Jo’s achievements. Jo finally flags her mom down for a semi-private conversation about how she’s decided not to go to Langley. Her mom drags her to the hall and is all WTF.

Jo explains that it’ll still be $6K/year for her mom (which is not true; it’ll be less; as I said, need-based aid hasn’t been distributed yet), but her mom doesn’t GAF. She’ll come up with the damn money for her smart daughter to go to college.

Jesus, here’s another place this show knocked it out of the progressive park before my sorry ass even started to understand the problems. A first gen student at a fancy high school gets into a good college and won’t even consider attending because of net cost (which isn’t as high as she thinks it is because she’s uninformed about financial aid options), while her parents say they’ll figure it the fuck out.

That’s not always the story, of course. Sometimes the parents think college is a waste of time and the student in question puts her damn self through school. I worked with a girl who had done that. She was remarkable. Jo having support (in whatever form) from her family puts her in a better position than many, and it’s still a shitty position.

This episode should be required watching for every privileged person who is under the mistaken notion that poor people get to go to college for free. It’s not that simple. Let’s put it this way, Chad: wouldn’t you be delighted to send your kid to the college of their choice for $6K out of pocket per year? Cool. Hug that, because for a lot of families, $6K is absolutely unattainable.

Oh hay! It turns out that Jo’s mom got a stock tip, and was able to turn her $900 savings into five thousand dollars! Well that’ll be briefly helpful. Jo, excited to learn that there is some money for her to do this thing, hugs her arriving father.

We’re treated to a few jokes between Jo’s father and his former sister-in-law while Jo’s mom quickly changes into her work clothes. She has to bail from the party. She’s needed at the sports bar for the big fight.

As she exits, Rose suggests that Jo ask her father about the stock he bought. She does. He didn’t. He questioned Rose’s wisdom about a stock tip and put the cash into a money market account, and now her $900 is worth $990. Whoopee.

Fast forward. Rose has returned from work and is angry, but determined not to blow her stack, because it won’t help. And it doesn’t matter; Rose is committed to do what it takes to send Jo to Langley. Jo protests that it’s not realistic; Rose protests that Jo’s future is exactly what she’s been working for.

The next morning, there is still tension as Jo reads the employment classifieds and her mother makes coffee. Her father arrives, and after they manage to get him in despite Balducci’s poor repairs, he joins Rose in insisting that Jo go to college despite her protestations.

Unfortunately, their united cause in persuading Jo gives way to their petty bickering with each other, and Jo stalks out, saved from her father’s pursuit by Balducci’s new doorknob..

When Jo marches back into the cafeteria looking for Mrs. Garrett, Tootie tells her that Mrs. G took Blair to Langley. Natalie and Tootie’s oh-so-subtle piling on lets Jo know that they know that she got in (Natalie investigated the garbage and found Jo’s acceptance letter). Jo’s belligerence continues until her parents arrive, when the other girls leave them alone.

It turns out that once Jo bailed, Charlie and Rose agreed to discuss things rationally when it comes to Jo. They’d discussed their assets, and figured out that…they don’t have shit. The best thing they have is their daughter’s future. Jo is cranky, and then they all fight with each other about how stubborn they are. I wish this weren’t so relatable.

Rose: “We’re the parents. You’re the kid. You’re going to college and we’re going to pick up the tab.”

AND! Jo’s mom does an expert job of shutting Jo up by pointing out that this is as much for them as it is for her. Pride. I’m not crying, you’re crying.

OK, Jo says, if y’all have this all figured out where are we going to get the $2K deposit due next month? Rose doesn’t GAF. She just knows they’ll get it.

Charlie: “We got it. We drove up in it.”

His ’66 Mustang, (awesome car), for which he’s the original owner, is exactly what they need to get the up-front money. Sure, he loves that car. But he knew he was saving it for something important. And they’ll worry about each year as it comes.

Mrs. G returns to a content family, and she greets them warmly. Blair follows with a pile of Langley gear. Jo suggests that Blair give her one of the Langley sweatshirts she just bought, and Blair suggests she get one from her own school.

Jo: “Oh, didn’t I tell you? Langley is my school. See you around campus.”