If you’ve thought carefully about what you really want, and why you want it, and what you intend to do with it, then kudos. If you aren’t feeling pressured by your friends and family, pushed toward a decision you never really made, and focused mainly on lifestyle and some vague conception of success, that’s great. In that case, keep it up. But if you’re like almost everyone else, caught up in the hype to at least some degree, you deserve to hear the other side of the story.

It may not look like it after you put your 10 pounds' worth of college applications in the mail, but the hard part starts once you've forked the applications over. For the following three or four months you will feel the stress of the infamous college waiting game as anxiety builds and the days go by without a letter of reply. But a little guidance and a heads up about what to expect can help you play that game like a pro. So until the mailman comes back carrying a university letter with your name on it, here are some answers to questions you may have along the way, compiled by U.S. News with the help of admissions counselors across the country.

1. Your entire group of high school friends is applying to the local college so everyone can still be together.

2. The campus must be near a shopping mall.

3. This is the school your parents attended; they were happy there and are positive you will be too.

4. This college is absolutely the only one in the world for you, so you don’t bother to investigate others.

5. The school is so close to home that your parents will still do your laundry and feed you a couple times a week.