What lasts longer than getting your tax refund, Christmas Eve for keiki and the commute along H-1, combined?

If you're a high school senior, that would be waiting for the BIG envelope.

Yes, it's the beginning of what college counselors call "the long wait," the fraught-with-anxiety period between college application deadlines and announcements of admissions decisions. Many schools have applications deadlines of mid- to late-January, and some won't send out decisions until April 1.

If you're Todd Seki, however, you take it all in stride, whether it's a rejection via the regular-sized envelope or an acceptance in an 8-inch-by-11-inch oversized envelope.

"What happens, happens," said the Punahou senior.

Sure, college counselors wish they could bottle that attitude.

"The waiting can seem interminable," said Myron Arakawa, Punahou's director of college counseling.

His advice to anxious seniors: "Trust in yourself that if you've done what you can in a timely manner, things will work out."

The longest of the long waits is for the most selective schools, Arakawa said. Some can turn it around in weeks through rolling admission, but not all. And of those, the wait can be even longer.

"It's the handful of selective colleges, about 50," Arakawa said. "They're the ones with the end-of-December deadlines and won't notify till the first of April."

Shayna Yatsuhiro of Kailua High hasn't heard from any of the eight schools where she applied, including the highly selective Vasser and Wellesley.

"It's four months until I hear stuff back," said the senior who last year was ranked No. 3 in her class and maintains a 4.3 GPA.

While she's curious, "I'm not going to start fretting."

Instead, she's spending her time working on scholarship applications and enjoying her last six months of high school bliss.

Atop 'Aiea Heights, set against the same kind of blooming cereus that adorns the rock walls of his school, is the Seki family's giant mailbox. All the better to receive those "congratulations!" letters, my dear.

In fact, Todd has received three decisions from the seven he applied to — yeses from Purdue, Arizona State and the University of Colorado at Boulder. That helps to take the edge off.

"It's definitely good ... We'll see, once USC and Rice come in," Todd said.

That first acceptance will always hold a special place in your heart, even if you don't end up attending that school, said Todd Fleming, 'Iolani's director of college counseling. Think first love.

"Most kids are pretty elated by that first acceptance," Fleming said. "(They think,) 'Wow, someone wants me and they must want me bad, because they let me know early!' "

Remember, he said, that you have some time to decide, and that might be even more stressful when the ball is back in your court. "Now you know those decisions, which do you think will be the best match?"