Colleges are making admissions decisions now. Some early returns have already arrived. But most seniors will learn the rest of their news in the next 3-6 weeks. So, exactly how much time should those seniors and their parents spend worrying about it?
None, if they can swing it.
I'm not suggesting you should be indifferent. But worrying about whether or not your dream college is going to say, "Yes" doesn't do you any good. If you spent all day every day from now until the decision arrives worrying about it, wishing and wanting a particular outcome, you won't do a single thing to influence the result. So why do it? How will all that worrying improve your life? How many other more productive, positive things could you spend your time thinking about?
Almost everything you did before you applied to college was in your control. But after you submit your applications, you're no longer in charge. The most successful students accept that what happens from here is out of their hands. They'll spend their time dreaming about how great college is going to be, how much they're going to learn and how much fun they're going to have no matter where they go.
And if their dream school says, "No," they'll bounce back much faster because they didn't spend all their time leading up to the decision attaching themselves to one particular outcome.