Early application decisions roll in
December 13th, 2022The holiday season brings much excitement and anticipation, especially for high school seniors who applied early. We’re in the midst of decision notification season for Early Action and Early Decision applicants, which means that students across the country will be filled with joy, disappointment or possibly even confusion as they digest a variety of different outcomes.
Accepted: Gaining acceptance into your top-choice school can be one of the most exciting and rewarding moments of your life. This certainly calls for a celebration, and what a perfect time to do so. However, don’t lose track of what’s important. Keep your eyes on the prize and finish the year strong.
Denied: Often adversity brings us new light, and we just have to open our eyes to see it. What will your news bring you? Maybe the discovery that what you once planned for yourself isn’t your sole path to happiness. What will you learn from this experience and how will it change you? Keep this question in mind as you pivot and make new plans for your future. You will look back one day and understand this is the road you were meant to travel on, trust me.
Deferred: This is a tough decision to receive because it brings about so much uncertainty. Instead of agonizing over the “why,” channel your energy into what you can do with this information. Each college offers FAQs for deferred applicants, and it’s important to follow up as recommended if you’re genuinely interested in remaining under consideration. You’ll find it equally important to redouble efforts to engage with other colleges to which you’ve applied.
There are infinite roads to happiness, and your road may be exactly as you planned or, instead, look nothing like you imagined. Just know you will find your way. The article linked below from Charter helps us all understand that there can be merit to not getting in to your top-choice school. Hard to believe there’s a silver lining, I know, yet I hope this article helps ease your mind and redirect your energy into a constructive plan. Always remember that you remain the same remarkable individual the day after receiving an admission decision as you were the day before it arrived. Nothing can take that away!
Article referenced below from Charter, published April 5, 2022 written by Mitra Kalita
College Admissions Experts Explain the Merits of Not Getting In
In the spring of 1994, I cried over being denied admission at Northwestern and Columbia … and three other elite universities. A close friend, trying to comfort me, only made me sob harder by saying: “Rejection builds character.”
She was right, though. Nearly three decades later, I trace so much of who I am, and the career I’ve built, to that awful week, when thin envelope after thin envelope kept arriving in our family’s mailbox in suburban New Jersey.
