Nearly every single human being on the planet has been rejected in some way or another at some point in his or her life.
Rejection is a difficult thing to cope with, especially in terms of the college application process.
High school seniors spend years preparing to apply to their dream schools—from padding resumes, to taking as many AP courses as possible, to writing personal statements.
Applying to a dream school is an extensive process, and no one wants to feel that all their hard work was for nothing.
After a rejection, you may hear parents or teachers telling you, “It’ll all work out in the end,” or “It just wasn’t meant to be.”
Although these sayings are probably spoken with the best intentions, it is not always what an 18-year-old wants to hear while grieving about rejection from their top choice.
There are many different ways in which one can cope with rejection.
You can treat the rejection like a break-up with a significant other—lots of ice cream, Nutella, and movie watching can (and should) be involved.
It is okay to feel sad about the “no”—if you even feel like crying, cry.
It is most beneficial to get your feelings out and to not bottle them up inside (that goes for you too, boys).
Another way that may help you cope with rejection is realizing that this is only a minor setback, not the end of the world.
At only 18 years old and hardly having experienced any of your life yet, you may think that not getting into your dream school has ruined your future life plans.
But in reality, college is only four years of your life. After that, you’re on your own in the real world.
Ultimately, college is really what you make of it—it doesn’t matter where you go.
If another university has already accepted you, attend an accepted students’ day to learn more about the school that really wants you.
This college specifically chose you to be in the incoming class of freshmen, so give it a chance.
Put things in perspective—if you have already gotten accepted to a school, even if it wasn’t your top choice, you are most likely better off than many others.
You could have an amazing school right at your fingertips but you may not realize it because of your preoccupancy with the dream school rejection.