Dealing With College Rejections

Dear Achona,

“How do I cope with college rejection?”

Dear Anonymous,

The most important thing to remember when dealing with a rejection from a college is that a school does not determine your merit as a student or person. Decisions are often impersonal, and it is impossible to know exactly how or why a college came to a decision regarding your application; thus, it isn’t productive to fixate on the ‘what ifs’ regarding your test scores, GPA, curriculum, or any other part of your application. It can be easy to tie your self-worth to the amount of colleges you are accepted to, but this is a very damaging and unhealthy way to view college decisions. Ultimately, you do not want your happiness to be attached to your college decisions.

If a college denies you, then it was not the school for you or where you are meant to be. Students place a lot of pressure on themselves to get into good schools, but many often forget that the result is out of their hands once they submit their application. It is incredibly nerve-wracking to await college decisions, but remember that only one thing is for sure in the college admissions process: you will end up where you are supposed to be.