As the snow of winter begins to fade, millions of high school seniors across the country are expressing joy and sorrow about college decisions. March Madness of college acceptance and rejection letters cause more jubilation and depression for an entire family than the fate of a fan favorite team moving up or being knocked out of the brackets. Receiving an acceptance packet in the mail can cause so much joy that you may continually smile and laugh for two hours like how I did once I got into Boston College. However, rejection letters are just as bad as being shot down for a date because it feels as though someone put a big red stamp on all of your hard work and accomplishments stating “Invalid”. For those that received acceptance packets from your top universities and enough financial aid to attend, I don’t believe this is the post you should be reading. This post is for those who are trying to cope with getting a rejection letter from your top choice or are unable to afford to enroll at their top choice. You might think that a person that went to private Catholic schools and got into a highly selective elite institution like Boston College doesn’t know the feeling of rejection, but the truth is I received many more rejections than acceptances as a senior. Out of the 13 schools I applied to, Boston College was one of four schools I was accepted and it was on the only school that I received enough financial aid to actually attend. I’ve moved on to such bigger things and Boston College is so much more prestigious than the schools I was rejected from that I wouldn’t even bother uttering the schools that missed out on the gravy train of an aspiring young scholar and professional. While it may currently seem like a matter of life and death, a rejection letter just means that a school wasn’t the right fit for your character. If the admissions office wasn’t willing to offer you admission, then you shouldn’t want to attend a university that doesn’t appreciate your values, challenge you academically, or judges you purely on a standardized test that gives no clear indication of how well you will perform in a college setting and only tests the affluence of a person’s household in how many practice exams and private tutors you had in order to maximize your score. Just because you get into an Ivy League or elite school doesn’t mean you’re going to enjoy your college experience. Even if the school you attend is not top tier, you can still work your way up the employment ladder if you take academics and networking serious. As a first generation minority student, you have to work twice as hard and send in more applications for jobs than White counterparts no matter if you get into a community college or an Ivy League school. Is it fair? Of course not, but that’s the reality of our world. The chances of finding employment as a minority even from an Ivy League school are still low, but given the unlikelihood of finding employment without a college degree means that low odds are better than no odds if you don’t go to some sort of college. As much as people make certain colleges worth more than others, it doesn’t make a big difference. The only difference between an elite and not as selective college is the size of the alumni network. The college you attend and your major are secondary compared to the network of university graduates in whatever field you’re interested in and how well you connect. The moment you get into college you should be thinking ahead on ways to find employment once you graduate. If you don’t get into your dream school or have to attend a “lesser ranked” school for financial reasons, don’t worry about it and think about how you can use the school you plan to attend as a stepping block to bigger and better things.
