As we all know, March is the month of either pure joy, or rejection. Write about how you dealt with the waiting for an answer, how you celebrated your acceptances, and how you coped with getting a rejection letter from your top choice school. Give any advice you may have for those who have been rejected, or to those who got their acceptance, but may not be able to afford to go. Here is where you can act as a resource and relay any information you have based on your own experience.
I remember when I was anxiously awaiting college decisions in March. It felt like the longest month of my life. I recall receiving acceptances to UMasses (state schools) which I wasn’t necessarily considering. My dream schools were Dartmouth and Union College. I was very confused and honestly a little disappointed when I got rejected from schools I really liked or waitlisted to places that I thought I could actually go to. With that, I was anxious about Ivy Day because I just felt discouraged with rejections and waitlists.
On March 26, 2018, I went straight home after school and took a really long nap because decisions were to come out at 7pm and honestly I was too nervous to keep myself busy. When I woke up from my nap, I locked myself in the bathroom with my phone and once the clock hit 7:00 pm, I logged onto my Dartmouth portal…
I didn’t want to record myself or open it in front of my family (in case I got rejected). So I opened the updated portal letter and I see: “Congratulations Jess!” I literally had to zoom in to make sure I read that correctly. Yep, I got in! I was so happy I started crying and the first thing I did was call my mom and my best friend. The rollercoaster of emotions I had been on prior to that made this moment so worth it! This moment meant so much to me and my family and I’m so grateful for how things turned out, even if it was a tough process.
So my advice for this long and dreaded waiting period:
- Be kind to yourself. You did the best you could and gave it your all, the rest is out of your hands.
- Keep yourself busy! Whether that’s participating in clubs or after school programs (or I guess napping, haha), keep your mind busy so you don’t stress yourself out!
- Remember, if they reject you, it’s their loss not yours. Wherever you end up you’ll be amazing and make it your own!
- Last but certainly not least, enjoy this time. Enjoy your senior year with your friends and family (especially if you end up going really far for college). Celebrate yourself, your hard work and everything that it took to get yourself to that point of college acceptances. You deserve it!
Best of luck to all the high school seniors! You got this! 🙂