LIFE

You step foot on a college campus and immediately it feels like home. This is the perfect school for you, and you start to imagine your dorm room, what your social life will be like, the classes you’ll be taking. Maybe you imagine meeting your future boyfriend who you’ll marry when you grow up. There’s no need to look anywhere else, because in your mind and in your heart this is where you’ll be come fall. 

Then the email pops up in your inbox, and it all comes crashing down. While you felt like this college was a perfect fit, they don’t feel the same. You won’t be heading there at all, and you need to shift your sights to your plan B or plan C. It can be extremely hard to move past your dream school, but you don’t really have another option. 

A lot of people get bogged down on their first big rejection. Maybe they just got deferred and have to wait until March or April to hear back again and then get rejected fully. The college process can be extremely crushing emotionally with hearts broken and reevaluations needed. Especially when your friend gets in to your dream school and you want to be supportive, but it’s hard when you weren’t accepted too. 

When rejection comes knocking, you can feel bad about it for a little bit, but then it’s time to pick yourself back up and reevaluate. Hopefully you’ve applied to other schools and have heard back with some acceptances and waitlists. Look at all your options and decide what school will be best for you. The most essential part is to embrace wherever you’re headed. Find things about that school that you actually are excited about, and hype it up. If you go to college with the mindset that you won’t have fun, then you probably won’t have fun. If you go hoping to have a fun time, make new friends and have unforgettable experiences, you’ll make the most of your time. If you really aren’t happy with your options, take a gap year, get a job and apply to schools next year. And don't forget to talk to your parents: They've most likely been through this before, too. Lots of people who were rejected from their dream schools, will tell you that where they ended up was the best place for them and their dream school wasn’t really a fit. 

The college process is often a rush of different emotions and experiences. Maybe you’ll get in where you’ve always wanted or maybe you’ll go somewhere you hadn’t really considered. Either way the best way to approach college is with excitement and a readiness to experience something new. 
 

Do you have any suggestions for college rejection? Let us know in the comments below!

by Margot Kohler | 6/11/2018