Many senior families are now at the apex of the college admissions drama. Colleges continue sending their admissions decisions, and news of the results travels fast among friends, neighbors and high school hallways. For every student celebrating what feels like the admission payoff for all their hard work, another will be left wondering what more they possibly could have done to earn a welcoming admissions offer. Plenty of students and parents (none of whom were actually in the rooms voting with the admissions committees) will offer their analysis of why so-and-so did or did not get in. If you’re in the middle of all this, it can be the best of times or the worst of times.
But reaching the apex means that, thankfully, the drama will now begin to pass. And what’s really important is what kids do next.
Students, if you got into a school that you’re thrilled about, congratulations. You deserve to be excited about where you’re going to college. Take your work ethic and the other wonderful traits that your college obviously saw in you and use them to extract the maximum amount of learning and fun from the next four years.
If you’re not happy with your admissions outcomes, if the schools you wanted most said no and you’re left with offers from schools that feel less desirable, I understand how disappointing that must be. But please remember two things.
First, this pain won’t last. Like a painful romantic breakup, people get over it. That’s why nobody in the freshman dorms is still smarting over an admissions denial they got six months ago. The vast majority of students are very happy where they go to college even though many were once in your shoes. I know you can’t imagine yourself going anyplace but to one of those schools who said no. But believe me, it’s really hard not to enjoy yourself at least a little bit when you’re surrounded by a bunch of 18- to 22-year-olds who are there with you to learn, grow, and have fun.
And while you might feel like this admissions setback is tantamount to a life setback, remember that you’ve got four years of college, and a lifetime after you leave it, to define the life you want. Your admissions news is not the beginning or the end of your story. That’s yours to write, and college is a pretty wonderful place to start.
Whatever your news or your state of mind, this, too, shall pass. Remember that you’ve got your whole life in front of you. And you haven’t even gotten to the good part yet.