If you write a computer program and it doesn’t run correctly, something is wrong. There’s a fix to be done—you just have to identify it. Electronics, machinery, carpentry—the measure of whether or not they’re done right is whether or not they work well.
But not all college applications work that way.
If you applied in an early application program and were deferred or outright denied, you might be wondering what you did wrong. You might be looking critically at your application and second-guessing your approach, looking for what went wrong, especially if you now have other applications to submit. No sense repeating prior mistakes if you can avoid it. That’s not necessarily a bad instinct. But please remember that it’s also possible that you did nothing wrong at all, especially if you applied to highly-selective colleges.
Colleges that admit fewer than 20 or even 10 percent of their applicants are denying just about everybody. And many of those who get the bad news did absolutely nothing wrong. Their applications were strong. Their essays were compelling. Their grades and test scores and profiles were as good or even better as many of those admitted. That’s the reality of an admissions process where the very best applicants apply to the same very short list of schools, all of which have far, far more qualified applications than they could ever hope to admit. Some applicants have obvious shortcomings. But many more do not.
Did you work hard on your applications? Were you careful and deliberate, making sure to follow instructions and double-check for accuracy? And most importantly, were you proud of what you submitted? If so, there’s a very good chance that you did nothing wrong. Just because it didn’t work like you hoped it would doesn’t mean it was broken.
Sure, you can reevaluate what you did before. But stay open to the possibility that maybe there’s nothing to fix.