College 101
Rejection Therapy Letter Article Type: Quick and Dirty
4:59 Eastern Standard Time. A minute passes by. Inbox (1), from the University of Chicago.
Shaking with anticipation, you click on the email and read:
We’re sorry to inform you that we are unable to offer you admission at the time.
Rejected.
First off if you’re reading this, take a moment to pat yourself on the back. You’re almost done with your senior year, and about to graduate and have a care-free summer.
We know, we know. You’ve just poured your heart and soul into your college applications for the past few months and coerced your teachers one way or another to write letters of rec for you. What a waste of time. Although this means you won’t be spending your next four years at that school that seemed so amazing, it isn’t the end of the world. Really.
There are a couple things that pretty much everyone forgets during the college application process. One of the biggest is that what you do at college matters much more than what college you do it at. If you work hard and really strive to be the best you can be, what college you go to really won’t affect your future that much.
Beyond that, every college has its own strengths and weaknesses. People tend to focus on the strengths more than the weaknesses, but the school you end up at will invariably have something over the ones you don’t, be it certain academic programs, more internship opportunities, or having a better Quidditch team (seriously).
The most important thing is to maintain an optimistic attitude. Going into school with a defeatist mindset is the easiest way to turn your beliefs about not getting into your top choice into a self-fulfilling prophecy. Remember that nearly everybody loves the school they end up attending, regardless of where it is, and that there are amazing students and faculty at every college.