On Friday, I received my first college rejection. I actually thought it was kind of exciting and couldnt have picked a better school to receive it from than UChicago, whom I have admired from afar but never really fell in love with like some of the other schools on my list. (In fact, the only thing that really bothers me about being rejected is that my brother, a current UChicago student, will NEVER let me forget this. NEVER.)
Anyway, when I got the news, I shot off a text to my parents, as I thought that theyd like to know. My father responded with this gem of a text which, although I wasnt exactly heart-broken, struck me as very sweet and reassuring:
:-( but i have complete confidence that the right doors will open & the wrong doors may close.
With the college admissions chaos roiling to a boil in these next two-or-so weeks as decisions roll in, I think this is an important sentiment for all of us seniors to remember. It is already too often that I am hearing bad news from dear friends who take being rejected as a personal affront and feel devalued by some intangible admission committees decision.
So I guess this is a mini, proactive pep talk.
We, class of 2011 (and classes of 2012, 2013, and everyone after that, for that matter), cannot take our rejections as judgments of us as people. Because if college admissions were just about awesome people, all of these schools would be full to the bursting, and we would all get in everywhere that weve applied. Instead, though, its like finding a peg to fit in a hole. There are only so many holes and there are a bajillion beautiful pegs, so colleges have to choose the pegs that fit the holes they have. Its not that they didnt love you, and its not even that some other applicant was better than you; its that they needed a square peg instead of a round one, a green instead of a blue.
Sorry if thats a super lame/hard to follow analogy.
Anyway, my point is that even though these rejections might seem like judgments of us as people, theyre not. Theyre judgments of the colleges as entities with specific needs.
So hang in there, 2011-ers, and congrats on everyones acceptance so far! Im sure there are more to come, and even if a few of the decisions you get in the coming days are rejections, dont let it bother you. In the end, in keeping with my fathers sentiment, the right doors will be opened.
