Deferred, Waitlisted, Rejected from your Dream School?

This is the time when a lot of students are hearing back from “The One” - the school they could best see themselves at, their dream school. And many of you didn’t get in. It’s super hard to take. I had two daughters go through early decision - one of them was deferred and then rejected, the other just flat-out rejected by their “dream” ED schools. You know how we all feel about it now?

THANK GOD!!!

Yes, that’s the reaction. In retrospect we are so happy that they waited for ED and got into different schools than their initial dream colleges.

My eldest graduates this year and her college experience at “not dream U” has been fantastic. Her school has offered her educational and professional opportunities that her ED school couldn’t have touched. She’s flourished there, she’s developed a network of colleagues and she is well on her way to a dream career. We’re beyond grateful that she ended up not getting into her first choice. My youngest was rejected last December by dream school #1 but ended up getting accepted to another “dream school” RD last March and couldn’t be happier - looking at it now we can see that her school is actually a much better match for who she is and what she wants to do than where she initially applied.

So my message for all of you feeling dejected over EA results is - honestly, it might end up being one of the best strokes of luck you ever get. The future is still bright. Stay positive, keep moving, mourn the loss of one dream school … and let it go. Look forward to falling in love with a school that admits you - it might end up being even better than a “dream”.