<p>I have received 2 rejections and 2 acceptances so far. One of my rejections was from a school that I was planning on getting into, but wouldn't necessarily consider it a back up - more of a match. Although it was not one of my top schools, the rejection was very discouraging and I started thinking "If I didn't get into here, how am I going to get into my top schools?" (They're much more competitive).
Does anyone have advice as to how to handle rejection letters? Especially for the future few weeks, I think we could all use some words of wisdom.</p>
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<li><p>Make a habit of happiness: If you constantly act down about your rejections, your friends and family will reinforce those feelings by “understanding”, by being a “shoulder to cry on”, by acting sad along with you, by dissing the schools. So put on a smile, keep it there, and live your life. Tell yourself it will be okay–because it really will–and you will start to believe it.</p></li>
<li><p>Once you’re determined to not let the rejections get you down, focus on getting yourself excited about the schools that did accept you. Go to the accepted student days if you can, reread your supplemental essays to remind yourself why you love those schools. Go on their websites and look at their course catalogs and housing choices. Try to really envision yourself there.</p></li>
<li><p>Always be doing something. Focus on school, on an EC, or anything that you can throw yourself into to take your mind off your disappointment. If you don’t have something, start volunteering or get a part-time job. Make sure it’s something structured to keep you motivated.</p></li>
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<p>Seriously, though, while I think @mmmgirl’s advice is fantastic, I also think it’s important to allow yourself a little private time to feel sad about life’s inevitable rejections. I have a friend who would set a timer and allow herself a predetermined amount of time to wholeheartedly grieve a lost opportunity, then she could more easily let it go and move on. I thought that sounded like a great idea, though I’ve never tried it myself.</p>
<p>hehehe, hey you got into university !
Don’t worry about the future, that does not belong to you.
If they are soo much more harder to get in ? so what?
Can you do anything at the moment? If yes, then dont worry about it, if no, then again, dont worry about it.</p>
<p>Plan on a bonfire (okay, a smaller fire) for the rejection letters once you have heard back from everyplace. Seriously, D1 burned them in our firepit, and felt much better afterwards! And she posted all the acceptances on her bulletin board to remind herself where she was in and to help her get excited about her choices.</p>
<p>Are your two acceptances at schools you like and can afford with the offered financial aid and scholarships? If so, start looking more in-depth at them as possible schools to attend.</p>
<p>Also remember that rejections don’t determine your acceptances. There are all sorts of factors that one school may care more about, or the ad com could have been mad that day. There are just too many reasons you can not get in, so don’t worry that it predicts the other acceptances.</p>
<p>My D2 actually said something like this recently… she said that if she gets into all the schools she applied to, then she didn’t reach high enough. Hopefully she will remember that when a few rejections roll in at the end of this month!</p>
<p>my reach schools that have got back to me have been 1 deny(Umass), 1 waitlist(uiuc), and 1 conditional admit(IU); when the counselor tells you to apply to 9 schools, they dont mean 9 or so that are all guaranteed locks for acceptance.</p>
<p>The same thing happened to me (though it was their fault, they made a mistake with my app) just be grateful that you got accepted somewhere . What about the thousands of kids who didn’t get in anywhere, either because they only applied to the ivies, or because they’re not so bright?</p>
<p>Just be grateful, smile, and picture yourself at your accepted schools. </p>
<p>FYI : Just because your match school rejected you, doesn’t mean your reaches will.</p>
<p>In case anyone’s wondering, I cribbed most of my advice from my relative who’s a psychologist who deals with extremely depressed and post-traumatic patients, along with what worked for me when I was deferred from Georgetown. Something else I did was keep the letter (Georgetown sends actual snail-mail letters in thin/thick envelopes) and write all over it the things I would do to get in and the other schools I was applying to. The other advice is really great!</p>
<p>I’ll probably just shrug them off and be as joking and positive as possible, kinda like the attitude people usually take when they say they hate math.</p>
<p>I’ve also heard of people having “rejection parties” where they burn their rejection letters and celebrate about where they did get in.</p>
<p>It’s not true that you didn’t reach high enough if you got accepted everywhere. Northwestern was my best school, I got in, and I didn’t get rejected anywhere. I didn’t want to reach higher because Northwestern is the best school in my mind.</p>
<p>gracie, a year from now, one of two things will most likely have happened. a) One poster above suggested you go back and re-read your essay(s) for the school you’ll go to. Most likely that will mean that a year from now you’ll be so pleased with where you’re going to college that you’ll have forgotten you ever felt down about it, or b) you will retain a desire to have gotten into school X instead and will have used that as motivation to do better in college than you would have otherwise. Motivation is a huge thing in college because it’s all you - no mommy or daddy to back you up, therefore what you bring to it will govern. Either way, a year from now you’re in a better place than you are right now. Embrace the future, leave the letters behind, and get ready for a better freshman year than you thought possible! Seriously, after the first month or so, when you’ve talked through it a couple of dozen times with people, absolutely no one in college cares where else you did or didn’t get in, they’re having too much fun in a huge new world of possibilities filled with great people, some of whom will be friends the rest of their lives, in a great place that will change your life for the better forever.</p>
Seriously, D1 burned them in our firepit, and felt much better afterwards! And she posted all the acceptances on her bulletin board to remind herself where she was in and to help her get excited about her choices.</p>