<p>This is now the fifth admission season I have observed here on College Confidential, and I have noticed a seasonal pattern: every year after the application deadlines, students make many posts expressing worries about their applications. In January and February and March, when you have submitted applications but are still waiting for admission results, it's psychologically tough to be a senior. But don't let worry consume you. Whatever admission results you see, you have a lot to look forward to. </p>
<p>First of all, you can look forward to being an adult and responsible and accountable for your own actions. If you have already turned eighteen, that is already your legal reality. That can be the reality of your thinking at an even earlier age. </p>
<p>What</a> You'll Wish You'd Known </p>
<p>The world outside of high school is much more challenging, and thus much more interesting, than your high school world, and you can enjoy the experience of responsible action every day of your adult life. </p>
<p>Wherever you are admitted, you can grow and thrive there. Every year during a different season of the year we hear about students who didn't get into their first-choice colleges, and didn't get into their second-choice colleges, but who nonetheless got into a college where they felt a sense of community and benefited from rich learning opportunities. You can do that--I expect you WILL do that--wherever you are admitted. </p>
<p>After they have taken all the SAT or ACT tests they can (for many colleges, January tests are timely for the current admission cycle), students still worry about test scores. Every college in the land admits students who didn't gain perfect scores on the SAT or ACT. </p>
<p>Colleges don't order applicants into a strict top-to-bottom ranking by SAT scores. You can get into a good college with the scores you have already. </p>
<p>After they have received mid-year grades, students still worry about any grade lower than an A. Getting grades of A is wonderful and highly recommended, but colleges admit students with lower grades. </p>
<p>Keep on working on the classes you are enrolled in now, enjoy your learning, and wait for the admission officers to decide what your grades mean. Grades aren't comparable from one course to another, nor are they comparable from one high school to another. Just do your best, and get yourself ready for a challenging college environment. </p>
<p>After filling out the other parts of college application forms, students still worry about any of the "holistic" admission factors colleges use to select students to admit. Let me repeat something I shout out on various College Confidential posts: DARE TO BE YOURSELF. You don't look like all your high school classmates, you don't have the same interests as all your high school classmates, you don't have the same ethnic origin as all your high school classmates, you don't play the same sports as all your high school classmates, your parents didn't go to the same colleges as the parents of all your high school classmates, and so on. Once you have described your background, interests, and context to a college admission committee by how you fill out your application form, dare to be yourself, and enjoy the last few months of high school. </p>
<p>Have you heard of people who didn't go to [insert name of famous, highly desired college here] and who still were successful adults? I have. Applying to a highly selective college is one way to challenge yourself while you are in high school. I understand the desire to apply to such colleges because many of the most highly desired colleges offer a learning environment that is very enticing, not least because such colleges attract many young people who challenged themselves during high school. But by the pigeonhole principle, not all applicants to the most desired colleges will fit into the small group of colleges that are most desired, and every one of those applicants has at least a theoretical possibility of ending up somewhere else. You can continue to challenge yourself and to meet classmates who challenge themselves wherever you end up. Every highly selective college in the land, as a matter of courtesy, sends out a rejection letter with some kind of polite language noting that you still have a bright future ahead of you. The college does that not just to be polite and sympathetic, but because the statement is true. There are a lot of ways to succeed, and you will find one. </p>
<p>Best wishes to all of you waiting for admission news. Enjoy time with friends and family and whoever you like to be with while you wait. Look forward to having a great school year next year. </p>
<p>Juniors and younger students may be interested in a thread about probability-increasing (NOT deterministic) tips on the college admission process. </p>