so, i’m assuming that a lot of people on here are class of 05 and a good number of that received some form of rejection in the past month. i’m hoping that some of you might be willing to fill out a survey for my psychology class, but if the wounds are still too raw i fully understand. i myself received 3 letters that i wish read something else, and while talking to a friend online i realized how much my reaction has followed, in a form, Kubler-Ross’s stages of acceptance of death. obviously the stakes are a little less, but at any rate they existed for me so i’m trying to see if they existed in others too. essentially, i’m examining those who got rejections that they really cared about, so if you did and would be willing to fill this out, i would really appreciate it. thanks!!
This survey is intended for college-bound high school seniors who received some form of the skinny envelope over the last few months. If any of the questions are no longer true but were at some point, please indicate so by offering a rough estimate of the amount of time that had passed since the rejection when this state changed.
Thank you.
Please choose one:
Male Female
How important in your priorities are school & your further education? (1-10, 10 highest)
Of the schools to which you were not admitted, did you feel that you were statistically qualified, or were most of your schools reaches? If you would be willing to list the schools which did not offer admission, please do so.
In what range were most of the schools to which you applied: most competitive, highly competitive, more competitive, competitive, less competitive, or special.
Of the schools which did not offer admission, was any your dream school?
Were you accepted into a school to of equal or higher caliber to which at the time you were just as happy have had the option of attending?
Did you know of this admission prior to receiving the rejection?
On your list of schools, what number rank did the rejections come from?
When you found out, what was your initial physical reaction?
If you checked online, did you check multiple times to make sure it was right? Did you check right when the decision was available, or wait? Could you have checked online, but chose not to?
If you received a skinny letter in the mail, did you open it? Did you read just enough to find out the decision? Did you read it all the way through? Multiple times?
What have you done with the letters since?
When you found out, how did you tell other people? Did you call to notify your parents and others close to you immediately? Did you tell them only when prompted, or not until you knew what all of your options were?
Did it irritate you when people would ask about it? Did it irritate you when your parents would talk about it with other people?
What type of emotion did you exhibit when you did speak to others about it?
Did you appreciate sympathy, or were you resentful of it?
How readily would you discuss real options? When (or have you) begun the discussion of viable options?
Did you seek an appeal, or contact admissions to find out why you were rejected?
If you were waitlisted or filed for appeal, has your focus been on that rather than schools who accepted you?
Following your initial reaction, what did you do? Did you proceed to normal activity?
Do you feel angry with yourself?
Has your view of the school changed?
Are you resentful toward the school and its admissions process, or those who go there, or those accepted there?
Are you resentful toward people you know who received no rejections and/or got into their top school?
Are you blameful of the situation?
Have you felt angry towards your parents, your high school, or other institutions?
Have you wondered if you had approached your application differently- used a different essay, gone early action, shown more interest then the outcome would have been different?
Have you thought about the effects that various decisions you made in the past might have had, and a scenario to which things could have worked out differently? Have you thought about this extensively?
Are you still focused on the school that rejected you and how you can get there in the future? (entertaining ideas of transferring, taking the year off, etc.)
What has your attitude been toward the work that you are doing right now in school? Are you doing as well as you normally do? Better?
If you had paraphernalia associated with the school, what have you done with it?
Since the news, have you lost energy for the present or the future?
Has your opinion of yourself changed?
Are you negative about your current options?
How do you feel about the situation now?
What is your attitude towards next year?
Have you been able to make a decision about next year?
If you have been able to form a new attitude since the news, what aided it?
Has your energy for next year been restored to what it was before?