<p>Hey everybody,
If you have applied to Stanford RD like me, then you probably are experiencing a little bit of waiting period anxiety, especially if it is your dream school. Okay, probably A LOT of waiting period anxiety. So, here are some thoughts I have that might be able to calm the maelstrom of doubts and worries swirling around in the minds of most applicants:</p>
<pre><code> 1- Have low expectations. "Set the bar low, so you can crawl over it". The best way to SUBMIT your application with an air of tempered confidence and enthusiasm, but now, those very attributes are likely to cause you unnecessary worry. Mentally repeat to yourself the following, "There is no way I'm getting in. There are far too many qualified applicants, and I simply didn't do enough/got to low grades and test scores in high school to make a difference." If you end up believing this, not only will you be relaxed for the next few months, but either 1 of 2 things will happen: either you'll be right and prepared for rejected, or you'll have an amazing surprise.
2- Get excited about going to your safety. Start planning out what you'd want to do there if that's where you end up going. This kind of falls in line with my first point, but if you have sure-fire acceptance that seems not only viable, but fun, then whatever happens will seem like a good thing.
3- Pretend that you are an Central African refugee who's escaping civil war, genocide, and famine, by coming to the United States at the age of 18. Really visualize the horrors of war that you have just survived and overcome and all the people who didn't make it in your home country. If you do this successfully, you'll feel lucky just to be eating breakfast, let alone to be going to college.
4- Understand that although it may not be as intellectually stimulating, it feels absolutely fantastic to be the smartest kid at your state school and not have to worry about grades FOR 4 YEARS, than it is to be in the middle of the pack of a bunch of overachievers and constantly struggling/competing for grades.
5- Think about how much hotter the girls/guys will be at your safety.
6- Put college in perspective: It's just 4 years out of your entire life! 4 goods years, true, but probably not even the best 4 years. Just like high school, you'll be in and out before you know it. So try to savor every moment starting right now because no matter where you go, you'll have a ton of incredible experiences and meet loads of interesting people.
7- Stop being a post-modern hedonist living in a rat race. If you just want to go to college to get a good job to make a lot of money, then you're whittling away a significant portion of your precious time on this Earth. At the end of the day, it's the people that you meet and the relationships that you form with them that really matter, also the spiritual tranquility that you find. These are things that you can find in a desert tribe, on a farm, in the inner-city, or on a college campus. If you're a naturally happy person, you'll be happy no matter where you go. If you're naturally unhappy person, you'll never experience joy no matter where you go unless you change the way you see the world.
8- The same logic works as well for success. If you're a smart, talented person, you'll have loads of career options no matter where you go. If you're naturally unmotivated and untalented (which I'm guessing is not the case if you're applying to Stanford), you'll have limited options for the rest of your life no matter what an Admission officer decides on a cold winter day of your senior year in high school.
9- No matter who you are or what you do, all the accomplishments in your life will fade into history and likely be forgotten a thousand years hence. Live for yourself, not the opinions of others. Prestige means nothing. Break free of the rat race that society has been pushing you towards since birth. You are human being, and that should damn well mean something. You have dignity, honor, and shall not be defined by anyone else, especially a Stanford admissions officer (and let's be honest, if someone is stuck working as an admissions officer, that is probably a statement about how talented they were with respect to the rest of their graduating class).
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<p>Anyways, I hope this helped. If not, at least is was relaxing writing it. Peace.</p>
thanks dear!</p>
thanks for posting it</p>