Roadmap to College: How Do I Deal With Rejection and Acceptance?

I've Been Accepted! Now What?

Now that you’ve been accepted, sent in your deposit, and avoided senioritis, you can focus on next year. You will either be engaging in a gap year experience or heading to college. College is a time of discovery and exploration.

Before you begin college, most colleges offer an orientation session in the summer to familiarize you with the campus and give you an opportunity to meet your peers. Some orientations are held weeks or months before classes begin, and others are held right before the semester starts. To help you adjust to college life, Joan Mohr, VP and Dean of Admissions at Quinnipiac University, recommends that you “bring photos with you to college of your friends, pets, family, and favorite memories. You’ll want to share them with your roommates, and you’ll want to have them surrounding you. Often there may be a common reading for the incoming class—and taking a few notes as you go through it will help you remember what you read when you get to your new situation. If you haven’t been diligent about learning to do laundry or how a bank account works, start now. You’ll be asked to solve your own problems—and with your parents just a phone call away, you’ll be tempted to call and ask them to solve them for you. College is about gaining independence and learning to trust yourself and your decisions. Yes, you’ll take some lumps and you’ll make some mistakes, and that’s okay. Seek help when you need it. Don’t be afraid to ask—and realize all those other incoming students are just as nervous as you are. Getting into college has been your focus, now it’s time to make graduating from college your goal.”

Many colleges are concerned that some freshmen may not succeed in college, because they are used to being told what to do by their parents and teachers. Some colleges require that freshmen participate in special freshman seminars, which teach students how to use the library and other resources offered by the college, including counseling services. Jacquelyn Nealon, VP of Enrollment Services at New York Institute of Technology, addresses one of the areas of concern for freshmen. “One of the biggest adjustments for incoming freshmen is the amount of autonomy they will have in terms of budgeting their time. Think about how you will manage your time. How will you schedule study time? Work out an academic and study plan that you can follow. Brush up on writing and communication skills.”

How Can We Sum Up the Admissions Process?

The college admissions process is an exciting yet demanding process. If you are proactive and do extensive research, you will be rewarded with a college choice that is a good fit for you. If you have made some mistakes along the way or did things at the last minute, you can still recover and land in a school just right for you. The good news is there are always options.

As you go through the admissions process and talk to your family about it, just be aware that the process has changed in the last several decades. Some of these changes were discussed in the Introduction and they will impact admissions in the next decade. The admissions landscape is changing and evolving, and continues to do so. There are demographic shifts, increases in the minority population, and an existing gender gap. There is a testing frenzy, with an over-reliance on standardized test scores. Some colleges are reacting to this frenzy by moving away from standardized test scores and placing less emphasis on them. There are economic realities, which students and colleges need to face. Some students may alter their plans to cut college costs by attending financially affordable schools; colleges may need to tighten their belts by offering fewer courses or programs. The best way to handle the uncertainty in the process is to use all of the resources at your disposal to make an educated decision once you hear from all of your colleges.

Any Final Suggestions?

As you near the end of the college admissions process, you should realize that there are many colleges which fit your academic, social, and financial needs. College is the means to an end and—as Jacquelyn Nealon, VP of Enrollment Services at New York Institute of Technology, asserts,“College is a marathon, not a sprint. The undergraduate degree is just the first leg in a longer race. It’s not the end point. So, try not to put so much emphasis on making the ‘right’ choice. At the end of the day, it’s the college education that is the critical tool needed in the tool-belt for life-long success.”

Many admissions officers recommend you start the process early and not wait until the beginning of senior year to begin the thought process and planning required in applying to college. Cheryl Brown, Director of Undergraduate Admissions at Binghamton University, suggests that you not “narrow your college choices too soon. Look at both big and small schools, both schools close to home and far away, and both public and private. Visit during your junior year. Make second visits to your top choices in the fall of senior year as you are going through the application process.”

The application process cannot be quantified and in many ways is unpredictable. It is not an art and it is not a science. Raymond Lutzky, Director of Outreach at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, sums up the process by saying, “students get into some schools for the craziest of reasons, and others will not get into their top choice for reasons that may not be clear. Nevertheless, students should remember that when dealing with selective colleges, they will visit a few that they like, they will get into some, and then make a decision as to where to go. Everyone gets in ‘somewhere,’ but often students are left with fears from ‘musical chairs’ in early childhood. No student is left with a stack of rejection letters and ‘no chair’ at the end of the music.”