College rejection hurts, plain and simple. Whether it’s your dream school, your first choice, or your safety, a school’s “no” is a heartbreaking thing to hear after such a long, tedious, and often infuriating process. As college admissions decisions begin to flood your emails, we hope you receive all your desired results. But… as the saying goes, rejection is a part of life, so if you do find yourself on the other side of that dreaded rejection letter, here are some ways to handle the sting.

    Firstly, give yourself time to process the rejection. As cheesy as it sounds, it’s okay and even expected that you grieve the loss of your future plans at this school. Give yourself one to two days to wallow, eat tons of junk food, watch Netflix until the “are you still watching?” notice pops up, and just hide away from the outside world. But after those two days, it’s time to get back to real life.

   It’s also perfectly normal for you to feel angry. Who wouldn’t be? Naturally, your first instinct might be to forever hate the school that picked someone else over you. Try hard to refrain from bitter comments and don’t make others who do get into that school feel bad for getting accepted. If you’re really truly feeling angry, take all your pent up aggression and hit up the gym.

   Most importantly, celebrate the acceptance letters! Getting into any college — no matter how high the acceptance rate may be or how obscure it is — is an incredible achievement and you should be extremely proud of yourself. Your hard work over the past four to six years (since you got into kindergarten really) is finally paying off. All colleges have amazing things to offer you, so embrace these schools and find the one that feels like the best fit for you. A college specifically decided that they wanted you to be one of their students, so give that school a chance. One of the best ways to feel out the school while still trying to get excited about it is to attend accepted students’ day. 

    If you’re trying to figure out what your next steps will be now that you’ve gotten rejected, consider making a list. Write down the pros and cons of each of your backup schools and figure out which one you can really see yourself going to. You can also use these lists as a way to find parallels between what they offer and what your rejection school offers.

     Just remember, college rejections are not personal. Admissions decisions are based on so many factors that you can’t control… Maybe this was the year a bunch of seniors graduated from the school’s sports teams and one of their replacements bumped you out. Perhaps you’re up against someone who is a third-generation legacy whose family donates heavily each year. Or maybe a whole bunch of us seniors at UC High all applied to the same place and only one of us could get accepted.

     It’s essential that you keep your options open and know that everything will work out in the end. Whether you choose to go to another four-year school, decide to go to community college, transfer to your top choice school in a few years, or decide to take a gap year in between, there is always another option.