Look, I get it. Rejection is never easy, and if you’ve worked the last four years (or more, let’s be honest) towards getting that “Congratulations” in your inbox, then Friday was horrible. And for those of you waiting for this weekend’s decision from Harvard and others, it will be unpleasant.
Unless it doesn’t, in which case, congrats!
But this isn’t about you, this is about the other 90%, which is admittedly probably the first time you’ve been referred to as such.
Anyway, take it from me, it’s not the end of the world (in the distant past, I was handed one of those dreaded ‘deferred’ notes myself, and know the pain of the other guy getting into Harvard, but I digress). There are still plenty of other great options out there. The fact is that in most cases, you’re going to be just fine being the driven person that you already are. And let’s be honest, your stats are pretty incredible, more than enough to get in practically anywhere else.
Don’t believe me?
Big state schools graduate some pretty incredible alumni. Tim Cook went to Auburn, as did Jimmy Wales. Barack Obama started off at Occidental, and Stephen Colbert was a freshman at Hampden-Sydney before he was at Northwestern. Mary Barra, the CEO of GM, went to Kettering. In short, plenty of people who are at the top of their fields did not let getting in to ‘top’ schools hold them back.
Want more proof?
Think of all those smaller liberal arts schools that send plenty of grads to the Peace Corps, or to study in the UK on Rhodes or Marshall Scholarships. Any of those are great ways to stand out to an employer or a grad school, and considering that the University of Montana has more Rhodes Scholars than Berkeley, it’s all the more reason to remember that where you start out isn’t necessarily where you’ll end up.
Of course, if you’re completely fed up with everything about college admissions and ready to actually enjoy the rest of your senior year, you could always try applying in Europe. You’ll only have to study for three years, and you’ll only have to study what you want to (no 8 am statistics or literature courses for you). Best of all, they don’t care about extracurriculars.
So if you’ve got an extra $30 to cover applications (yes, that’s all), and don’t mind reworking your personal statement (just once though), you can apply to places like LSE, St. Andrews, or more.
That said, we’re definitely a bit biased towards the last one.
In the end, the super-elite early application process does push you to your limits, and if you get in, you definitely deserve congrats. However, for everyone else, the sky is not falling down (even though it may feel like it sometimes), and you’re far from out of it yet.