This a phrase often heard throughout threads in CC, especially during this time of year. The advice is to cast a wide net, especially if you’re needing FA and when the acceptances/waitlists/rejections roll in, to love the school that loves you. So often threads shows that students cast that wide net, but when not offered admission to school A and B, they’re devastated about “only” being accepted to schools C, D, and E. This is where that great phrase of “love the school that loves you” comes into play. Yes, it stinks that you’re top choices of A and B school didn’t offer you admission, but others did choose you! Rather than hang on to the hope that maybe that waitlist from school B will come through, take a hard look at why you chose to apply to schools C-E first and remember it’s less about the school and more about the life changing experiences you’ll have over the next four years at a school that hand selected to love you.
My daughter applied to 13 schools during her admission season. She was waitlisted at many of them, rejected by a few, and offered admission to less. After her offer of admission at one school came through, she was placed on an FA waitlist there. One school offered her admission AND the FA package she needed to attend. It’s a school that is spoken about very little here, and maybe only by me in the past few years. Our net was cast wide for a reason, but the important piece was that she didn’t apply to a single school she wouldn’t have been happy attending. We didn’t even think about applying to Andover or Exeter as they didn’t interest her, their size wasn’t something we weren’t looking for, and we knew there were many other schools she actually be happier attending. We did apply to some of the schools often mentioned here, but again, we applied only to schools that she would happy attending.
We accepted her offer of admission and never looked back. Just this past month, we signed the contract for her senior year there and have never once regretted the decision to love the school that loved her. They knew she would be a wonderful addition to their campus and they showed it from the beginning. Her admissions officer went to bat for her for the FA dollars she needed, their communication with me and with her was magnificent, and the big sister they paired her up with over the summer was a perfect match. Her big sister is still one of her closet friends and I know that they’ll forever keep in touch. The little sister they paired her with the next year is also one of her closest friends now and the bond these girls share shows how well the schools knows their students.
From the moment she stepped foot on campus on move-in day we knew the right choice was made. Her admissions officer knew exactly who we both were the moment we walked through the main doors and after I said my goodbyes later that day, she was right there before I walked out the door with tears in my eyes to hug me and tell me that my daughter would be cared for and was with family there, something that this single Mom needed to hear as she moved off her only child to live away from home at 14.
The education she’s received, the friendships she’s made, and traditions she’s now a part of, and the experiences she’s had have all molded her into exactly who she has meant to be all this time. Love the school that loves you, they love you for a reason. When it comes down to it, it really is less about the name of the school you’re attending and more about the experience of the next four years!
