OP here again.
Thanks for all the encouraging words. I think MWolf has it right and that both my son and I have felt guilty for feeling the way that we do.
I would like to state that both boys are amazing young men. I certainly don’t want to diminish the wonderful acceptance of the other boy.
But it has been great for me to hear other parents perspectives. I’ve felt quite lonely having to deal with this without sharing it with anyone else.
I also now feel quite sheepish, as my son came home bouncing from school and said he’d made his college decision. He proceeded to excitedly talk about all the amazing classes and opportunities of the place he’d picked.
So really I should have posted this a month ago, or waited a day and not needed to post it at all. But seriously, this thread has been enormously helpful.
I think this past weekend just brought back all his original feelings of the rejection, as we had a family party and I think every (well-meaning) relative said to him variations of, “Wow. You didn’t get in? What are they looking for? The place must be full of super geniuses.” Not helpful. I know they all meant well and were trying to cheer him up. That coinciding with the MIT admitted students weekend must have made it all fresh in his mind again.
He’s waiting a couple of days and then he’s going to commit. So it seems all will be well and I guess I didn’t need to panic after all.
Thanks again.