Trying to rationalize a rejection feels like rubbing salt over a fresh wound. Especially when done by someone else trying to console you.
For someone going through a real heartbreak over a college decision (or anything else for that matter), I’ll just hold their hands, and say nothing. They will rationalize it themselves over time based on their own experiences and value system. No judgements.
When I was rejected, if someone would have told me that it’s for your larger good, or that college isn’t that great anyways, it would have made matters worse for me.
Thankfully my dad knew what it meant for me to be in that college. He sat with me, cried with me, spoke very less, let me speak my heart out. And eventually we came out of it. Love my dad to this date for how he helped me come out of it by saying little but just standing by me like a rock.