Thank you. You have all made me feel much better. I think I just needed a change in perspective, and reading your comments has helped. Hopefully I can respond to them all, so here goes.
@lostaccount, you’re right. Thank you for your thoughtful reply – I know that what you wrote is true, even if it’s hard to accept at times. I know college is a business, but it just feels so personal come decision time. (The pea analogy cheered me up a little.)
I think part of my problem is getting caught up in the whole thing surrounding elite schools – it wasn’t what I wanted but I felt like I should want it, and I guess I convinced myself too well. Most of my high school goes to in-state publics, including all this year’s NMF, and only a handful go to highly-ranked schools. Most of the discussions on CC take place in a completely different world than that and I think that skewed my perspective a bit. After all, the school I’m attending hasn’t changed in quality just because I got rejected from other colleges.
Honestly, I know I would have been miserable at most of the other schools, none of which were fits for me outside of maybe academics. I know I didn’t do the work to get accepted at elite schools, and I did make that choice consciously because I’m not a very competitive person.
And yes, I’ll be going to a state flagship with a full ride thanks to NMF. Now that I’ve thought about it, as much as it hurts to be rejected, it makes my life much easier. I won’t have any what-ifs about not applying or not attending elsewhere, I don’t need to wrestle with any hard decisions, and I won’t have to drown in debt or watch my patents struggle to tell me they can’t afford the other schools.
Upon further reflection, about 90% of the disappointment was the rejection from the school closest to me, which was the only one I was seriously considering. It does sting to tell people now, but I realized while reading this that, although the school is well-known, I’ll escape most of the “what about xyz???” comments once I leave. @MaineLonghorn and @SouthernHope, I’m glad I’m not the only one facing the wave of “oh, ok.” comments…@privatebanker, you summed it up exactly.
I know I’ll have lots of opportunities in college, and I’m feeling a little more excited now. The sweatshirt method definitely does help! I know that I’m fortunate to be able to go to college at all, and especially at a strong school at no cost to me. Plenty of students in other countries would give an arm and a leg to even go to a community college in the US.