Your Top Choice May Not Be The "One".

ccnaf14
Thu, 26 Feb 2015 15:10:33 +0000

I’m sure this is a highly recycled thread, but bear with me.

It was around this time, last year, where the actuality of March 10th hit me, as I’m assuming it is beginning to hit others. So, I’ll give a small piece of advice to people applying to boarding schools, or any school for that matter.

If your top choice school doesn’t accept you, then it wouldn’t have been a good fit in the first place.

Now, there are some exceptions… but, in most cases, love the school that loves you. When I was rejected from my top choice (and only choice - not smart), I was crushed. It took a while to figure out that, in reality, I wouldn’t have fit in anyways. Then, a month and a half later I put in an application for a boarding school in rural Maryland with rolling admission, and I was accepted. Now, while I’m about to wrap up my second trimester here, I see that this was the place I was supposed to end up. Yes, it’s not a “top tier” boarding school and yes, it probably is not as academically rigorous as Exeter or Middlesex (ha) or Deerfield. But, I fit here.

Try to get your peace of mind back. When March 10th rolls around, Love The School That Loves You. Please, at least consider it. Look at my case; I was desperate to get out of my old school, a very elite private, all girls school. I hated it. I was rejected from my only choice boarding school. I was accepted to a school who loved me, and in turn, I began to love it back.

I’m finding myself getting into new endeavors every week. I have tried things I never expected I would. I joined the dance team, and preformed in front of the entire student and faculty body. I am a acolyte in chapel, I am in the yearbook club but write occasionally for the newspaper. I took part in the first ever flash mob during lunch. Next spring break, I am traveling to Scotland and Ireland with the art teacher. I have been recruited by the school to photograph many, many events. I made the high honor roll with an over all 3.88 GPA. I text my teachers when I’m hungry and in need of a chipotle run.

I have dove into something much greater than boarding school itself. I am finding who I am. At my supposed “top choice”, I would not have experienced any of this, I would not have been able to see myself doing the things I am doing here.

You have bigger things to worry about. My point is, love the school that loves you. Everything happens for a reason, and come March 10th, you might get rejected. Nothing is certain. But you might also get accepted into a school you could see yourself at but is not a top choice, or maybe considered a “safety”. I’m not saying go to a school that you hate. If you could see yourself there, but it isn’t a top choice, love it.

Love the school that loves you, because more often than not, you’re going to love it too.