myUsearch blog

As the time draws near and the decisions of whether you will or will not get into x, y, or z school are imminent, I think it’s best to give all high school seniors good reason to settle down, take a breath and start thinking about other, more important things (that’s right, I said MORE important things).

Photo by Jim Linwood

1.  In the scheme of life, there is, ultimately, nothing that can be done now that your college applications are in, but wait. Waiting is patience. Patience is a virtue. Virtues are something you will learn much about in college (especially if you take a philosophy course). Get a head-start. It will be like you’re already in college, but you’re not . . . yet!
2. If you did your best on the college applications, good job. You have now learned what it takes to complete a task that will be judged by someone who really does not know you. This, my young friends, is a life skill.
3. If you did poorly on your applications and saved everything until the last minute, maybe this will be a good wake-up call as to why approaching things with maturity and preparedness is not just a trait of an adult, but a trait of a successful adult.
4. Everybody has waited this process out before you. It’s just like the SAT’s, you’re still around to tell about it, right? Your anxiety is not unique and, therefore, not really necessary.
5. At the end of the day you will be blazing the trail that you- and you alone- created for yourself. Many a’student have gone off to their top choice school and have been unhappy and then transferred. You, too, will find that no college is perfect and upon your arrival to whichever school you end up enrolling, you will be both extremely pleased and extremely disappointed.
6. Remember the old adage that most of the things we worry about never end up coming to fruition?
7. Don’t panic because although this is a stressful process, you must learn NOW how to deal with such stress. Say you don’t end up getting into any of your schools and you end up going to a junior college? Well, many, many successful people in the world today went to community college first. Do you think they looked at this or any other instance in their lives, as a setback? Or perhaps as a springboard?!
8. Take the time to write some friendly admission officer(s) at the school of your choice an email (or a phone call). Introduce yourself. Wish him/her a happy new year. Tell them how you’re doing in your classes this semester (if you’re doing well, only)! You know, interact . . . be a human.
9. Instead of using this period of waiting as a time for panic, use it as a time to reflect and be a bit introspective. Set a new year’s resolution for how you will deal with the inevitable situation of rejection (maybe not for colleges, but at some point in life, right?). Try to think about your own personal reactions and responses when things do not go your way and how you treat those around you. Contemplate the idea of personal responsibility and being accountable to the process. Did you do everything that you could have to prepare yourself for success? Think about that. Seriously.
10. And, if for no other reason, you should try to not panic because you don’t want to be like all those other kids at your school who ARE panicking, really get on your nerves, and seem to only be feeding their own anxieties, making it worse and worse by day. And this, to any person who has ever had to wait for something good as opposed to instant gratification, is the most frustrating behavior to witness from a teenager. Bottom line: panic is NOT cool.

Do you have any other thoughts? Reasons not to panic? Let me know.