“We regret to inform you…”

A student’s worst nightmare. You see the letter in the mail with the label “Admissions” on the front and your heart starts to race. Excitedly, you pull open the seal and dig out the letter. Fumbling to unfold the paper, the word “regret” jumps out at you. Your eyes skim the rest of the letter while your heart sinks: rejected.

This disappointment is a reality for many students, but whether it comes as a surprise or is anticipated does not take away the sting of being rejected or deferred from a school. With college decisions coming in, many seniors are now facing this dilemma and are working to make the most of it.

Lia Conforti is a senior who was deferred from Georgetown, a highly selective school with only a 16 percent acceptance rate. Despite her initial disappointment, Conforti is remaining positive. “I was sad at first because it used to be my top choice, but now I don’t really want to go there anymore,” said Conforti, “I originally wanted to do political relations but now it doesn’t fit all of my needs.”

A senior who was rejected from Georgia Institute of Technology shared their perspective. “I was sad because one of my friends got in, but I applied for one of their hardest programs, biomedical engineering.”

After the initial blow, it is important to remember that while disappointing, a college rejection is not the end of the world and will not ruin your college experience, according to Conforti.

“It’s okay to be upset at first, [but remember that] your life is always changing,” said Conforti.

Another senior who received a rejection letter from their top choice school expressed a similar sentiment. “I was kind of disappointed for working so hard in high school and felt for a moment like I wasn’t good enough to go to my dream school. But, I realized that wherever I end up I’ll thrive and be happy.”

College rejections will not make or break your college experience. “It doesn’t take away from your worth as a person. No matter where you go it’s important to make the most out of college,” said one senior.

As for college deferrals, the wait for a final admissions decision can seem endless and it is nerve-wracking not knowing whether you are in or not. However, as one senior expressed, “do not get discouraged because it’s not necessarily a no yet.”

As a final word to those discouraged by the college acceptance process, one senior’s advice in the face of rejection was to “realize [that you] have more options where you’ll do just as well at even if it wasn’t your favorite [school] in the first place.”