Submitting a college application, or several, is an achievement. You
should allow yourself to celebrate and feel proud of your accomplishments before you get your admission results. However, waiting to hear from the colleges can be anxiety provoking. It can be so difficult to acknowledge that at this point the decisions are largely out of your control. You have earned your grades, involved yourself in activities, taken standardized tests, written essays, visited and researched colleges, gotten letters of recommendation, interviewed, and yet it isn’t over. Now the colleges have the results of your efforts in one college application. It is time to let go, and let the admissions officers do their jobs. You have done everything you can do, and now you must wait.
High achievers tend to have the most difficulty with the waiting they
must endure. After all, high achieving high school students have
accomplished their successes by taking control-taking responsibility for
their schoolwork, immersing themselves in extracurricular activities and
projects, and maintaining a strong work ethic. For some, the period after
one has submitted his or her applications is more stressful than actually
writing the applications.
However, others let out a huge sigh of relief after turning in that last
application. Finally, you have completed your work and now the
decisions rest in someone else’s hands! You can finally study for your
next test, go out to the movies with your friends, or even watch television
without that little voice in your head (or perhaps a parent or IvyWise
counselor) saying you really should be working on your college
applications.
But what can you do while you wait?
One practical thing you can do is update the colleges on your
accomplishments, should anything new occur since you submitted your
applications.
In addition, now is a great time to begin to reflect on your college
applications and the college search process thus far. What have you
learned about yourself? How have your ideas about what you thought
you wanted changed? What did you discover about yourself by
choosing topics for college essays and spending all that time writing
about yourself? What would you change about the college admission
process if given the chance? Writing college applications is not just
about impressing enigmatic admissions officers. It is also about
assessing where you have been, where you are, and where you would
like to go. Hopefully you have learned something about yourself that
you will take with you.
If you find yourself obsessing over your college options during this
waiting period, there are a few tips that can help you manage your
stress. Maintaining healthy eating habits and exercising regularly are
most important in times of stress. Healthy eating and regular exercise
help to mange stress, and are two things you can easily control. Next,
you will want to surround yourself with people-family and friends-who
support you and remind you how great you are, no matter the outcome
of a college admission decision. Continue to deal with stress in ways
that have worked for you in the past-whether you write in a journal,
spend hours on the phone with a friend, or play an extra game of
basketball, cope in the ways that you have found work for you.
If you feel like you only have a few schools on your list that you would be
happy attending, then you should definitely spend some time continuing
your research on schools that you applied to but you know less about.
This research will help you get excited about many options and prepare
you for when you are the one who has to decide where you want to go
to school.
Another point to remember is that you are still in high school. Focus on
your classes, activities, friends, and family. Take time to relax. Any
period of intense work requires time for relaxation and reflection.
Learning to take care of yourself physically and psychologically will help
you adapt to the changes in your life that college will bring.
Here at IvyWise we have some very impressive admissions statistics.
Even so, perhaps the most important statistic to remember during
stressful times is that 100% of IvyWise students go to college. You will
have a fabulous college to attend. Maybe we don’t yet know what the
sticker on your car or your new collegiate sweatshirt will say…but we
know we can wait until we find out.