Every year, seniors go through the college application season, and this is one of the many struggles they must endure during the year. It began with the filling out of college applications and making sure that what you put down won’t jeopardize your acceptance. Students apply to multiple schools to increase their chances of being accepted into at least one university. Once the applications are submitted, the anxious waiting begins.

It isn’t until all the letters start coming in after winter break that a senior is overcome with a range of emotions. Pure joy and adrenaline is felt when you get an acceptance letter from a school you were looking forward to attending. Disappointment might be the biggest emotion that engulfs students when they are rejected by the college of their dreams. What could you have done wrong? You start telling yourself, “I should have taken that one other AP class and I should have tried harder.” It is a terrible to be rejected by a school that you really admired. However, rejection is not the end of the world. There are many more options available.

If you submitted several college applications, you can go to any other school that accepted you. Choose one that you feel comes close to the school that rejected you. If they accepted you, they welcome you on campus. Community college is also an option if you feel that there is absolutely no other school to go to besides your dream school.

Even though rejection isn’t the end of the world, it still hurts to go through it.  Wallowing with a movie, junk food, and some friends can help with the pain of college rejection. Support from loved ones will help with whatever you may be feeling about not getting accepted by the school you really wanted to get into. Just keep in mind that wallowing in self-pity forever isn’t the best thing to do. Find your plan B, whether it’s enrolling in a trade school, joining the military, or going straight into a career. Don’t let yourself get emotionally beat up by college rejections. There will always be another option, even if it isn’t the most ideal.