What is it about humans? Why do we always want what we cannot have? Or in the case of the college wait list, why do we focus on the school that waitlisted us rather than on the colleges that accepted us?
My colleague and I have been discussing this very issue today. We have a few students who have been admitted to some top-notch schools, yet they are singularly focused on the schools that have "offered" them a spot on their waiting lists, as if that is some sort of prize. "Congratulations, Mary. We can't admit you, but we're not denying you either. Just hang in there, and we will let you know something in late May or early June." In the meantime, Mary has to put down a deposit somewhere else and then lose that money should the school change its mind.
I understand why colleges have to have a waiting list, but for students, it's an uncomfortable place to be. Personally I would rather my girls move forward with other plans. There are colleges that wanted them enough to say YES the first time, so why waste their time on schools that couldn't quite make up their minds?
So here's my advice: instead of pining away for a school that has you in waitlist purgatory, take one of those other schools up on its offer. Put your energy into making a home for yourself at that school and don't look back.
Sometimes Plan B is where you were meant to be all along.
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