By: Caroline Koppelman

We know it feels great to finally have submitted the bulk of your applications, but just in case you don’t get accepted to wherever you applied early, we suggest starting your regular decision applications. We recommend starting the next round of applications sooner rather than later because although applying early will help you in the process, a lot of students will end up getting deferred. This means they must apply elsewhere in case they are eventually rejected during regular decision.

The good news is that you don’t have to start right away. Give yourself a break, you deserve it. But, we wouldn’t suggest putting all your eggs in one basket and hoping that the results are in your favor. Statistically they won’t be. Although we want you to get into your top pick, the college process can be tricky and sometimes the places you consider to be the perfect fit will reject you. It’s just a fact of life. In order to be best prepared here are some tips for preparing for the worst case scenario.

Treat this round of applications like you did the first. Applying to schools that may not be in your top 3 choices doesn’t mean that you can put in less effort for their applications. The college process is like playing a game. Each acceptance is a prize. In the end, you want to “win” the best prizes, so that you have the best options to choose from. In order to win the game, you should treat every school the same so that your applications are equally as thoughtful, therefore helping you to receive more acceptances.
Don’t wait for Early Decision results. If you get rejected or deferred, then you will have to apply to other schools. If you save the work for all of your next applications for after you hear back from your ED school, then you’ll ruin your winter break. Instead of relaxing from school, you’ll be rushing to fill out apps. We’re sure that filling out college applications isn’t the kind of break that you want or need.
Consider applying to schools you once overlooked. Now that you’ve applied to all of your early schools, you can start thinking about any of the schools you were once considering but decided not to apply to. If you feel like you might’ve overlooked applying somewhere, we’d recommend submitting an app. In the end, it’s best to be prepared for the worst case scenario. We want you to have the best options to choose from in case your first option isn’t viable
Relax, it will all be okay. Rejection and deferrals are facts of life. They are bound to happen and if they happen to you, we want you to remember that it will all be okay. The college process is full of surprises and more often than not, things aren’t going to go the way you expected them to. The best advice we can give you is that no matter where you end up, either at your ED school or somewhere else, we are sure that it was meant to be and that you’ll be happy!