rejections

Rejected Early Decision from Wake Forest 2024-2025

If you’re reading this, you probably received disappointing news from Wake Forest in the Early Decision round, or you’re planning ahead in case that’s how things work out. Wake Forest offers both Early Decision I and Early Action application options, but we’re focusing on EDI here because you will most likely receive a response with time (albeit rushed) to make big changes to your college application strategy in the Regular Decision and Early Decision II round. The EA decisions for Wake Forest come out after most Regular Decision and EDII deadlines, so it’ll be too late to implement our advice in this post (an incentive to plan ahead!).

Rejected Early Decision by Vassar 2024-2025

Receiving a rejection in the Early Decision round always hurts. You probably had this vision for your college application experience where you’d do your work early, you’d get in early, and you would be done early. But now Vassar said “no” early decision and you’re facing a pile of applications and looming deadlines, and possibly no strong sense of what needs fixing. Well, that’s why we are here to help. First, though, let’s break down what went wrong with Vassar so we can rebuild on firmer footing. 

Rejected Early Decision from Pomona 2024-2025

We know getting rejected is tough, and an early decision rejection from your dream school can hit especially hard. Pomona’s acceptance rates are no joke—7% overall and 13% for ED. But keep in mind, that doesn’t mean you were “twice as likely” to get in during ED, and approx. 1,400 other students also got similar news. You’re far from alone in this, and we want to remind you: not getting into Pomona doesn’t define your future. You’re still headed for a fantastic school where you’ll thrive.

Rejected Early Decision from Johns Hopkins (JHU) 2024-2025

Hey there, we know you just got rejected ED from Johns Hopkins, and we’re sure you feel pretty blah right now. You might be angry, sad, disappointed, or some secret fourth thing. We get it – and the wisdom we’ve gleaned from living a little longer than you and working in this industry tells us that you will absolutely still go to college, a great college, and that this rejection is not a reflection of you as a person.

Rejected Early Decision from UVA 2024-2025

UVA, or the University of Virginia, is one of the most popular state schools in the country. This comes with an equally high level of competition, which you’ve been on the disappointing end of. A rejection from UVA Early Decision is frustrating, but it’s also not the end of the world nor the end of your journey. In this post, we’ll break down what to do next. We’re focusing on Early Decision only here because it is a time of opportunity. The Early Action decisions come out after Regular Decision deadlines, but the Early Decision notification date gives you enough time to make adjustments to (or completely overhaul) your strategy. First, let’s talk nuts and bolts.

Rejected Early Decision from Swarthmore 2024-2025

If you’ve landed here, it probably means you didn’t get the news you wanted from Swarthmore. We’re really sorry to hear that—rejection is tough, and it’s even harder when it’s from a school you were genuinely excited about. But try not to let this discourage you. This one decision doesn’t capture who you are or what you’re capable of. You’ll find a great school that’s the perfect fit (yes, you will go to college, we promise), and you will be successful! We promise!

Rejected Early Action from the University of Texas at Austin 2024-2025

UT Austin is a highly selective university whether or not you are a Texas resident, but it is much harder to get into from an out-of-state address than for those that live in Texas. The published acceptance rate sits around 30%, but that is completely useless as a gauge for out-of-state applicants, who have to face odds that are about one-fourth of that.

Rejected Early Decision from Tufts 2024-2025

Applying to college is stressful even if everything goes right. When you hit a roadblock, especially when dreams are involved, it can be downright painful. And if you’ve been rejected from Tufts in the Early Decision I round, you’re probably somewhere between stressed and heartbroken. No matter how you feel, you are completely valid in those emotions. But there are also actions you need to take to turn things around for your best possible outcomes in the next application round.

Rejected Early Decision from Vanderbilt 2024-2025

First off, sorry. If you are reading this blog, you have just received some bad news. Vanderbilt was likely your dream school or at least a school you loved enough to apply ED to, and getting a “no” stinks. However, application season isn’t over, and there is still time to get into great schools. All you have to do is put the work in, and you can turn it around for regular decision.

Rejected Early Action from UNC Chapel Hill 2024-2025

If you’re here, we’re guessing you’ve just been rejected EA from UNC and are feeling unsure of what to do next. Right now, you’re probably reeling and looking for a way to keep yourself busy. Let’s take a moment to acknowledge that UNC Chapel Hill is a highly competitive school, especially for out-of-state applicants. The overall acceptance rate is around 20%, with out-of-state acceptance at 8%. The EA acceptance rate (and we don’t know the in vs out-of-state breakdown here) lasy cycle was 23%. This puts UNC in the “far reach” category for most out-of-state students, and we’re telling you this because sometimes numbers like this make us feel better. Not getting in doesn’t mean you won’t find your place at another amazing school. With decades of experience (both in college stuff and general life stuff), we can confidently say: you will go to college, and you will be successful!

Rejected Restrictive Early Action from Stanford 2024-2025

Stanford is now one of the hardest universities to gain access to in the world, second only, in the United States, to Harvard in acceptance rate. So, don’t beat yourself up if you were rejected Restrictive Early Action. We know it’s hard not to, but really — Stanford is a reach for everyone. The overall acceptance rate is now less than 4%. This is wild. Imagine being in a gym with 99 other people waiting on the sidelines, and only four of you all will get to play in the game. When visualized, these odds are insane. That doesn’t mean a rejection from Stanford doesn’t hurt, though, especially if it’s a school that you’ve been dreaming of for a while. When you’re ambitious enough to apply to Stanford, you’re also typically confident enough to believe you will…or, at least, will maybe…get in. But you didn’t, so now what?

Rejected Early Decision from New York University (NYU) 2024-2025

If you’ve been rejected by NYU Early Decision, that’s a major downer. You picked New York University for your Early Decision school because it was a top choice that you knew you wanted to attend, and believed you had a strong chance at. But it didn’t work out, and now you need to know what to do next. First, let’s do a bit of a post-mortem on NYU.

Rejected Early Decision from Cornell 2024-2025

No one hopes for a rejection letter, but for many hopeful Ivy League applicants, it happens. First off, sorry that you didn’t get into Cornell. However, it isn’t the time to mope. There is still a lot of work to do, and the next two weeks will be super important to maximize your chances for a successful Regular Decision round.

Rejected Early Decision from Dartmouth 2024-2025

If you’re here, we are assuming you’ve just been rejected ED from Dartmouth and don’t know what to do next. You’re probably reeling and need something to do to keep you occupied. First, we want to say that Dartmouth is an incredibly hard school to get into – a 6% overall acceptance rate and a 20% ED acceptance rate put it solidly in that “far reach” category. You not getting in doesn’t mean you won’t get into another amazing school, and we can say with decades of wisdom that you will go to college and you will be successful!