The end of March is getting closer and closer, and as the time approaches, university regular decisions are starting to roll in. At this time, T20-ranked universities and big private universities known for their prestige often leave some students anxious. Seniors were overwhelmed with the workload of applications, but they are now beginning to face university decisions. How do seniors really feel about regular decision time for these universities, in particular?
Senior Sophia Naronov believes that the worst part of the entire process is waiting. Her regular decisions are “stressful” because of how far into the school year they are
“People say the worst part is the application, the writing, which, yes, was difficult, but not knowing what your life could look like in the next four months is really stressful,” Naronov said.
Senior Kyle Toal admits that the impact and the importance of the decisions themselves affect how he feels.
“I think naturally, I’m pretty nervous about it just because it’s quite an important decision for the future,” Toal said.
However, after giving it some thought, Naronov admits that being this far into the school year actually helps her feel better about it. She has begun to view college differently and thinks everything will still turn out okay. With early action decisions and some regular decisions in, she isn’t as nervous.
“I’m less worried about it now, because I know I’m going to go to college,” Naronov said. “Even if it might not be a top 20 or top 50, I’m confident in the fact that I’m able to do well.”
Keeping confidence in mind, university decisions, especially for prestigious schools, don’t go as planned all the time, and students do get rejected. However, Toal began to view rejection in a different light after achieving success in some of his early action decisions.
“There’s nothing you can do if you get rejected from schools, so I think the better methodology of what I’m trying to do is just redirect to other places,” Toal said. “I still have other schools I can go to now that I applied early action, so I’m not super worried about getting into any one place.”
This place of reassurance that Toal gets from his previous decisions is often what allows him and other seniors to take rejection more easily.
“I’ve wanted a smaller private school in a big city because you’re getting more personalized teaching, but you have the resources of a giant hub” Naronov said. “Even if none of them may be my dream schools, they are definitely schools that I would kill to go to.”
Many schools that are known for their low acceptance rates, prestige and opportunities lie in the top-ranked schools in the US. Even if seniors don’t believe it’s their dream school, some, like Toal, believe it’s “cool” to get into them.
“I mean, these schools I obviously increasingly want to get into because it’s really cool too…I thought they would be the best fit for me,” Toal said.
Though for Toal, acceptance from some of these schools doesn’t always mean commitment. Despite the academic prestige and excellence the schools are known for, other factors are still considered. Toal shared he would still evaluate his options.
“For every school, I’d consider my other options first because between money and the opportunities that each school provides, I need to weigh the different options,” Toal said.
Even if these schools are ranked high on the spectrum and have an established amount of prestige, it isn’t the end of the world when it comes to decisions, according to Toal. Instead theres a different nervousness of getting into these prestigious schools.
“At the end, I’m most nervous about finding the right place for me,” Toal said.
