Rejection hurts.

Let’s face it, any kind of rejection can be difficult to navigate. It can be especially painful when your application to a college you had high hopes of attending is rejected.

Here’s the good news…

As much as it might feel like your rejection letter is the end of the world – it most certainly isn’t! You’ve still got plenty of options for forging a path forward that will lead you to a successful and exciting college experience.

This article will help you to navigate the muddy waters of rejection and move into a more positive and productive mindset.

Here are three tips for dealing with rejection from a college and creating a path for moving forward.

1. Allow Yourself to Feel the Loss

Pretending it didn’t happen won’t help. You’ve just experienced one of life’s setbacks – that’s the reality. And that’s all it is.

Allow yourself time to process and even grieve the loss of what you had hoped for.

Grieving a loss is natural—it’s also an important part of moving forward. And after a period of grieving, it’s time to move on.

Quick Tip: To help make the experience of being rejected from a college a little bit easier on you, remember to manage your expectations BEFORE you hear back. Remind yourself the college application process is incredibly competitive. If you don’t get in, it isn’t because you’re a failure, in other words . . . . It’s NOT about YOU!

2. Don’t Miss Out on Other Great Schools

Just because your top college choice might not be in the cards, doesn’t mean there aren’t other incredible colleges out there that you could attend!

Consider the things that made you the most excited about your top choice school and look for other schools with those same qualities that could still be a great fit for you. Don’t allow the disappointment of not getting into your top choice to overshadow the potential of other colleges being an excellent choice for you.

Likewise, you can check out the list of colleges that still have openings at the National Association of College Admission Counseling. Should you decide to any of these colleges, please also do everything you can to make your essay and application stand out so you’ll know you’ve done whatever you could to get accepted

3. Consider Your Options

When your application is rejected from a college, you’ve got a few options when it comes to moving forward.

But you know what isn’t an option?

Giving up!

Here are some of the things you can do instead:

1. Consider taking a gap year to improve your application and try again next year.
2. Remember there is the possibility of transferring down the road. You could attend another great school in the meantime and get some credits there. Eventually, you could transfer to your top-choice (of course this isn’t guaranteed).
3. Channel your disappointment into motivation and excitement about another great school. Getting a new, stronger focus is going to be key to your success moving forward.

They say when a door closes a window opens. When it comes to your college experience, a window may be opening that leads to the best experience of your life!

Looking for one-on-one support and other resources to help you or your child get into (or pay) for college? Click here!