College Admissions: No Acceptances? Don’t Panic

Tuesday, April 02, 2013

Cristiana Quinn, GoLocalProv College Admissions Expert

As acceptances, rejections and waiting-list notifications arrive, panic has set in for some seniors. What do you do when you were rejected from ALL of your colleges, don’t like your options, or receive only waiting-list offers? First stay calm. This may have happened for a variety of reasons. You may have overestimated your credentials and underestimated the competitive nature of the colleges on your list. Your application

could have been rushed and riddled with errors or your essays could have major flaws. Something you did not anticipate may have happened—you may have gotten a bad recommendation. Possibly, you just had bad luck and came out on the losing side of the stats. Although it is late in the game, there are some things you can do to create options for next year.

Get An Expert Review

An independent college advisor, a former admissions rep or a guidance counselor outside of your school system should review your college list, transcripts, SAT/ACT scores, application and essays to give you a second opinion on what happened. Your school counselor most likely has already weighed in on the situation, and you need an impartial review of your results now.

Playing the Waiting List Game

If you received Waiting List offers, you should know that the odds are usually daunting at the most competitive colleges in the country. However, there are things you can do to enhance your chances. First, write a letter to admissions updating them on your accomplishments, awards and grades. Send them a link to your updated art portfolio, sports video, music recital or the school newspaper article that you recently wrote. Tell them why you feel the school will be a good fit. If it is a first choice, say the words “if accepted, I will attend”.

Colleges Still Have Openings!

Many colleges have rolling admission into the summer. Check deadlines at www.collegeboard.com . The National Association for College Admission Counseling will also publish a list in early May with colleges that still have openings. Some have vacant spots because they miscalculated yield, and there are usually some great schools on the list. In other cases, colleges will be accepting applications for students to start in January for the second semester.

Take a Gap Year

Many students can benefit from a Gap Year, and college look very favorably on this decision. Gap options include: working, doing a career-oriented internship, participating in an organized community program like City Year, or living abroad and learning another language. A Gap Year Fair is a great place to start your journey: usagapyearfairs.org.

Post Graduate Year

If you have the resources, some boarding schools offer post-graduate years. Students essentially take different courses, but redo their senior year of high school and their college application process. The cost is usually about the same as a year at a private college, but some schools offer financial aid.

Explore Community College

Finally, you may want to consider starting your college career at Community College. This will allow you to take courses for credit and then apply as a transfer student for January or the fall of 2014. Many famous people started their careers at Community Colleges.

Not getting the outcome you wanted during college admission season can be devastating, but with some expert guidance and resources, you can create a “Plan B” that will result in terrific options for next year.

Cristiana Quinn, M.Ed. is the founder of College Admission Advisors, LLC which provides strategic college counseling, SAT prep and athletic recruiting services www.collegeadvisorsonline.com.