April is college decision month for high school seniors who have until May 1 to decide which college to attend. The brutal process of applying to college and waiting for acceptances is over. Now, seniors get to decide which college's offer of admissions to accept. While many adults and students often get attached to college names, they should both realize that colleges are so much more than their names.
Here are some tips to guide undecided high school seniors and their families through these challenging, yet empowering weeks of decision-making.
- Accept and allow. We need to help seniors understand that while they may feel disappointed and even devastated by rejections, they need to be proud of the offers they receive. With competitive colleges accepting anywhere from 5.9 percent to 28 percent of students, huge numbers of students will be disappointed with rejection letters. But, we need to help them see how talented they are despite these rejections and understand that acceptances are powerful and can open the doors they need to be successful. So we need to help seniors focus on the colleges that accepted them -- the amazing schools with programs and communities that will offer them the same, if not better, opportunities as the schools that rejected them.
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