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by Victoria Pericon
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<p>
Across the nation,
anxious high school seniors await correspondence from admissions
offices at universities large and small.  Some students get the
chance to celebrate with their friends and family the joy of being
admitted into the school of their choice.  To many others, however,
the dreaded rejection letter arrives with news that is potentially
devastating; they are denied entrance to their desired institution,
or are placed on a wait list.
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<p>
More than ever, students
are applying to colleges.  And competition for spots in top colleges
has become so intense that even exceptional high school students find
themselves shut out of not only their number one choice, but also
some schools slightly lower on their preference list.
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Many parents find
themselves in the position of having to console their very
disappointed children.  They watch as their child work hard and focus
on being admitted into a particular college, only to be disappointed.
Eric Kaplan, Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid at Lehigh
University in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, offers advice to parents whose
children have been disappointed by the admissions process.
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<p>
&ldquo;If your son or
daughter has been rejected,&rdquo; says Kaplan, &ldquo;the best thing to do
is to encourage your child to think positively about the options that
are available to them.&rdquo;
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If your child has been
placed on the wait list, Kaplan suggests the child return the card
indicating that they want to be placed on the list.  He also advises
that the student write a letter restating their interest in attending
the college.  Kaplan cautions having patience as your child awaits
the final determination.  &ldquo;Most colleges will not know whether
they&rsquo;ll admit students from the wait list until late April,&rdquo; he
says, &ldquo;so do not make frivolous overtures or call incessantly.&rdquo;
Doing so, believes Kaplan, will have the opposite of the desired
effect.
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<p>
Zohar Adner, a career
counselor at Polytechnic University, advises encouraging students who
have been rejected from a college to be flexible.  He believes it&rsquo;s
important to remind young people that some things are out of their
control, they have a choice in how they will react to their
situation. &ldquo;You can let go of the disappointment and make the most
of what has been made available,&rdquo; says Adner, &ldquo;or you can sulk
and complain.  You won&rsquo;t always get what you want, but it&rsquo;s up to
you to handle it.&rdquo;
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<p>
Kelly Tanabe, author of
&ldquo;Get Into Any College: Secrets of Harvard Students&rdquo;
(Supercollege, LLC, September 2004), is sympathetic to students who
are frustrated about not getting into their favorite college, given
that they spend their entire senior year taking standardized tests
and agonizing over essays.  However, she agrees with Adner that it is
important to help your child keep things in perspective.  &ldquo;The
truth is you don&rsquo;t  have to go to your first-choice school to get a
top rate education.  Getting into a college is not a matter of life
or death,&rdquo; says Tanabe, &ldquo;what&rsquo;s more important than the name of
your college is what you make of the opportunity.&rdquo;
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<p>
<strong>
This article was written by Victoria Pericon.<br />
If you wish to use this article in any manner, you must <a href="index.php?option=com_content&amp;task=view&amp;id=51&amp;Itemid=165">request permission</a>.</strong> <br />
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