Robin Johnson Seniors, Thank Yous

The Magic of Sincere Gratitude

Hooray seniors! 

By now you have submitted your enrollment deposits and know where you’ll be headed next fall. Congratulations! Arriving at this moment took a lot of time and hard work. You should feel very proud of the hard work, thoughtfulness and mature decision-making that went into your college application and decision process.

That being said, keep in mind that you had help along the way. Parents and guardians, high school teachers (especially those who wrote letters of recommendation for you,) coaches and counselors, friends, and more, some or all have had a hand in supporting you throughout high school and particularly through this college process.

Make a list of those helpers and any other people who may have helped you, possibly a tutor, an organization that gave you a scholarship, your boss at work, or volunteer supervisor.

Right now is a great time to express your appreciation with a sincere thank you.

An email or verbal thank you is fine but this is a time to go the extra step. Buy or make some thank-you cards and handwrite your thank you notes. Make them personal and be sure to include details about where you’ll be attending college in the fall. If you’re headed out on a gap year first, include that information.

Think of a time when you received a sincere thank-you from someone you care about. Felt great, right?  Well, all of these people care about you. They were invested in your success and your expression of gratitude will be just as deeply appreciated. 

I also suggest that you make an effort to stay in touch with some of these people throughout your time in college (and possibly beyond). For this purpose, email is an excellent tool. 

Expressing gratitude and being a good communicator are terrific life skills and making a habit of them now will make it feel more comfortable as you go on to use them in the future.

Soon, you’ll be tossing your graduation cap into the air and saying a final goodbye to high school. Before that happens, please remember to continue to work hard, keep your grades up and make good choices. 

Congratulations!

Robin Johnson Admissions Decisions

Decisions Are Coming!! Decisions Are Coming!!

A sense of balance during the college application process is critical. Balanced expectations, balanced college list, balanced academics/activities/self-care, now it’s time to practice balanced responses to your admissions decisions.

This is the time when decisions begin to come out. If you decided to apply Early Decision to your first choice school, then you already know whether your waiting is over. Otherwise, admissions decisions may come to your inbox and/or college portal anytime between now and April 1st. 

Perhaps you’ve received the wonderful news, you’ve been admitted! Fantastic! Congratulations! Take some time to enjoy the feeling of success and to celebrate with your family. Share your joy with your friends and even with your extended network by posting to your social media feeds. At the same time, keep in mind “balance” and remember that this decision could have easily gone the other way, especially if the college is very selective/rejective (admitting under 33% of applicants). Admission to a college doesn’t mean that you are better than those who were denied. It does mean that the admissions officers who read your file (holistically) were confident that you could be successful at their school and that you could be an integral part of their balanced class (there’s that word “balance” again). 

Take a moment to consider those who weren’t accepted. Put yourself in their shoes for a moment. A little bit of humility and a solid dose of gratitude go a long way in this situation. No crowing over  “conquering” the admissions process or talking about “how lucky” the school is to have admitted you. Instead share your news with an acknowledgement that you are excited and thankful to be given the opportunity. 

What if you’ve been denied? This can be really hard and no matter what your expectations were, not being chosen hurts. Go ahead and allow yourself time to grieve. It’s okay to feel those feelings. Then do what you need to do to begin feeling better. Talk to a friend or family member, cry, eat ice cream or binge TikTok pet videos or makeup tutorials, whatever works best for you. 

Be careful not to play the blame game though. Don’t blame your recommenders, parents, or yourself and don’t play the “if only” game. “If only, I played lacrosse, if only I’d kept going to model UN, if only I had raised cheetahs in my spare time”. Remember that this may be a big disappointment but it is not personal. This doesn’t diminish the effort you’ve put into school, extracurriculars, friendships, family and more in any way. You are still the wonderful person you were yesterday. Balance your sadness with acknowledging all the good things about who you are. In the grand scheme of things being denied, although painful in the moment is a passing difficulty.

Of course, it’s possible you’ve been offered a spot on the waitlist. Being waitlisted can be even more difficult than being denied. If you decide to accept the place on the waitlist, a decision is unlikely to come your way until after May 1st. Some schools continue to pull from their waitlists until the fall and that’s a lot of waiting. Be sure to read all your emails from the college that has waitlisted you and follow their directions about how to accept the spot. One thing not to do is harangue the admissions office, no effusive love notes or gifts or pleading. If you have something new to share, feel free to write a friendly note with that information and to reiterate your interest, then leave it at that. If the college asks for more information from you, do be sure to follow up.

Celebrate your successes, don’t dwell on your failures and enjoy the rest of your senior year!