Editor’s Note: This post was written before most college decisions were released. We’ll have more updates about the author’s admission results in the coming days. Stay tuned. — Tanya Abrams
 
Needless to say, I was surprised. I wasn’t expecting a decision from any school on March 8. It seemed too soon, considering that all of the schools I applied to had estimated that decisions would be released in late March or early April. Either way, it happened.
 
I’d finished eating and was sitting in my living room when I heard a noise come from my phone. It was an e-mail from Washington University in St. Louis. The subject line read “Washington University — Office of Undergraduate Admissions.”
 
I opened it expecting to find an inquiry about missing documents. Instead, I found a notification that an admissions decision had been reached and that I would soon find out my fate.
 
The good news was that the decision wasn’t disclosed in the e-mail. I thought about waiting for the paper version to arrive, but that wouldn’t change whatever was coming. So, in an instant, I decided to open the login page. Keystroke by keystroke, I typed in my credentials to see the university’s decision.
 
I let the page load completely before clicking on “Decision Notification.”
 
I quickly scanned the four short paragraphs. Within a few seconds I knew.
 
I had been rejected.

The first sentence read: “It is with genuine regret that we inform you that the admissions committee is unable to offer you a position in the freshman class at Washington University.”
 
I was dumbfounded for a second or two. Then I realized that I was fortunate. I had almost forgotten about the offer I had on the table. I had some reason to worry about the decisions of the other schools to which I had applied, but the reality was that I had a great university asking me to attend its campus in Lawrence, Kan.
 
Of course, that didn’t do anything to lighten the fact that I was bummed, especially because I had considered Washington University a reach school: one that I thought I could get into despite the competitive nature of its admissions process.
 
When I got to thinking about it, though, I realized that my disappointment would have been much greater if the offer from the University of Kansas hadn’t been on the table.
 
Still, I couldn’t help but consider what this rejection meant for my future.
 
I had always been someone who prepared for the future using cues from the present. With a rejection in my hands from a school where I had thought my chances of acceptance were higher, well, I didn’t really know what to think.
 
I found myself with a choice. I could choose to be pessimistic or optimistic about what the future held for me. I had always been realistic, so instead I went with “none of the above” and refused to be any different than I had been in the past.
 
This one decision won’t make or break the person that I am. I believe that, no matter where I choose to attend college come the fall of 2013, I will have the best four years of my life. Whether those best four years of my life occur at the University of Kansas or at a college outside of the state where I live, they will occur.
 
I may not have a say in whether a college accepts me or not, but I do have a say when it comes to my own destiny. I’ve made the decision to make the best of my college years wherever I go, and that’s what will happen.
 
Some of my closest friends asked me if I was O.K. I told them, “It’s whatever. I’m one step closer to K.U., is how I see it.”
 
When I applied to the University of Kansas, I did so because I felt that, if it came down to it and I had to go there, I’d be fine and do well on campus. To this day, I still believe K.U. is a fantastic school.
 
Don’t get me wrong, I haven’t given up hope just yet. This whole time I’ve been realistic about my chances. I know that it is difficult to get in to the schools to which I applied. It’s for that reason that when I received my first rejection, I was surprised — but not too much.
 
I was also asked if I was now leaning more toward K.U. because of Washington’s decision. Statistically speaking? I am, if the rest of my applications come back as rejections.
 
In reality? I’m still keeping my options open and waiting for the rest of the schools to inform me of their decisions.