ED Results Soon: Tears of Joy or Sorrow? (A Senior’s Perspective)

It is, again, almost the wonderful time of the year where hallways are filled with tears either of joy or sorrow. Many senior students this year have chosen the method of Early Decision as a gateway to their one and only dream university. For anyone who is unfamiliar with process for university application, Early Decision is one way of applying to universities that binds you legally to one school, meaning that you can only apply to one school and must attend if you are accepted. Strengths of Early Decision include getting your result earlier and having a higher chance in getting accepted.

The 2019 ED application deadline was November 1st for most universities, and the result notification date is December 15th for most schools. This means that in less than a week, many seniors may already know their future home for four years! Currently, senior students are all bearing one huge package of emotions that includes nervousness, anxiousness, but also anticipation and excitement. Personally, my heart is filled with more fear than any other emotions. This result will be the first result that I receive, and an offer means a dream come true, while a rejection will really be a punch in the face, leading to a fall in confidence until I get an offer from another school, hopefully. Now, let’s see how some other seniors are feeling at this very moment in their college application process:

One senior, Brandon L., has applied to Washington University in St. Louis for ED on November 1st. Washington University in St. Louis is one of the top 20 universities in the United States, according to US News University Ranking 2020. Applying to such a prestigious university, Brandon L. does not feel confident about getting a positive result. He states that he doesn’t even really feel anxious nor nervous about the impending day because he is expecting a rejection. He also has a constant “insecurity” about “not [being] good enough for anything”, and to cope with all of that, playing sports has become his favorite method to release stress. However, he claims that he will “take everyone [he is] close with to a Hilton hotel buffet” if he gets accepted. How exciting! Brandon, I’m looking forward to that. Jokes. Let’s move on to the next senior.

Another senior, Candy L. also gladly took part in my interview to reveal her true thoughts at this time. She claims to be “scared” about the approaching result notification day, and says “it gets scarier as each day passes.” However, she manages to stay put and collect herself so she doesn’t feel nervous, simply because “there is nothing you can do at this point.” She also suggests other seniors to “quit stressing” and just “try not to think about it”. Candy L. claims that if she gets rejected, she will simply distract herself by doing other IB work and “hope for the best for [her] upcoming schools.” I truly respect the strength of Candy’s mentality, and let’s wish her the best of luck.

After hearing some stressful comments on receiving the results in less than a week, I decided to seek help from Ms. Hong, our high school counselor, for suggestions on how to effectively alleviate our stress and maintain a positive attitude. Ms. Hong states that it is fully understandable to feel nervous about this, as “you ED your dream school and, of course, you would want to get in.” However, she also says that “there are many, many ways to get to where you want to be at. Just because you don’t get into your dream school this time, doesn’t mean you’ll never get in. You might even surprise yourself by finding somewhere else that fits you better along the way!” In response to the overall concerns on the college application process, she claims that “no matter how confusing the whole process may look, but [we] will eventually end up at a place and fall in love with it.” She agrees wholeheartedly that we should not overthink the process and just enjoy the days at school, enjoy our time with friends, because, as they always say, “you’ll miss this when you grow up.”

After revealing some genuine feelings, I hope that many of us, the seniors, will realize that we are all in this together, for better or for worse. In addition, this is a sneak peek of the senior life and senior stress for juniors, sophomores, and freshmen. Hope you all enjoyed! (Brandon, I’ll be waiting for the buffet)