Don't do this if you get denied ED

Well folks, it's officially mid-December and Early Decision notifications are coming out this week and next. I know how exciting/stressful/anxiety-inducing/hopeful/dreadful this time of year can be. Take a breath.

There are a lot of ways you might respond if you don't get accepted to your Early Decision school, and there's no right way to feel disappointment. But, there are some maladaptive ways to respond to that bad news, and one is to question your entire process, panic, throw out your essays, and start over.

Don't do that.

The fact is that there are a lot of reasons someone might not get into a school, especially a highly-selective one. Most of these reasons are totally out of your control. When I worked at Vanderbilt, we denied 95% of applicants, the vast majority of whom were qualified to attend. That's just the reality of receiving 50,000 applications for 1650 seats in a first-year class. Many of the students I advocated for were still denied (spoiler alert, they turned out fine).

Wanting control is natural. You control your essays and narrative, so it can be a natural response to think "I got denied/ I must have done something wrong/ I need to rework my strategy." In all likelihood, a deep rework of your essay strategy will not be a good use of your time, especially over the holidays.

Consider the analogy of applying to a job. If you apply to one job and don't get it, you shouldn't throw out your resume, cover letter, and interview strategy. You should apply to more jobs.

Let me save you some time. If you don't get in, feel your feelings and sleep on it. If anything, revisit your list of safety, target, and reach schools, rather than your writing strategy. Have a trusted adult or counselor review your essays if you haven't already, but don't scrap everything and start over.

I'll try to answer some ED and strategy questions in the comments if you have them. Good luck out there. You will land. ✌🏼