Tufts Blogs

So, you decided to apply Early Decision to the school of your choice (hopefully it was Tufts).

What do you do now? Here are some things that you CAN do.

1. Lock yourself in your room/closet/secret lair and cry/sleep/gnaw on your fingernails until you get a letter.

2. Pat yourself on the back and go on with your life.

3. Go finish the homework that you have that’s due tomorrow.

4. Obsessively check the college’s website for changes in the decision dates.

5. Show up at the college and confront the admissions officers with a personal plea and/or bribes.

6. Finish up your other applications.

7. Refuse to eat/sleep/bathe due to your nerves.

8. Become a crazy cat lady/man.

Okay, now let’s go over which of these are viable options.

1. Do NOT do this. Unless it’s the only thing that keeps you from causing physical harm to other people, in which case yes, do this. Please, please do this. But if you can help it, don’t.

2. Yes. Do this. Do this really well.

3. Yep. You still have work to do, and you know it. You have to report this semester anyway. Get it done.

4. Don’t do this, but it may be hard to avoid. Try to set a limit as to how often you’ll be checking things, as it can get obsessive. Unless it’s the Tufts blogs, in which case, check all the time. All. The. Time.

5. Don’t do this unless you’re a very, very good baker, or you are otherwise very confident in some ability that you have. But don’t do it.

6. DO THIS. By applying Early Decision, you only conditionally put all of your eggs in one basket. Yes, if you are accepted you are contractually obligated to go to that school. But, if you aren’t, all bets are off. Finish your other applications. Not only will this pay off if you don’t end up getting into your favorite school right away, but you’ll become more at peace with not being accepted if it comes to that. Get your other applications done.

7. You should still eat. And sleep. And for the love of god, please bathe.

8. Hey, if it helps you sleep through the night, by all means, go for it.

The point is, you are in a sort of decision-purgatory right now. Some may call it hell. I understand that. You may feel like you have no purpose anymore now that your committed application is in. But, there are things that you can and have to do. Aside from staying on top of your school work (that goes without saying), I would encourage you to spend this month preparing your other applications. You can’t count on anything, so the more you realize that you’ll be happy at many different schools, the better you’ll feel. Instead of focusing on the one you applied to, focus on the other schools you’re looking at and you’ll be happy no matter what happened.

As I mentioned in my last post, my twin brother and I both applied Early Decision. I (quite obviously) applied to Tufts and he applied to a competing school. He got his acceptance decision a week before I did. This week, as you can imagine, was awkward at best and terrifying at worst. But during that week, I made peace with not being accepted, and I knew that was something I had to do.

And above all, it’s your senior year of high school. Enjoy the environment and the people you love around you. Remember, everything will turn out fine in the end.