I’m sure everyone around you is trying to give you advice about colleges, your applications, how to manage the stress, etc. because that happened to me when I was in those very same shoes last year. I was stressing about every tiny graded piece of homework and constantly refreshing Tufts admissions pages and social media accounts while I waited for the decisions to be released. As much as I wanted to relax I just couldn’t because I felt like I didn’t have time, but you do, trust me. You most certainly have time to breathe, to meditate, watch some Netflix, or go for a walk in the park. After you click submit, it’s out of your hands, which means all the worrying that you’re currently doing will be for waste. Instead, just breathe.
Think of that one thing you keep ranting about to your friends that you wish you had time for and do that. You don’t have to do it for a long time, but being more relaxed for even a short period of time will allow you to forget about that silly thing called college, and it will feel a lot better. This will be incredibly important as EA and ED decisions start to flood in as they all come in at different times and many of your friends might be celebrating while you’re still waiting. For me this was the hardest time to remain positive, and quite honestly, I wish I had taken more time to myself to just sit, breathe, and believe in myself. How many of your friends get in has no influence on whether or not you’ll be accepted, so trying to understand the system by using math tricks or past data will not be good for you; it will just leave you in a tangled mess.
I know by writing this I become just another person giving you advice that you just don’t want, but this experience is still all too real for me. I’m sure you’re reading this and thinking that I can’t be right and that there is literally NO way to relax right now, but you will be happier when you do—trust me.
Photo Credit: Andi Campbell-Jones (Flickr Creative Commons)