How To Stay Sane While Waiting For Your College Acceptance Letters
Fasten your seatbelts, high school seniors, because it’s almost time to go to college. Perfect and send those college applications and expect college acceptance letters in return, taking you to the next educational level. It can be an emotional ride waiting for college acceptance letters to arrive, but these tips will help you keep it together while you impatiently linger in college limbo.
Be confident.
You know you are awesome, so why fret over your college acceptance letters? They would be the ones missing out if they did not accept you, but they will, so everyone wins. You have a pretty good GPA and did alright on your SAT test, plus you are great at soccer. They want you.
Ultimately, you know who you are, and you can probably guess at the standards of the colleges you applied at. You know you meet them, and even if you are slightly under them, you still know what you can do. Believe in yourself and the representation your college application portrays of you. You had the guts to apply, and they will review you.
Know it is out of your hands.
You have filled out your college applications and sent them away. All you can do now is wait. Though it can be really stressful waiting and waiting, not knowing if your college acceptance letters will be reason to celebrate or reason to listen to some Blues, worrying will quite literally get you nowhere.
Realize that your college applications are all you can do. Once they have been sent out, you must wait. Worrying about the outcome only hurts you. Stress and worrying can cause insomnia, mood swings, depression, lack of appetite, overeating, and a number of other harmful affects. Stressing only harms you. When you begin to stress or worry about your college acceptance letters, try consciously calming yourself by telling yourself that you have done all you can and the rest is out of your control.
Go on a trip.
You are so stressed about your college acceptance letters that you feel like you will explode if you do not get them soon, even though they are not expected for a while. You need to do something or else you will lose it. Your friends are going to the beach for the weekend, and though you initially said no to their invitation, you are starting to think it may be kind of fun.
A great way to stop freaking out about your college acceptance letters is to get away. Go on a trip, even if it is just a day trip, and explore the new scenery. Being away from your home will help you think about the incoming mail less, while also helping you destress by having a fun time with your friends on an excursion. No need to bring up your worries, just let them slip away with the breeze and enjoy yourself.
Stay busy.
Between soccer practice, AP classes, violin lessons, babysitting, and flipping burgers, you feel nearly dead. Your friends are worrying about their college acceptance letters, but you just want to sleep. Who has time to worry when there is so much to do?
The busier you are, the less time you will have to worry about things that are not immediately demanding, like your college acceptance letters. You worried when you were filling them out that you would not get them done in time, but now that stress is over and new stresses have filled the space. Before you know it, your college acceptance letters will be here and you can rip into them and see what they have to say.
Forget about it.
You have just put the finishing touches on your college applications. You meticulously double checked each line, verifying that they all pristinely represented you. All that is left is to mail them out. The college acceptance letters will not arrive for a while, so, in the mean time, you can relax and focus on other things.
One of the best ways to stay sane while waiting for your college acceptance letters to arrive is not to think about them. Treat sending out your college applications as a completed task, then move on to the next. You have done your part, now they must do theirs. You will get their answer when they are ready to give it, and there is nothing else you can do.
Work out.
Join a sport or go for a run. Get your body moving and your sweat rolling. Your body and your brain will thank you. Soon, you will find that your worries about your college acceptance letters will become simple thoughts about them, if they cross your mind at all.
Working out alleviates stress and makes you happier. If you find that you are breaking out in hives because your stress levels are through the roof waiting for your college acceptance letters, go for a run. Your brain will fill with endorphins, which make you feel great. Your hives will fade away, as will your stress over your college acceptance letters.
Focus on the present.
You filled out your college applications and sought help from the best with them. They are now far away being reviewed by people you do not know. You cannot do anything now to better your chances of acceptance. Therefore, there is no point in thinking about them until your college acceptance letters arrive.
The past has already happened and the future is not here yet, so the present is all we can control. Worrying about your college acceptance letters is pointless because you have done all that you can do, which is in the past. You must wait for the future, and since your present does not really affect your college acceptance letters, do not worry about them.
Talk it out.
You know it is pointless to worry about your college acceptance letters, but you cannot help it. You are not sleeping, you are not eating, and you do not want to really do anything. The worry has utterly consumed you, as you so desperately want to be accepted and pursue your dreams. You know the colleges you applied to are really competitive, and you worry that you are not enough.
If you cannot stop worrying about your letters, talk to someone about it. Your parents and your teachers have likely been in your shoes and can give you comfort and advice with your struggle. If you are not comfortable talking to these people, talk to a friend you respect and trust. Look for someone not only to confide in but who can also give you helpful advice on how to deal with your stress.
