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22 Stages of Waiting on an Early Acceptance Letter

So you decided to apply early decision—great! The good news is that while your fellow seniors are still laboring over college applications, you will hear whether or not you were accepted to your dream university much earlier. The wait to hear back from admissions, however, is agonizing…

You feel accomplished for finally submitting your application.

You’re feeling on top of the world!

Then the nerves creep in.

 

Wait, did you run those essays through spellcheck? What if you didn’t? Will a small typo keep you get into college after all?!

So you decide to occupy your time…

Time to binge-watch Once Upon a Time, New Girl, House of Cards, PLL

…but then you remember you still have to study.


You might be saying to  yourself, “Midterms? But I already submitted my application to college! I don’t need to worry about them.” But keep in mind that…

Colleges can rescind acceptances if a student’s grades drop before graduation, after all.

Keep up that GPA, get accepted to college and find time for sleep? 

So while you wait, you continue to hit the books.


And sometimes, they hit you back.

Right after you apply, your family starts to ask if you were accepted.

You say you won’t know for a little while, and that you have to wait it out and see.

You tell them you won’t hear back for another month or so, but they keep asking anyway.

Family asking again and again can start to stress a girl out. Sometimes, you just need to divert the question.

You’re all alone when your friends start to apply regular decision.

They’ve just begun the Common App, but little do they know the agony of wait that they’re in for when they complete it.

And they’re trying to be supportive.


Which is nice of them because your dream school is on the line!

But you’re not ready to hear it.

“Shhhh! Let me stress!”

Just when you think you can’t handle the pressure anymore…

And you’re getting closer and closer to your college’s decision day…

You channel your inner Taylor Swift and realize that no matter what happens, it’ll work out in the end.


“Please welcome to the stage…all of my emotions while I wait for this early decision letter!”

But the big day is almost here.

So you wait up, hoping that your letter will be posted a few hours early.

Doesn’t admissions know how READY you are to find out their decision?!

As the day goes on, you check your email and see one from the college.

You debate waiting to open it until you’re home, or having your friends read it first.

You open it…ACCEPTED!

You tell the whole world the good news.

You’re going to college!

And you don’t know why you were ever worried in the first place.

No big deal right?

You’re ready for anything, collegiette!

From the initial agony to finally receiving your long-awaited answer, applying early decision seems like a struggle, but the end result is extremely rewarding!

Lillian contributed to the Her Campus website from 2015-2016 during her time at American University.