hey guys! rejection sucks. i just received that dreaded email yesterday that said: “we regret at this time we are unable to offer you admission”. thankfully, i planned well in advance and so instead of being completely devastated by this email, i am actually enrolled in my program at another university!
of course it sucks to be rejected (and psa: rejection is not the end of the world) but you can always be prepared. just a heads up-- at my uni you have to apply and go through a decisions process before being offered admission to your intended major. some universities are similar and some are different. it also depends on your major. my intended major was Electrical Engineering a highly competitive major at my school. hopefully this will help!
WAAAAAY BEFORE YOU APPLY
please please please talk to your advisor! do not just go into the application process blind. ask them or look up average stats online of the students who did get accepted to the program previously. where are you on the scale? i didn’t have a good chance-- but i still wanted to try! i encourage you to always try no matter the odds.
plan to apply to multiple majors if you have the necessary requirements. this way you keep your options open.
figure out the most important thing to you: do you absolutely want to stay at your current university? do you mind transferring to get into your program? can you retake classes and try again next year or not?
if you don’t mind transferring (this is the route i took) then look around for a few backup schools and begin applying for them NOW. it could take a few months to hear back. sometimes your course-work from your previous institution will transfer nicely and you could either be accepted directly into the program or be a few classes away from applying to the program there.
WHILE YOU WAIT
if you aren’t planning on transferring-- then just wait patiently. it took me 26 days to hear back from them!! of course i was freaking out the entire time. try to find things to pass the time.
if you are considering transferring as a backup-- hopefully you’ll hear back from your institutions! choose the right one that fits your needs.
if you can wait until you hear back before paying the non-refundable fees then great-- if not i’m just going to say what i had to tell myself: 200 dollars now is nothing if i have to drop out of school and wait to reapply or if i have to spend another semester/year here (on tuition).
i know that this isn’t entirely plausible for some people and most schools will work with you and have reduced costs if you talk to them!
also sometimes you have to attend an orientation for the transfer school! schedule it for after you will find out about your acceptance so that you can have time to cancel and get your money back if you do not have to attend it!!!
AFTERWARDS
if you got accepted-- congratulations! i am so proud of you!
if you got accepted/paid your transfer school already then you can withdraw from the university now.
if you got rejected-- i know how it feels. it sucks a lot. but, you have backups and plans. you are already steps ahead of those who didn’t think of any plans!!
if you want to stay at your university you can petition to take some of the major-only classes and also retake classes for a better grade. talk to your advisor about steps you could take. some people try multiple times before they are accepted!!
your advisor might tell you to consider a different major or you might have gotten into a different major than the one you want. again, decide what is most important to you.
if you are going to transfer-- start withdrawing from classes, make sure you don’t have fees, and get ready to attend orientation!
this is something that i believe needs to be said: the stigma around transfer students is bad, even within the studyblr community. you might feel like you are dumb for not making it and you could also feel terrible. i know i did. but, i just want you to know it is not the end of the world. you have a whole new bundle of opportunities waiting for you!!! you can re-establish yourself and do more things than ever before. i am rooting for you. i promise it will get better. your university doesn’t define you. your major does not define you.
acceptance does not make you a better, smarter person than one who got rejected.
i hope that this can help people who might be/are in a similar situation i was just in. this is all from personal experience. you got this.
