This isn't essay advice, but it's a story that I hope might be reassuring/enlightening:

I fell in love with a very prestigous, nationally-recognized school when I first visited it. From that day forward, I was determined to attend that school. No other institution even came close to it, in my mind. I was a strong applicant -- high SATs, high GPA. I did have a really bad essay, though. (Okay, one piece of essay advice -- DON'T write your essay about the process of trying to write your essay! ;) ) But I was certain I'd get in.

I cried myself to sleep the night I found out that I'd been waitlisted.

But waitlisting didn't stop me. I'd never wanted anything so badly in my life as I wanted to get in to that school. I wrote them a letter to tell them that I was still interested, and to re-argue that I was a strong candidate for admission. I got the fencing coach at the school to talk to Admissions. I got my high school guidance counselor to write them another letter. And a month later, I got a call from the school offering me admission. I'm currently in my senior year there.


I'm applying to grad schools right now, so I definitely sympathize with the craziness of school applications in a very immediate, experiential sense. But I think that it's helpful to remember that things can and do turn out okay, even when it initially seems like they won't. You have to be willing to expend some extra effort, perhaps. And you really do have to know _exactly_ what you want, so that you don't waste your energy going after something else. But it's always possible. You could just get in to your favorite school. If you get waitlisted, you don't have to sit around waiting to hear from the school again. You can (and should) actively let the school know how much you want to go there and how much of an asset you'll be (and don't sell yourself short here). Even if you don't get in to any of your preferred schools, you will certainly get in _somewhere,_ and you can work hard at that college for a year or two and then apply for a transfer. Suboptimal? Yes. But you've still got a chance of eventually ending up where you want to be.

As far as your major goes, you have probably a year and a half minimum before you have to think about that. Don't stress yourself out more by worrying too much about it now. But when you do have to start thinking about it, take it from a current English major -- don't pick based on future income. Pick based on what will make you happy. What will you enjoy? What can or can't you see yourself doing every day for the rest of your life? I know people who have chosen to major in CS or engineering because they want to make money, not because they love the subject, and they are uniformly miserable. What's the point of being high-paid but hating what you have to do to earn that money? What's the point of taking some of the last years of your life where you will have unprecedented freedom to learn and explore, and spending them forcing yourself to take classes that you have no intrinsic interest in? And by the way, English degrees do not condemn you to low incomes as a professional. The way I see it, an English degree can take you into almost any career you like. At root, the English major is about teaching you how to analyze material and how to communicate your thoughts clearly, which makes it an extraordinarily versatile degree. Is there any job in which those skills aren't useful?

And finally, try not to stress TOO much. I know that it's really hard. You probably feel like the quality of the applications you're working on right now will determine your future. But remember that this is the holiday season. It's a time to be with your friends and family, to have fun, and to smile. Don't let this make you so miserable that you aren't able to sit back and enjoy your life as well. Whatever will happen will happen, and whether it's good or bad you will not keel over and die. Take time to be with people you love and do things that you enjoy. Treat yourself to a cup of tea or a box of chocolate or whatever else is comfort food for you. Enjoy a hot shower or a long walk. Try and do some pleasure reading. Take the time to chill out and do nothing at all. If I've learned nothing else so far, I've learned that it's tremendously important to give yourself downtime. We only get one life, and I think that we should all try to be miserable for as little of it as possible. ;)


...Wow. I definitely didn't mean to write that much. I hope that at least some small portion of all of this babbling was useful. But good luck with all of your applications. Keep us updated as you hear back. And remember to keep breathing!


~Chrysanthemum~