Friday, September 18, 2015

Dealing with rejections

Failures and rejections are as much a part of life as success an acceptance. Nowhere is this more true than during graduate school applications. Failing is inevitable. Only a handful of people get accepted at every place they apply to. Rejections can be very tough. Most of the universities send the rejection before the acceptances. Be prepared in the first two months after the application to receive rejections from some universities. Unless you are among the above mentioned handful of people, universities mostly send acceptances in February for the fall semester. Be ready to wait. Be ready to see your friends and classmates being accepted at several universities. Celebrate their success with them. Never ever be jealous. This is too small a matter to ruin your friendships. Remember that your acceptance is on its way too, if not this time then definitely the next.

An important thing I learned during my application period was that you don't need 10 acceptances. You just need 1. And probably you will get just 1 or 2. So, it is not a good idea to apply to places where you are sure you will not go even if they are your only acceptance. Every application you send should be to a place where you are willing to do your graduate studies if accepted.

Rejections are not the end of the world. Every one has to go through rejections. You might feel that you are the only one who is rejected every time, but nothing can be further from the truth than that. You have to be resilient and instead of being dismayed rejections, you should start analysing what went wrong and aim to improve your application next year.

The time when universities send out the results could be the darkest time for many people. It was for me. It was for my friends. Probably it will be for you. But there is always light at the end of the tunnel. If you want it enough, you will get accepted. Resilience and perseverance are extremely important. Give your best for the next round of applications.

Good luck.

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