March is college decision month, at least for most regular decision applicants who should be hearing back from their colleges soon. As someone who applied to 16 colleges (a lot, I know) I’m still waiting on 12 decisions in the month of March. My emotions are mixed when it comes to wanting to hear the decisions- I’ve been waiting for three months now, so I’m eager for the results, but on the other hand, I know the month of March will hold a lot of disappointment for me.

Early decision applicants have already heard back from their colleges. While some are excited by the results and have gotten accepted into their dream schools, I struggle to bask in their happiness with them when so many are getting beaten down and rejected by schools they hoped to attend. Students who are perfectly competent- incredibly bright even- aren’t getting into the schools that they hoped to. When did being great cease to be good enough? Every negative decision that rolls in makes me more disillusioned in the college admissions process.

According to Naviance, in the past five years, only seven West students have been accepted into an Ivy League university, with no more than one per college. That’s not the worst number, but it proves how hard it really is to get accepted. Does this mean students at West aren’t good enough? In my opinion, no. College is getting harder and harder every year to get into. The competition and cost of attendance is increasing, while the percent accepted is decreasing. Are we just not good enough anymore? Do you have to be rich and at Albert Einstein intelligence to go to a top school?

About a month and a half ago, I attended an admissions party for a top tier university, hosted by an alum. One of the statements really resonated with me and continues to ring in my head when I think about college. The alum said that the university could more or less take the top ten percent of their applicant pool, and if they rolled a dice to decide the freshmen class, then the demographics and talent of that class would be relatively the same, regardless of who was chosen. With the correct qualifications, your chances of getting into a top university are like the roll of a dice. A roll of a thousand-sided dice.

I think that’s important to keep in mind with this coming month. While it basically, lack for a better word, sucks that someone who gets accepted might hold the exact same qualifications as you, it’s important to acknowledge that. We as students shouldn’t let these decisions affect our confidence in our abilities and intelligence. When I get rejected from some of my universities, I’m going to try and remember that that is not a reflection of my abilities. I hope others do too.

So why aren’t we enough anymore? The answer to that is, we are, we just need to remember that. The admissions process is extensive and difficult to understand, but remember that you will end up somewhere. Do your best, work hard, and you can be successful anywhere, whether it be at Oakton or Stanford. In the end, you will end up somewhere that is a good fit for you.