One afternoon, Sr. Matthew Moraw noticed an email from Butler University. He had received plenty of spam emails from Butler before, so he decided to ignore this specific email. Later that same night, Moraw looked through his inbox, and he opened the email from Butler. While anxiously reading the email, he realized it wasn’t a spam message. He had been accepted to Butler University.

  Moraw was overflowed with excitement. Elated, he yelled to his parents, “Mom, Dad, I’ve been accepted to Butler!” Gathered around the computer, Moraw and his parents were thrilled to find out about his acceptance.

  Moraw, along with thousands of other graduating seniors, experience the stress in applying, the anxiety in waiting for a response, and the joy as they become aware of their acceptance. Unfortunately, not all college applicants get accepted.

  Whether declined or accepted, college applicants feel stressed, anxious, and excited when discovering their fate of acceptance or declination.

  One WO senior applied to the University of North Carolina. Unfortunately, she was declined. This particular student got accepted to every other college she applied to. She applied to UNC, her top school.  Prior to her application, this alumni signed a statement that said she would not be notified of the reason she was declined.

  She and her friend both applied to UNC, and they both decided to open their emails from the university at the same time. Anxiously, they opened their emails from UNC. Much to their dismay, they were both declined from UNC. She was extremely sad and disappointed. She said that the worst part about getting declined was not having access to the reason for declination. “The school I got denied from actually emailed later to notify us that they were under investigation for unfair admissions practices, so I guess that made me feel a little better.”

  Sr. Jeremy Elkins applied to Western Michigan University, Michigan State University, and Grand Valley State University. When Elkins applied to MSU, he was anxious and extremely tired, as he had spent a long time the previous night typing up an essay for the school. Elkins walked out to his mailbox and noticed a letter from MSU. He nervously grabbed the letter and brought it inside. Peeling back the seal, his heart racing, Elkins was confident that he would be accepted. After he opened the letter, he received his good news. He had been accepted at MSU. “I was extremely excited, whether it was my top pick or not.” Elkins comes from a family of Michigan fans, so, naturally, there was some razzing. “I told all my friends and relatives and rubbed it in my U of M loving family members and friends faces.” Ironically, Elkins himself was a fan of the University of Michigan until he was accepted to Michigan State.

  Sr. Ethan Engle applied to Northern Michigan University and Ferris State University. “This summer, I attended a camp for HVAC at Ferris and I really enjoyed the campus, so I was really looking forward to applying.” Engle anxiously opened his letter from Ferris State. He was elated to find out about his acceptance. Engle then proceeded to post a picture to announce his acceptance. “It’s like when you get your first sack in football, it feels special because you know you did something good.”

  Engle had also been very interested in NMU, so he applied. Engle noticed his mother enter the room with a large envelope in hand. She handed the NMU stamped letter to Engle. “The second time you get accepted is even more exciting than the first, it was even more special because all my closest friends were there to experience it.” Engle had also been accepted to Northern Michigan.

  “The few months between getting accepted and making my final decision were some of the most stressful months of my life.” In the end, Engle understood that both schools would be great options for him, and he decided to attend Northern Michigan University. “Once I made my decision, it was like the weight of the world came off of my chest.”

  College is a really fun and decisive time for anyone who has the privilege of attending. However, it is an intense and emotional process to get to that point. Engle was stressed when trying to decide what college to attend, the UNC applicant was anxious to hear back from her top choice, and Elkins was excited to find out that he had been accepted to Michigan State. These emotions are common amongst all college applicants going through the college process because they know their future could depend on it.