Strategies for dealing with rejection?

[BuddingMagnolia]

I applied to two masters programs for counselling psych/psychotherapy, hoping to attend in the Fall of 2022. I'm applying in my fourth year to hopefully go straight into my graduate degree, but after reading a lot of these forum posts I'm realizing that's pretty ambitious. I was waitlisted for an interview from my top school, and am still waiting to hear about a decision from my second school. I was told by the school who waitlisted me that I had a very competitive application and would hear back from them in the next several weeks - this was Feb 3. The deadline for students to accept admission offers from the first round is next week, and I still haven't heard back about getting off the waitlist. There's a chance I could get that email once the deadline comes and the dust settles around who declined/accepted/was rejected after the interview process [if they didn't accept everyone that was interviewed, which given the incredible experience/skills of the applicants seems crazy], but at this point I'm losing both hope and steam. I am starting to accept the probable result that I will be rejected from either one or both programs - which I know is not the end of the world, but from someone who has been in school all their life and doesn't want to stop, it feels like everything is crashing down around me. I haven't had too much experience with rejection and I feel like this is making me lose faith and excitement about my dream career. I know that it's still something I want for my life, but I worked so hard over the past year to gain more experience and boost my grades, etc., basically with these programs in mind. Now it all seems so much farther away and frankly, I'm tired. I don't want to sound whiny or disrespectful to those who are applying again after getting rejected the first time. I am inspired by your determination and would love some tips/encouragement/advice for how to use this to bounce back stronger. Thoughts?

[postpostmodern]

On 3/18/2022 at 8:01 PM, BuddingMagnolia said:

I applied to two masters programs for counselling psych/psychotherapy, hoping to attend in the Fall of 2022. I'm applying in my fourth year to hopefully go straight into my graduate degree, but after reading a lot of these forum posts I'm realizing that's pretty ambitious. I was waitlisted for an interview from my top school, and am still waiting to hear about a decision from my second school. I was told by the school who waitlisted me that I had a very competitive application and would hear back from them in the next several weeks - this was Feb 3. The deadline for students to accept admission offers from the first round is next week, and I still haven't heard back about getting off the waitlist. There's a chance I could get that email once the deadline comes and the dust settles around who declined/accepted/was rejected after the interview process [if they didn't accept everyone that was interviewed, which given the incredible experience/skills of the applicants seems crazy], but at this point I'm losing both hope and steam. I am starting to accept the probable result that I will be rejected from either one or both programs - which I know is not the end of the world, but from someone who has been in school all their life and doesn't want to stop, it feels like everything is crashing down around me. I haven't had too much experience with rejection and I feel like this is making me lose faith and excitement about my dream career. I know that it's still something I want for my life, but I worked so hard over the past year to gain more experience and boost my grades, etc., basically with these programs in mind. Now it all seems so much farther away and frankly, I'm tired. I don't want to sound whiny or disrespectful to those who are applying again after getting rejected the first time. I am inspired by your determination and would love some tips/encouragement/advice for how to use this to bounce back stronger. Thoughts?

hey! I've been lurking but I wanted to make an account to answer you here. I know it feels like a big deal now, and you really just want to start grad school in September, but I can tell you from experience that things take time and it will only make you a better therapist and more well-rounded person to have a little bit of time off doing other things if necessary. I took a couple years off after my undergrad, worked a couple jobs (tech company, management consulting), started a band, drank beer, did assorted other things. When I was ready, I applied for grad school and didn't get it. Then I got my butt in gear and took on more volunteering, did a ton of reading, networked with therapists, enrolled in a 1-year addiction and mental health postgrad certificate program, and then applied again. I've now been accepted at 26 and I just want to say that I wouldn't have had it any other way. I was also prepared to not get in, get a job for a year, and apply again. Don't get discouraged!! I know you're tired, and I know this is very hard. Trust me. If you've been in school all your life, it will only be of great service to you and your future clients if you have a little bit of a break from school. Passion begins as a spark, and if you don't fuel the flame, it slowly dies. Passion gets so much stronger if you push through adversity. Take the rejection as an opportunity to learn more, take some courses, make yourself want grad school even more. You will end up where you need to end up!

it's good you're thinking about this now, so a potential rejection doesn't hit you like a truck. it's better to be ready and pleasantly surprised than overconfident and very let down. that being said - there's still time!