story by Sara-Jessica Dilks, photos by Katie Hornbeck

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Almost every day, senior Zoe Krygiel would rush to her mailbox in hopes of a receiving an important piece of mail: her acceptance letter from Washington University in St. Louis. After school, she would ask her father if he heard any news. During lunch, she would take her phone into the bathrooms and refresh her email inbox over and over again. The deadline for the release of admissions decisions was getting closer and closer.

In December, she received a message from Washington University. It thanked her for her application. It recognized her dedication, despite the numerous technological malfunctions she dealt with. And it apologized because the university “didn’t have a place” for her.

She was rejected.

“Not gonna lie, it really hurts,” Krygiel said. “It sucks I didn’t get in even though I put in so much effort … I went through eight drafts of my [application] essay and had probably four people edit it.”

One admissions officer at Washington University sent a photo of her newborn baby to Krygiel shortly after it was delivered. After all, she was on “first [name] terms with so many undergraduate admissions officers” because they helped her work out several glitches with her online application. Thus, Krygiel was shocked when she was not accepted to Washington University, which boasts an exclusive 82 percent rejection or deferral rate.

Like Krygiel, many other seniors are in the midst of experiencing disappointment after being rejected from college. STA’s identity as a college preparatory school encourages seniors to apply to competitive institutions.

In December, most colleges released the first round of admission decisions to students who applied early. Throughout February and March, the second round of admissions decisions will be released to most students who applied for the regular deadline. College counselor Debbie Hudson said that estimating the amount of STA seniors who are rejected is unable to be determined accurately, because most rejections are optionally self-reported by individual students. Regardless, denial from college is a familiar scene.

Like many others, senior Jillian Gallagher recalls the painful rejection from her dream college. She remembers the exact time when she logged onto Purdue University’s application website: 4:30 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 13. She read that her admissions decision had been made. She braced herself. She saw the label: “Denied/Offer Reconsideration.” And she felt like her “heart just stopped for a second.”

Gallagher toured Purdue University in 2012 and also attended their Senior Sleepover for the Women in Engineering Program in November 2013.

“I really thought I was gonna get in [to Purdue] with my grades, and I felt really confident,” Gallagher said.

According to US News, Purdue has the tenth-best engineering undergraduate education in the nation. For the 2014 year, it has about a 39 percent rejection or deferral rate.

Senior Anja Browning shares a similar story of college-denial heartbreak. Even though it was a “total shot in the dark,” Browning knew she wanted to apply to an Ivy League school. After extensive financial research, Browning ultimately decided to apply to Yale University.

“Because of a big endowment at Yale, if your family [earns a certain amount of money], then you could basically go free of charge,” Browning said.

Before starting her application, Browning did not expect to be accepted into the institution, which has one of the highest rejection or deferral rates in the country at 93.2 percent. Yet after she met and interviewed with a Yale alum, who described the university’s innovative course-selection process, political emphasis and “so many great opportunities,” Browning was sure the school was the perfect fit for her.

“My jaw dropped to the floor when [the alum] was talking about it,” Browning said. “And I’d started imagining and daydreaming about going [to Yale].”

Right after taking her hardest exams during finals week in December, Browning came home. She logged on to Yale’s application site. She noticed a message, which said decisions had been made. She opened her admissions decision letter from the dean at Yale. She had to re-read it a few times. Then it hit her.

“[The letter] said something like, ‘We sincerely regret to inform you that we do not have a place for you in the class of 2018’,” Browning said. “And then I just broke down into tears.”

Nearby state universities, including the University of Missouri-Columbia and the University of Kansas, enroll the highest number of STA alumnae. Mizzou, KU and similar universities also accept the majority of their applicants. Mizzou rejects or defers about 18 percent of applicants, and KU rejects or defers seven percent, according to US News. However, other institutions (such as the ones that Krygiel, Gallagher and Browning applied to) value high selectivity, and thus have much lower acceptance rates.

Since her rejection from Washington University, Krygiel is now “super excited” to attend Mizzou and plans to major in engineering. She still views Washington University as a “phenomenal institution” and appreciates that her rejection letter was personalized.

“The fact that [Washington University] acknowledged that I did all that hard work was enough for me to move on,” Krygiel said.

While Gallagher was initially surprised that she was rejected from Purdue, she makes a point of not dwelling on it. Now, she is excited to study engineering at Saint Louis University, which she said is “an amazing school.” For other students who are rejected from their top-choice college, Gallagher advises to not worry.

“[Getting rejected is] a sign to go somewhere else,” Gallagher said. “Take a deep breath; wherever you’re supposed to, you’ll go. If you get denied [from a school], that’s not where you’re really meant to be.”

Browning maintains that she would have been a great fit for Yale.

“While sometimes I can go insane and get stressed by school, I really love the environment of going to school and learning,” Browning said. With a laugh, she added, “If [Yale] can’t find a place for me, then maybe they didn’t really look!”

Browning’s next step is to find an affordable undergraduate education. She hopes to eventually be accepted to graduate medical school at Yale in a few years.

“Right now, since I’m not getting into [Yale], I feel more like I have to put myself above their level,” Browning said, smiling. “I try to have the mindset that I’m too good for them.”