More Great News & Lesson Learned

My offer letter went online yesterday. I was convinced my eyes were deceiving me when I first read that I would also be receiving a scholarship from Yale that would cover half of my tuition for each of the two years. When I finally accepted that 1) I was reading this correctly, and 2) Yale hadn’t made a mistake by giving me someone else’s letter, a wave of emotion washed over me. I leapt out of my chair - determined, I guess, to stand my ground lest my feelings completely overtake me.

“I’m not worthy!” was all I could think yesterday. Today, I feel blessed. What a gift! Last week, I was in waitlist purgatory. Now I’m in “admitted, with scholarship” heaven. About an hour after receiving the letter yesterday, I began to imagine what might have happened to produce the turnaround. I entertained several thoughts before putting a stop to the madness. It was then that I was able to synthesize my thoughts and articulate what I must have figured out some time ago.

I never really knew why the admissions committee waitlisted me. Most applicants don’t. Does the committee have to be in unanimous agreement on your candidacy before an offer of admission is made? If so, it could be that there’s one person on the committee who's not quite sure about you. Does the committee have doubts about your reasons for wanting to attend the school, your level of commitment to attending the school, your ability to “fit” once you get to the school? Maybe the committee admitted too many people from your geographic area, or with a similar professional profile.

You can only address the committee’s concerns as they have been explained to you. So, do what you can do. If you’re going to make any one assumption, let it always be that you do not have the whole story. You can not know what the underlying issues are with your candidacy. Trust that the committee knows what it's doing, when it's doing it, and why.

Lesson learned.