Attn: TO Everyone waiting for college decisions, "WHERE U GET ACCEPTED DOESN'T DEFINE U OK!"

The most important thing you did this cycle was give it your all and completed your applications and tried your best. You can't ask any more of yourselves so give yourself a hug and a loud clap! You will never have to do this again so just remember it as a right of passage like getting your wisdom teeth pulled out or or getting your period or your first kiss.

Rights of passage do not define people, they are just things that you do and move on. So remember that you are more than a college acceptance, rejection or wait list letter. You have 17-19 years of life behind you and that counts more than what a committee reading your Common App file thought of you on that particular day.

Whether you get in to your top choice, middle choice or bottom choice, you are going to college so make the most of it. Use this time before school starts to end your HS career on a high note. Graduate from HS with your head high, have a great senior prom, spend time with your friends and continue to be a great example to your younger siblings, classmates and people that look up to you. Be your best version of yourself regardless of where you will spend your Freshman year of college.

Just as lots of things changed between 9th and 12th grade, many amazing things will change during your next 4 years of college. You might find new interesting things to learn, a community that supports and loves you and new skills and talents that you didn't know existed. You might fall in or out of love, you might travel abroad to Europe or Asia and you might see education as a journey and not a destination.

Going to your non-TOP choice is not a Prison Sentence. It is an opportunity to challenge yourself and thrive in a different community of interesting students and teachers. Remember, if you don't like where you are after 1 semester, you can always re-apply to colleges as a transfer student to somewhere else. And if you don't like your major, you can always switch your major.

The prize is always a moving target so remember that just because you didn't get into ABC or XYZ college this time around, it doesn't mean you won't get there as a transfer or a grad student or PhD candidate.

My advise to all you 9th, 10th and 11th graders is to keep an open mind about the 4300 4 year colleges in the US. Literally hundreds of them offer world class educations so don't sell them short because they don't have brand recognition like some schools. Remember to research your colleges and visit them in person. NOTHING can replace the experience of walking around a college campus yourself and talking to the students and teachers there. You will be surprised how different a school can be in person versus in a brochure or video.

GOOD LUCK to everyone this cycle and for all of you applying next cycle or later, learn as much as you can about the college admissions process to be better informed to make better decisions about your future.