College decisions: to share or not to share?

As March passes by and most college decisions begin to roll out, many seniors are faced with the question of whether and how to share news of acceptances with their friends.

It might seem obvious that any acceptance is good news and should be shared; after all, you can celebrate with friends. But what if you get accepted and your friend gets rejected? When that friend has told you about her rejection, informing her about your acceptance might be seen as gloating.

While you deserve the right to be able to share good news and expect congratulations back, they probably want to forget about their rejection and move on quickly, especially if the school was high on her list.

It’s best to decide how to act after observing reactions from the friend’s rejection. If they seem super disappointed, it would probably be better to hold off giving the news for a few days. Otherwise, share the news humbly and only if asked.

On the other hand, if you are in the position where you’ve been rejected, it’s ideal to check up on others after sharing your news of rejection. If you decide to tell others that you got rejected but know that they also applied to the school, ask whether they got in so you don’t put them in an awkward situation.

Lastly, while there’s no right way to share college news, agreeing on a system with your friends in advance might help college decision season flow a lot more smoothly. For example, if you get in, tell your friends; if not, don’t say anything, and your friends can assume that you didn’t make it and avoid the topic.