TIME: Coping with college rejection

Record-high numbers of college applicants coupled with higher ed budgetary constraints have made it more difficult than ever to get into a first, or even third, choice school. Laurence Steinberg, professor of psychology at Temple, says our nation's obsession with rankings and prestige means that high school students form intense emotional commitments to schools long before admissions decisions have been made. "When they're rejected it's like being rejected by a boyfriend or girlfriend. They internalize it: 'What's the matter with me? What could I have done differently? Why did they choose that person and not me?'"
April 8, 2011 | Time