College admissions are tough, and the committees behind these decisions can attest to that. They see thousands and thousands of applicants every year, only to allow a certain percentage of those students into their university.

Colleges either accept you, defer you, or just straight-up reject you. The worst of it is when you let that simple decision define how you view yourself as a student. It’s hard to read that unemotional letter saying they wish you luck in your future, as if they didn’t think you would succeed in at their school as an individual and as a student. It stings — as it should — because you’ve put time into applying to places where you believe you’ll spend four years of your life.

Getting waitlisted is one of those false-hope scenarios you never want to encounter. Getting on the waitlist is equivalent to liking someone a lot, learning they don’t know if they can handle the commitment but finding out they still want you around for “fun.”

However, in this case, unlike in high school relationships, you can be that person that doesn’t lead a college on. If you get waitlisted or accepted at a college and know you don’t want to go there, help some other student out by declining the acceptance politely. Send that college a thank you email for letting you in and open up spots for other students.

So, to all almost-graduated students, you’ve made it too far to let anyone or anything make you feel less of a person because of a rejection, defer or waitlist.

Regardless of what an admission decision may say, believe that your self worth is more than just a simple “yes” or “no” on a piece of printer paper.