"Admissions Decision is Available,

"Admissions Decision is Available,

Check online for decision."

The shortest of emails,

The bringer of dread.

Whatever the answer, whatever it says

Brings about some certainty, but also great fear,

For no matter the answer, it changes all you hold dear.

You want to see, "Congratulations!"

An acceptance, no doubt.

But even so that causes the uknown to sprout.

A new home, a new place,

A new roommate, a new space.

The comforts of the old,

Now abandoned, now cold,

As the new canvas of the new school you behold.

And even when that canvas is painted by you,

And your unfamiliar surroundings now don't seem so new,

You will still wonder if it was all a mistake,

That your acceptance was supposed to be someone else's keepsake.

You'll try your best, that much will be clear.

But you fear that your best will be of a bad tier.

Even worse than the failure, however, it's true,

Is to be told from the get-go, "You're not good enough, so shoo!"

A generic form letter, all too familiar,

That you've seen before - only the signature isn't similar.

"We're sorry," the letter will inevitably say,

"But our applicant pool just was almost as big as Pompeii.

Try again next year, you're a really good candidate."

But what they forget to include is that your odds will still stagnate.

Another year empty, another year gone,

Will cause you to wonder how much more you can go on.

When to call it quits, when to settle down,

To stop trying academia and become a corporate clown.

You open the email, you click on the link.

You put in your password, press enter with a "clink!"

The webpage loads, the text appears,

To give you the answer of what you'll have to fear...