Every so often, I wish I could go back to being younger. It would be nice to approach certain situations with the value of hindsight. At the same time, one thing I am 1000% good at never, ever experiencing again is the crushing pressure of academia. All those exams and all that cramming just to be left with extreme feelings of inadequacy because you’re scared of not hitting a certain score? I’ll pass, thanks!

For teens with decent grades and supposedly decent prospects, applying to college can be a real struggle. The most competitive admissions are notoriously brutal, making it even easier for rejection to seem like the end of the world. 

It’s no wonder, then, that one hopeful Cornell applicant felt the need to share his disappointment on TikTok when he didn’t get into his chosen school. When the video reached Twitter, the reaction was not always as sympathetic as he may have hoped. It’s cutthroat out there.