Mondal told the News that his deferral, instead of rejection, motivated him to apply to more competitive institutions like Yale and inspired him to continue pursuing extracurriculars in his community.

“Yale does their acceptances a little different ... has dancing bulldogs and I remember thinking, ‘What kind of rejection letter is this?’ Then I realized what it was, and I just got ...

In the video, her friends placed rejection pins from schools like Yale University, University of Southern California, Harvard University, University of Virginia, Dartmouth College, the University ...