Okay, wait-listed may not be worse than get­ting rejected from your dream school flat out, but the uncer­tainty is nerve-wracking, nonetheless.

As accep­tance, rejec­tion and wait­ing list let­ters pour out from admis­sions depart­ments from col­leges across the coun­try, many high school stu­dents are wait­ing, anx­iously stalk­ing the fam­ily mail­box. Mailper­sons, beware.

This year (as in years past) the most com­pet­i­tive and pres­ti­gious schools are boast­ing the most selec­tive appli­ca­tion sea­son ever, such as Stanford's ridicu­lously low 7.2% accep­tance rate. These kind of stats bol­ster a school's cred­i­bil­ity when it comes to claim­ing the cream of the crop of its stu­dent body. We only take the best, they say.

If these kind of num­bers blow your mind, check out The New York Times' 2010 Admis­sions Tally for a run­ning admis­sions count of the most selec­tive col­leges and uni­ver­si­ties in the coun­try. And if you're up for a chuckle about how these elite schools brag about them­selves, check out the Chron­i­cle of Higher Education's take on uni­ver­sity stat-boasting quo­ta­tions.

The New York Times has also incor­po­rated an online series of real-life reflec­tions and sto­ries from high school stu­dents as they await their acceptance/rejection let­ters, called "The Enve­lope, Please." (The series is part of "The Choice," a sec­tion of the paper ded­i­cated to "demys­ti­fy­ing col­lege admis­sions and aid.")

Meet the stu­dents: Michael Greshko, Brian C. Bose, Erik Bates, Omosefe Aiyevbomwan, Brett Fer­di­nand and Anne Paik, high school seniors from across the coun­try who write and v-log about their expe­ri­ences as they wait out the often­times gru­el­ing admis­sions wait­ing period.

Brian C. Bose gives a rather per­sonal expe­ri­ence of his recent encounter with his mail­box, which con­tained a let­ter addressed from New York University.

Check out his per­sonal video here.

Best wishes to all still await­ing accep­tance let­ters, and may you make the best choice if you've already received them.