Beyond the results: Reducing anxiety in the university admissions process

By Dr Christina Limbird, Director & Co-founder, and Pei-Yu Lin, Senior International Counsellor, Linden Global Learning & Support, CIS Supporting Member

We've provided counselling support for students in international schools for many years and know how the transition to university is one of the most anticipated milestones of their young lives.

Adding to the pressure for international school students, this is more than a university transition; this step commonly means moving abroad and starting life far away from family. It goes beyond nervousness about exam results; students often suffer ongoing stress, worry, and self-doubt that builds over months and, in some cases, years. 

Understanding where it comes from and what schools can realistically do about it is the beginning of a meaningful response.

The psychology of college & university admission anxiety

At its core, admission anxiety is rooted in a fear of the unknown. Students find themselves trapped in cycles of self-doubt, replaying past choices and imagining futures in which a single decision determines everything. A waiting period that should be finite can feel like it will never end, and the result comes to feel like a final judgement on their worth.

Research confirms that this dynamic is not unique to individual students, nor is it simply a matter of temperament.

Two large-scale meta-analyses by Curran and Hill (2019, 2022) drew on 84 studies from 1989 to 2021 that show perfectionism among young people has risen significantly over the past three decades. They also highlight that socially prescribed perfectionism—the belief that others demand flawlessness—is closely linked to rising parental expectations and poorer affects on mental health. 

This form of perfectionism is particularly relevant in international school contexts, where competition for elite university places is high, parental investment in education is substantial, and a school's reputation is often measured publicly by where its graduates are admitted.

When identity becomes mixed up with academic outcomes, the psychological stakes of every exam and every application are raised to an unsustainable level.

In international schools, this pressure can be compounded by an additional layer of financial anxiety: many students are acutely aware that their families have made significant sacrifices to fund their education, and they carry that weight even when parents have not directly expressed it.

A school director in Asia recently described to us the moment he realized how distorted the stakes had become. He was on holiday with his son and three of his son's friends when Exam results were released. He was terrified that they would break down, be competitive, hurt, or stressed after the years of pressure.

Yet, on the morning the results were published, he mentioned to them that their grades were available and was astounded to see that they had forgotten. They checked, shrugged, and went back to the beach.

Years of stress had culminated in a number that was already, after only two months, almost beside the point. It was a reminder that the significance we attach to these results can far exceed the significance they carry in the long arc of a young person’s life.

Not every student has the luxury of that detachment, and not every family will frame results that way. But it is a perspective that schools can actively help to build and this wise director now makes a point of underscoring this with his students every year.

Five emotional patterns to be aware of

During the waiting period, students often fall into recognizable patterns of unhelpful thinking. Educators should be familiar with these:

• Catastrophizing: Expecting the worst-case scenario unconditionally (for example, "I will not get in anywhere").
• Fortune-telling: Treating a single rejection as evidence of lifelong failure.
• All-or-nothing thinking: Viewing any setback as absolute defeat.
• Rigid standards: Tying self-worth to a specific university or a specific number of exam points.
• Emotional shutdown: Claiming not to care in order to protect against disappointment.

These are ways the mind tries to cope with unbearable uncertainty.

Anxiety in this context functions like an overprotective response to gain control: loud, consuming, and ultimately unhelpful.

What schools can actually do

The structural pressures driving higher education admission anxiety are not going to disappear.

Even with AI changing the landscape of work and learning, schools and universities are old institutions, and we can expect these patterns to continue for many years to come.

Schools will publish their exam results. Parents will compare. Universities will judge and select.

But what school leaders, teachers, and counsellors can influence is the culture and conversations around those pressures, starting well before the exam years. 

Our international counselling team has put together five small things we have seen schools do (or things we wish they would do) to shift the conversation from anxiety to confidence.

1. Start the conversation earlier.
Young people develop their sense of identity by exploring or being exposed to a wide range of possible selves before they develop a clear sense of who they are.

Schools that wait until Grade 10 or 11 to talk seriously with students about their futures are starting too late.

By Grade 7 or 8, students benefit from honest conversations about pathways: what different kinds of careers and contributions look like, what the job market is evolving toward, and what kinds of skills are actually valued by employers in a rapidly changing economy.

Career and guidance counsellors can play a powerful role here, particularly when they are connected to the real world: inviting HR professionals into school, facilitating conversations with alumni at different points in their careers, and helping students build a picture of success that is wider than a famous university name.

2. Reframe what your school celebrates.
Schools show their values through what they make visible.

Publishing exam results and university placements tells students and families that these are the measures that matter. Schools that also highlight stories of alumni who have made meaningful contributions, pursued unconventional pathways, or demonstrated resilience after setbacks are actively building a different narrative.

The two are not mutually exclusive.

3. Encourage students to maintain multiple plans.
One of the most effective things a school can do is normalize the existence of Plan B and Plan C, not as consolation prizes but as evidence of strategic thinking and resilience.

Students who map out concrete responses to every possible outcome are engaging in a well-established cognitive-behavioral strategy: shifting from the helpless "what if I do not get in?" to the action-oriented "what will I do if I do not get in?"

That shift from catastrophic thinking to structured planning is one schools can actively teach and facilitate.

4. Help students protect their balance.
One pattern we observe consistently in international school students during the IB years is the gradual abandonment of the activities they love. Music, sport, theater, friendships, time with family: these are set aside in service of study.

This is understandable, but it is counterproductive. The activities students sacrifice are precisely the ones that regulate mood, build identity beyond academic performance, and sustain the resilience they will need.

Schools that actively discourage this kind of narrowing, through scheduling, through what teachers say to students, through what leadership models, are doing something important for their students' mental health.
 

5. Hold workshops for parents to learn about points #1 through #4.

Students do not exist in isolation. Intervening at the system level by working with families as well as students (not just the individual) is where durable change happens.

Much of the pressure they carry comes from family environments in which parents are projecting their own understanding of how careers are built, an understanding that is often decades out of date.

A parent who came of age when a degree from a prestigious university was the primary route to professional success will communicate that belief, consciously or not, to their child.

Schools that offer parents honest, evidence-informed conversations about how the economy is changing, what employers are actually looking for, and what the research says about predictors of long-term well-being and professional satisfaction are providing a service that has direct mental health benefits for students.

Making room for emotions

A lot of our work with students in this phase of life is focused on helping them understand that feeling anxious during this period is not a sign that anything is wrong with them.

It reflects how much they care. The goal is not the elimination of that anxiety but the development of the capacity to sit with it without being overwhelmed by it.

We notice that this is increasingly difficult in a world designed to prevent discomfort.

When every difficult feeling can be managed by reaching for a screen and  distraction is always one tap away, it becomes harder to sit with uncertainty.

Schools that create intentional spaces where students are present with their experience, without immediate escape, are building something important.

Phone-free periods, activities that require sustained attention, and explicit conversations about the value of tolerating discomfort are all part of this.

Practical strategies that educators can teach or model include

1. Identifying and naming emotions rather than suppressing them. Students who can say "I am feeling anxious because I am waiting for something that matters enormously to me" are in a different psychological position than those who are simply overwhelmed without understanding why.

2. Building awareness of physical and behavioral warning signs. These include disrupted sleep, withdrawal from friends and activities, persistent low mood, loss of interest in things that previously brought satisfaction, and excessive checking of portals or forums. When students and the adults around them can name these signs early, intervention is possible before the anxiety becomes paralyzing.

3. Setting boundaries around the anxiety. This means designating specific and limited times for engaging with admissions-related content and actively stepping away from it at other times. This is a skill, and it benefits from explicit instruction.

When to reach for help

While some degree of stress during the admissions period is expected, educators should know when a student's distress has moved beyond the range of normal anxiety.

Watch for persistent low mood that does not lift, significant changes in sleep or appetite, social isolation, withdrawal from activities, expressions of hopelessness, or any indication that a student feels their future is over if a specific outcome does not materialize.

When these patterns appear, connection to the school counsellor or an external mental health professional is not optional. It is urgent.

In the wise words of our Head of Counselling, Noa Kanter, “If you want them to have a future, start with now.”

Dr Christina Limbird is Director and Co-founder of Linden Global Learning & Support in Berlin, Germany. Pei-Yu Lin is a Senior Bilingual Counsellor with Linden Global Learning Support. Linden works with international schools and families across the world. Learn more about CIS Supporting Members

Further reading & resources

• Curran, T., & Hill, A. P. (2019). Perfectionism is increasing over time: A meta-analysis of birth cohort differences from 1989 to 2016. Psychological Bulletin, 145(4), 410–429. https://doi.org/10.1037/bul0000138
• Curran, T., & Hill, A. P. (2022). Young people's perceptions of their parents' expectations and criticism are increasing over time: Implications for perfectionism. Psychological Bulletin. https://doi.org/10.1037/bul0000347
• Hardesty, R. B. (2006). Stress, coping, and their prediction of mental health outcomes in International Baccalaureate high school students. University of South Florida. https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/etd/3869/

More support for secondary-to-higher education transitions:

• For those of you working at a CIS member school or university: Our cross-sector experience working alongside thousands of schools and universities worldwide means we're uniquely positioned to help you. Learn about the resources and events via the CIS Portals for schools and universities.
• For everyone: Read an overview of how we support educational transitions