“My son did not get into his desired college choices. Is there anything I can to do help him consider other options?”

This week’s Tips on Teens question is a tough one from a parent whose child has become completely against the idea of college after not getting accepted into one of the desired choices. Here’s the question:

“My son just heard back from colleges and none of the schools he was hoping to go to accepted him. He’s now telling us that college is stupid and a waste of time and that he’s glad he didn’t get in. He used to be really excited about the idea of going to college, but now it’s the opposite. To be honest, we’re shocked he didn’t get accepted to some of his main choices. We forced him to apply to some backup colleges just in case and he did get into all of those. But he says that he’d rather die than go to any of those. I’m conflicted because I want to support and console him because it sucks, but I also want to encourage him to at least consider the other options before throwing out college entirely. Is there anything I can do to help him see things more clearly?”