College.

*joins in on bad metaphors*

So senior year of high school a lot of people are pressured into finding and picking a college. There are tons of colleges. Some are way too good for you. Some are not good enough. So you have to find those that fit. Some people know which one they are going to go to right away. While some people don't know if any will take them and end up at community college or none at all. But generally there is going to be one school that sticks out to you. So you know a little about this college, but you have to do some more research. The more you learn about this college, either you don't like it as much or you find that you love it. Say you find that you really really like it. You know a lot of people who go to that school- a lot of friends, they have a lot that you want. A nice campus, a good marching band and other clubs, decent academics, you know that with a little time you could fit right in. You like this school a lot more than you thought you would and you think that it could make that school (you know the one. The one you found out about early in high school and did more research over the years but you just don't have the right requirements to go there and you wouldn't really fit in but you still love it all the same) seem irrelevant. So you decide to apply to this school, but you're really nervous about it because it's the first place applying so you get your friend (the one who told you about the school) to help you with the application process. The school tells you that you're acceptance is on a "maybe" list. They don't know enough about you yet to know if you are a proper fit for their school. You understand that because they really don't know about you because the application process was so simple. So you decide to give the school more information about you. You will send it in as it becomes relevant and you can do nothing but hope that at one point they will find the information about you good enough to allow you to be accepted into their school.
If you're not accepted, you will probably just go back to that ill-fit school and hope that you find another well matched school that actually accepts you.
Or else you will be stuck with a school that you only applied to because you knew you would get accepted.
Or with a really great school that has everything you like, but that does not have your major.