There is life -- cool college life -- after the rigors of the senior high school year, even when you don't end up at your top-choice school.

Meet two South Floridians on the other side:

• Josh Kornfield, a graduate of Palmetto High School, is a freshman at the University of Miami living on campus. ''I love it. It's paradise,'' he said.

• Natasha Meyer, who attended Gulliver Prep and then the New Hampshire boarding school, Phillips Exeter Academy, is a junior at Davidson College in North Carolina. ``I'm really happy at Davidson. It's the best fit for me.''

Josh's first choice was Emory University. He appeared eminently qualified with 1500-plus math/English SAT scores and ranked in the top 5 percent of his class.

''We were all completely confident that I would get in and were completely shocked when I did not,'' he said. ``I was disappointed. But I was also worried about the huge expense of Emory. That worry was gone as soon as I was rejected.''

At UM, he has a ''very generous'' academic scholarship, as well as the freedom he sought in leaving home for college.

As a high school senior, Josh was a ''careful chooser,'' applying to a handful of colleges and concentrating on preparing a solid, original essay.

``A lot of my friends were very stressed out because they were applying to so many schools. I had a very fun senior year and went all-out with activities, which I could do because I wasn't doing so many college applications.''

Natasha was wait-listed at her top two schools, Rice University in Houston and Pomona College near Los Angeles. She was admitted to the other seven colleges to which she applied, including Eckerd College in St. Petersburg, Vanderbilt and the University of Florida. Attending a top college prep school in New England, Natasha saw a lot of depressed classmates her senior year.

''You're told all your life you're going to Harvard and then you don't get in,'' she said. ``But they are loving college now.''

For Natasha, the real stress came in choosing which college to attend. Her parents, who both attended a small liberal arts college, Grinnell, came up with dozens of colleges for her to consider, focusing on her interest in biological research.

Her grandfather, a Harvard professor, urged her to attend a non-Ivy League school for undergraduate work. She wanted a school with small classes and, after living in the Northeast, was ready for a warmer climate.

''I had decided on Davidson and then [at the last minute] got a call from Rice saying they would take me off the waiting list,'' she said. ``I had a weekend that was a little intense.''

She kept with Davidson, and, like Josh, couldn't be happier.

''If you don't get into the school you want, you shouldn't give up on your life right there,'' Josh said. ``You can really do anything, no matter where you go.''

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