<p>Irishkid, your son is in my prayers as well. I give great credit to your son for having the courage to give it another shot, and to dare to keep his dreams. Says a lot about him and his character. If ND doesn't take him, it is their loss!</p>
<p>As per my daughter, if she gets in, she will be delighted. If she gets deferred, she will be bummed and anxious and will actually do an on-campus visit to her backup school, which has already accepted her. If ND were to outright reject her or waitlist her in the RD process, she would most likely figure it to be destined that way and move in a different direction. The runner-up school has already given her a pretty hefty scholarship immediately upon acceptance, and she has a real chance at a full scholarship there--a process she would begin to pursue, even if she gets deferred. </p>
<p>Early Action is a two-way street. Obviously, all of us are fretting, wondering what the university's decision is going to be. Thing is, they, too, take a risk with deferral. I'd imagine many of their acceptance and rejection decisions aren't all that hard to make. Riskiest to the university are the borderline admits they choose to defer, to test against other applicants in the RD pool. Once they defer a student, they have opened up the door for other universities to court them. A lot of schools would salivate at some of the prospects ND chooses to defer or reject--and are willing to put cash on the line to prove it. Putting a kid into deferred status is like letting them float in the free agency market.</p>
<p>There are a lot of bets the admissions people have to make right now. Does the valedictorian with the 1580 and all the extracurriculars turn out to be one of the kids who discovers the joys of partying freshman year and ends up on academic probation? (Seen it.) Does the brilliant intellectual with all the eclectic experiences decide ND's mindset is to narrow for her own and transfer back to the state university? (Seen it.) Has the amazing overachiever spent so much programmed time accomplishing everything he has accomplished, he has never really developed coping schools--and ends up unable to cope with not being the best, dropping out for mental health reasons? (Seen it, too.)</p>
<p>How about the kids they defer or reject? Have they just rejected the future president of the United States? Secretary-General of the UN? The creative scientist who finds the cure to cancer?</p>
<p>As nervous as we are about what is going to happen, my hunch is that they are nervous, too. Every decision they make has implications not just for one student's future, but for the university as a whole. </p>
<p>From what I've seen, the Ivies like to micro-manage things, to create their own ideal academic climate--the perfect mix. ND seems much more straightforward. Perhaps it is because, being who they are and what they are, they have the freedom--and desire--to quite openly include prayer in their process. As we should in ours.</p>
<p>It may not be as easy to say next week, depending on what the will might be, but...may God's will be done...</p>