<p>I was hoping someone could give me some recommendations on changing a deferral to an accepted. My daughter was deferred from her top 3 schools and is very dejected and she wants to try to turn them around.<br>
She is in the process of writing a letter to the admissions counselors at the 3 schools but is not sure what exactly to say. She has already taken the SAT's 3 times and her scores did not budge so probably not going to do them again...score was about a 1600 (not good I know but she has never been a good standardized test taker). Her GPA is a 3.5 with many honors classes from a very demanding private school. She is asking another teacher for a rec letter, is also going to send some writing samples and some of her art work/photographs and letter from her art instructor.<br>
Any other suggestions would be greatly appreciated....btw she is applying for writing for film and television and/or theater studies/design.
Thanks so much!</p>
<p>1) sign up for the February ACT; have her take practice exams to get the timing down…you never know…</p>
<p>2) obviously as I’m sure you know, have her write letters/contact the admissions rep to signify her interest</p>
<p>3) a little surprised that since she is in private, that her college counselor is not guiding her to some test optional schools…and that he/she is not giving her advice as to how to go forward? that would be my first stop…</p>
<p>4) since you give no indication as to the schools in question, very hard to say if these were “courtesy” deferrals or if they are really looking for improvement in certain areas…or if they just want to see what the RD pool looks like…deferrals come in many forms; again your counselor should be of assistance in this area (or others on CC if they know what schools you are referring to)</p>
<p>Hope this helps…</p>
<p>Agree with Rodney re: ACT, if it isnt too late. Is there any updated info (first semester grades, any awards, honors, etc) that she’s received since her application was completed? Anything that would add to her application, in addition to continued demonstrated interest, is helpful. I assume you’ve visisted the campuses? Thats always a plus. Good luck!</p>
<p>Thanks so much…she has an appt with her GC tomorrow afternoon. The schools were Emerson (where her sister is a student), Northeastern and UVM. She did take the ACT in Nov and got a 24 … again terrible standardized test taker).</p>
<p>I think I remember that she has some acceptances in hand.
Hopefully she would be happy at one of those. </p>
<p>If these deferrals were at reach schools, she shouldn’t be dejected. Disappointed, but not dejected. (At least that is the argument we tried…;))</p>
<p>I remember because D is from same state and had some of the same schools on her list…</p>
<p>Can her school college advisor call the schools and see if she is a serious deferral or a courtesy deferral? Many private school advisors will do this.</p>
<p>If one of them really liked her and it’s a serious deferral, the advisor should be able to talk up your daughter’s strengths and let the school know that it’s her number one choice. From what I hear, it’s very important to these schools that the student will attend if they are accepted. Your daughter can then write a letter to the admissions department (try to find the name of your regional admissions officer) that restates how much she wants to go to the school.</p>
<p>She should have some safety school applications in for regular decision, just for insurance!</p>
<p>Three deferrals are tough. Hopefully some positive news will come through for your D soon. It’s impossible to know whether a deferral will become an acceptance, and you probably know already that your D shouldn’t count on a turnaround. A letter to each college reaffirming her strong interest is a fine idea. If one of the schools is her top choice, she should say that. If she has received any significant new honors/achievements since she originally applied, she can detail them in the letters. Also, when the GC sends the colleges her mid-year grades, you can ask him/her to include a note confirming your D’s interest in the college. </p>
<p>Supplemental rec letters – no more than one or two – can be beneficial if they add something to your D’s file that isn’t already there. If she’s going to send art work samples, she should contact each school; some are particular about the content of fine arts supplements. I would not recommend sending writing samples. Colleges are inundated with samples of students’ writing in the form of college essays. They typically don’t want more.</p>
<p>Jillie: here’s my take:
- Northeastern is on the “hot to trot” list if you know what I mean; 1600 SAT’s/24 ACT aint gonna cut it for a school who is trying to go up in the ranks…we have already told my daughter (junior) that if her standardized tests aren’t there (and right now they arent) that this is dropping off her list</p>
<p>2) UVM…not “hot to trot” but the kids around here with anything below 1750 SAT were deferred and then rejected…2 or 3 last year in my memory…again, stat driven school…</p>
<p>3) Emerson is probably the best shot; more holistic admissions process; sibling legacy (do you know if they care?), may really appreciate her writing samples/ etc…</p>
<p>If it were my child, I would shoot for the Emerson deferral as the 1st choice…</p>
<p>Someone else posted that there have been other acceptances? wanna share so we can give feedback on those?</p>
<p>Her guidance counselor had told her in the fall tat he thought she would get into all of the schools with Northeastern being the only reach.
She has had 4 acceptances (U of New Hampshire, Quinnipiac, Drexel and Suffolk and waiting on Fairfield and Marist))and would be ok with going to one of them but Emerson is the school she absolutely fell in love with and is passionate about attending.
She has done visits at all three schools and liked each of them very much.
Thanks to all of you for your recommendations.</p>
<p>Funny too because my older d (now a junior at Emerson) had lower SAT’s and lower GPA and was accepted early action to Emerson and UVM.</p>
<p>Your D’s 24 ACT is a bit higher than her 1600 SAT. 
**An ACT 24 is equal to a 1650 SAT. ** So, colleges will use her ACT score (so be sure her schools have been sent that.).</p>
<p>The schools may want to see the latest transcript with 1st semester senior grades.</p>
<p>*She has had 4 acceptances (U of New Hampshire, Quinnipiac, Drexel and Suffolk and waiting on Fairfield and Marist))and would be ok with going to one of them but Emerson is the school she absolutely fell in love with and is passionate about attending.
*</p>
<p>**I think that you need to apply to another safety school that is “Emerson-ish”. **</p>
<p>What were the features that your D like particularly about Emerson? The academic programs that they had? The look of the school? The size? The location? The class sizes? The dorms? The extracurriculars? If you’re not sure, ask. :)</p>
<p>I’m not familiar enough with Emerson to know the right schools to suggest, but surely many here on CC could make similar suggestions that would be safeties for your DD. ** Anyone???** :)</p>
<p>Hopefully, some here can suggest some Emerson-ish safety schools that will happily accept your sweet D. :)</p>
<p>My D found a school she really liked and then applied to two others that were similar to it…so I take M2C’s advice about finding other Emersonish schools very well. My D whiffed on her three HYPSM schools and got in to the school she really liked but it was still nice having the two other apps and subsequent acceptances in her hip pocket, one of which turned into leverage for a bit of an adju$tment in FinAid.</p>
<p>I notice that your D has been accepted to one school. Does that school meet her needs? If so, then help her embrace that option. If the other colleges accept her, then she always can choose one of them, but if they don’t, she’ll still be happy with her option.</p>
<p>If the school that has accepted her doesn’t meet her needs, then, I agree that she should apply to another safety school that does.</p>
<p>Fine for her to keep trying to gain acceptances from the schools that deferred her, but she also needs to have safeties that she loves.</p>
<p>Aw, my S got turned down from Emerson, too, but he’s thriving elsewhere. Emerson is nationally competitive now in the creative arts, especially with Jay Leno and others now famous mentioning it as their alma mater. </p>
<p>If she liked being in Boston, see if there’s a way into Lesley College.</p>
<p>Look at Ithaca College in upstate New York, but don’t apply as a film or theater major. The film school is extremely competitive. See if any Interdisciplinary Major, for example, somthing a few years back was called “Culture and Communications” will satisfy. Perhaps as an Interdisciplinary Major, she could assemble courses to meet her needs. Check if her favorite departments’ courses exclude non-Major students, or if enough/many/most will be accessible to her as an Interdisciplinary Major. When my S wasn’t getting in where he wanted at first, this exact route became his “safety” and he did love it. </p>
<p>As I recall, University of New Hampshire is strong in writing, so feel good about that acceptance at least! There are some education professors there who are national leaders in the teachng of Writing to Children (Tom Newkirk and others). My older brother took a midlife masters degree there in Journalism/writing for newspapers as was his direction. He’s a choosy customer who doesn’t suffer fools gladly. He thought their program was very worthwhile.</p>
<p>I know from my son’s applications to film schools for Screenwriting that the stats mean slightly less to them than other merits that predict a strong writer. Yes, they want academic steadiness but a 3.something will satisfy them; after that they look for the talent indicators. </p>
<p>What I wonder is if, perhaps, the private school she attends doesn’t get that, paying more attention to academic high fliers. If so, ask your GC at the private school to review the Letters of Recommendation from the teachers used thus far. See if there’s a “kiss of death” phrase in any of the letters, such as “tries to make valuable contributions to class discussion.” The singular word “tries” is what I mean by “kiss of death.”</p>
<p>My son had a lot of inner confidence as a writer, but within his very competitive public high school, other students were praised (fawned over?) for high grades and academic destinations. If your private school is so inclined, a good talk with the GC to find teacher-recommenders who will give her a “very strong” LOR might be helpful.</p>
<p>Also ask her GC if she would be well-advised to change her declared major in some applications to “English” instead. I’m sure there are pros and cons, and it may be dependent on each school.</p>
<p>P.S. I notice you’re getting a new letter from her Art Instructor. My S also asked a visual arts teaacher to write for him. This is interesting if her idea is to present herself as a writer for dramatic theater, TV or film. When I spoke with my S’s h.s. Photography instructor at autumn Parent/teacher conferences, I engaged her in a wide conversation. She was delighted he had asked her to recommend, saying she often didn’t get to write LOR’s for academic college applications and was puzzled. He filed hers as an “Additional LOR.” I said that I thought her point of view had a lot of value, because writing for digital media means a person needs innate visual sensitivity; ultimately it’s writing a storyline that will be told in visual form; different than writing pieces that will be published as texts for readers of novels, websites etc. I never saw the letter, but who knows if it didn’t help. See if you can get the Art Teacher to write more than just about how your D performs in studio technique. Anything she says to indicate creativity, originality, visual sensibility will be a boost to someone trying to develop skills in writing for theater or especially film. If your D is “among the best student I’ve ever taught in recent years” category in the Art teacher’s mind, that is meaningful in this situation. If the Art teacher treasures your D for her creativity, or finds D’s ideas are of interest among peers, that’s all relevant to a writing major in media or theater. Believe it or not, even if she’s “well-liked” or “popular” within the h.s. art department, that is helpful because she wants to work in situations where at later stages, products are produced and reworked in a team situation. So even an upbeat or pleasant personality among peers is an asset here; not The most important, but still relevant to her major interest.</p>
<p>I like was it Rodney’s strategy of triaging schools and focusing on Emerson, and then the strategy of choosing other schools like it, although it is a very unique school. I think stressing the positives of where she was selected is also a good strategy.</p>
<p>For instance, New Hampshire is a lot like UVM. My young cousin attended and was a Nashua academic superstar. She went there for financial reasons and loved it an excelled. Jr. year abroad in England. She stayed for a fifth year and is now a gainfully employed CPA married to a guy who is a cute as a button. </p>
<p>The other three schools she was accepted at are someone else’s dream school. I know of many kids who love Quinnipiac. Drexel gives a great “hands on” education, and is similar to Northeastern and Emerson in that regard, and urban too. </p>
<p>Don’t know too much about Suffolk.</p>
<p>If she is not opposed to an all women’s school might also suggest adding Simmons if they are still accepting applications.</p>
<p>My girl did turn around a deferral at her dream school and she did it in the way you are, with supplementary material. She also made contact with a prof. Don’t know if that was the key that turned the lock or not.</p>
<p>Good luck. Visit the acceptances on a very sunny day. You may have some luck.</p>
<p>Thank you all…your insights have been incredible and have given me (and my D) much to think about.</p>
<p>First, so sorry your D is going through this. Even though we know that life is going to have bumps in the road, that kids benefit from dealing with these bumps, and all that, it’s still painful to watch a child who has worked very hard toward reaching a goal face rejection. One of my kids was deferred and then rejected from a first choice school, and is now very happy and doing beautifully at a different college. But suggesting that such a thing was even remotely possible when the kid was dealing with the rejection would have been like putting salt in the wound.</p>
<p>That said, there are a number of excellent programs in writing for film and tv in colleges and universities where your D’s numbers would not be a problem. For example, Chapman in SoCal is a top-10 program in filmmaking where the overall average ACT is 24. The deadline is later in January. If you go to the Majors section of the CC menu, and click on the Visual Arts and Filmmaking board, you will find a huge master list of film programs stickied on top. If you look at the admissions stats for these schools, you will find that high quality programs are located in colleges and universities with a wide range of stats. With colleges that have students apply directly to the major, being very talented in the writing or visual samples can give students a bit of leeway with their numbers. </p>
<p>You might also check the CC Big List of Film Programs against the Fair Test list of colleges and universities that are SAT/ACT optional. The list is growing and there are some LAC’s that might be somewhat Emerson-like there.</p>
<p>Hm. Here’s a thought. Bennington?</p>
<p>I agree that Emerson has become a tough admit in the last few years-- I don’t know if you can really compare the stats of kids who were admitted before the school became so hot. I have a neighbor who was deferred and then rejected from Emerson who got into a couple of schools which on paper were much more competitive. I think he made the mistake of inundating them with more of the same (i.e. more samples, more letters, more “why I belong here”") instead of finding the single most important criterion which could move the dial.</p>
<p>Also agree that private schools may not do a super job of supporting an applicant to a creatively oriented program which isn’t the traditional “Studio Arts” route. Your school may have a lot of experience with RISD but be at a loss for dance, film, etc.</p>
<p>So enlisting the GC’s help now is the way to go. Find out if any of the recommendations addressed either the raw creativity/potential, or the collaboration/consensus part of creation (as PayingThree wisely pointed out, this is not a solitary endeavor). If not, that should be the single most important element in any additional stuff you send. The goal is not to pile it on- but to address what may be the missing element in the application.</p>
<p>Then once that’s addressed, I think you need to lead the charge at home of shifting gears and getting excited about the non-Emerson options. The raw and naked truth is-- your D is unlikely to end up at Emerson. Yes- it’s possible. But I wouldn’t bet my house on it right now and neither would you. So get thee to the place where any of the other options start to look as exciting as Emerson.</p>
<p>Sorry your D is going through this but I’m sure she’ll end up somewhere great.</p>
<p>Doesn’t Drexel have some similarities to Emerson and Northeastern? Maybe they will have some admitted student days or something will happen that will move it up on her list. Philly is a great place to go to school (but…I fully understand it’s not Boston!)</p>
<p>I don’t think there’s any point in submitting more test scores. Showing Emerson that they’re really her first choice through additional recs, statement of interest etc. might help.</p>
<p>Don’t know if you’ve stated already, but is she asking for FA? Could be influencing the decision, if she is.</p>