Deferred...wondering what to do next

Applying to College
1

<p>I applied to Princeton early decision and found out yesterday that I was deferred. It's frustrating knowing that I have to wait another three months for a decision, especially since I don't know if I was deferred because I was almost good enough (meaning I still have a chance), or because I just wasn't bad enough to be rejected outright (meaning I don't have a chance).</p>

<p>It seems like these are the options I can take to improve my chances of getting in in the next round:
--send an update about my achievements: this one is kind of hard because I'm actually an exchange student on a gap year in Korea this year, so I'm not doing any typical American high school activities and haven't achieved much academically since I left America. That being said, I did take a standardized language test in October and just received my score, and I scored rather high considering how long I've been here, so I feel like that may be worth mentioning</p>

<p>--a letter to Princeton: I guess showing why I'm a good candidate and how much I love Princeton? Not sure how to make it stand out, though. I guess gimmicky things would go in this category, too, but I'm a little worried about sending anything too gimmicky. I mean, I'm a good artist and pretty creative, but I feel like this could go the wrong way. Then again, if writing a letter in cartoon form or creating a Princeton collage helps me get in...</p>

<p>--another letter of recommendation: the only new person I can think of to write one would be my Korean teacher, and I know she'd write amazing things about me, but she can't speak English...</p>

<p>--getting my college counselor from my America high school to contact the admissions office at Princeton: I'm working on this and trying to see if they can figure out what Princeton might want me to improve about my application</p>

<p>--contacting someone from Princeton myself: I'm thinking the regional admissions officer would be a good person, because my interview wasn't very stellar and I'm a little nervous about trying to contact my interviewer again.</p>

<p>In my application, I tried to portray myself as someone who's really passionate about travel and foreign languages and cultures, and I'm not sure if it would be good to try to continue portraying myself this way or if I should focus on other aspects of myself.</p>

<p>Also, being deferred from Princeton has killed my confidence in my regular decision applications. While I'm at it trying to improve my application for Princeton, should I send anything to my other schools? Another recommendation? A letter? Should I try to contact someone from the office (I guess that's what I'd most seriously consider doing) or get my school counselor to contact them? Should I send them a poem or letter or video of me singing (off-key and terribly)?</p>

<p>I know a lot of other CCers are in the same situation as me now, so I'm definitely not a unique case-- I hope some of you guys might be able to help me. Thank you. :)</p>

2

<p>The recommended course of action is:</p>

<p>1) Send an update with your semester grades and any new achievements (including your language score)
2) Send an additional letter of recommendation only if it sheds light on aspects of your application that your other letters didn’t (You can ask someone to translate your teacher’s letter.)</p>

<p>Since you applied ED, they know they are your first choice. Nothing to add there.
Otherwise, you just have to sit tight. </p>

<p>In the meantime, make sure your list of schools is reasonable (check the common data set for each school - Section C - to see how your stats compared to admitted students) and that you have a good safety.</p>

3

<p>I’ve been reading everything I can about how best to improve my chances, and I came across this article from Ask the Dean: [Deferred</a> Early Decision Applicant Asks for Advice - Ask The Dean](<a href=“http://www.collegeconfidential.com/dean/archives/000098.htm]Deferred”>http://www.collegeconfidential.com/dean/archives/000098.htm)
There are a lot of suggestions in this article-- is it suggested that I pick maybe one or two of these, or should I really try all of them?</p>

4

<p>Do whatever it takes to get into Princeton, if that’s where you really want to go!</p>

<p>My advice to you is not to worry too much about the deferral now, and focus instead on preparing excellent applications to a range of other schools, because you have to have most of your applications submitted by early January, while you can probably update your Princeton app until February.</p>

<p>Don’t be afraid to apply to other very competitive schools. The fact that you were deferred, not outright rejected, means that you’re a competitive applicant and that Princeton believes you could handle the workload. The Ivies are such a crapshoot that it’s not uncommon for top students to be rejected from one while getting into others. But make sure your list includes matches and safeties, too.</p>

<p>Then, give the admissions office a call, and ask to speak to your regional representative. I think that if you do this yourself, it shows more initiative than your guidance counselor doing it. Ask if there was any specific reason (meaning your application was missing something, or something like that) you were deferred, and what you can do to improve your chances. If the admissions officer pulls up your app or takes any personal information, you could make a point to note how much you love Princeton and how much you want to go there.</p>

<p>IF they want one, send an update letter with any new information or accomplishments. Definitely say in the letter, right away, how much you love Princeton. Consider saying that you promise to attend if admitted (I don’t think they can hold you to that, but don’t say it unless you mean it). Include your first semester grades (“I was pleased to see I made top grades in my Korean school, despite the language barrier”) and the new test score. Note any other achievements you have. If you don’t have any, just talk about how your year abroad is going and stress the cultural experiences you’re having and their impact on you.</p>

<p>Finally, if there are any “holes” in your application (if you didn’t take the recommended number of Subject Tests or left out an optional essay), fill them.</p>

5

<p>Thanks so much for all of the helpful points! It’s making me feel a lot better about the deferral and more confident about prospects for the future. I am definitely applying to a few other Ivies/very competitive schools, and I’ve actually finished all of my applications already. So while I’m waiting, I guess I can focus on getting Princeton to notice me. :)</p>

<p>I definitely am going to call the admissions office and try to talk to my regional counselor (and I guess if that doesn’t work, I’ll try talking to my high school counselor and seeing what she can do). And in the deferral letter, Princeton said that we can send updates/extra information as we see fit, so I am also going to send them a letter. I’m assuming it’s best to keep it fairly simple, right? Just an update letter/contact, but I guess nothing else that might overwhelm them (i.e. no songs composed about Princeton, artwork…I am a pretty creative person but what I really stressed in my application was my passion for languages, so would it be best to continue stressing that aspect of myself?).</p>

<p>At the same time, should I send an update letter to my other schools with information about my Korean language learning/test scores from the first semester? Since I don’t have a midyear grade report to send in, I feel like this would be a good way to update my other schools on what I’m doing.</p>

6

<p>You should have the score report with your new score sent to your other schools, but a whole note about it probably won’t be necessary for them. But you should definitely send a letter to Princeton.</p>