<p>My daughter was deffered at Yale. It's still her first choice and I'm wondering what we can do to increase her chances in RD. Any ideas?</p>
<p>The usual: send mid-term grades, send any information about new awards or achievements, have the guidance counselor call and feel out why she was deferred, etc. However, at the same time, it is very important to keep in mind that Yale RD chances are difficult at best so she needs to find a few other schools to fall in love with now. I'm sure you'll hear from people like Soozievt, Sandiegomom and TheDad who each had daughters deferred or rejected last year and they all ended up at some terrific schools (Brown, Harvard, Smith...).</p>
<p>I think no one knows what works. If she's an English Horn player, assassination of the reigning sophomore in the chair is probably the best strategy. Do as Carolyn suggests, but note the odds are no better the second time around.</p>
<p>Help her find some other places to love, where she can walk in the woods, go to sleep without fire engines ringing in her ears, with real snow rather than freezing rain (or without both altogether), maybe where she'll never meet a TA, or is encouraged to go abroad, or....</p>
<p>There are so many WONDERFUL colleges out there!</p>
<p>Bjz, what Carloyn said. You might take solace from the thread here about what happened after EA/ED referrals/rejections last year.</p>
<p>My D getting rejected was a bit of a bitter pill. Now, she couldn't be happier at Smith....plus Mini's daughter gets to go to school with her! ;)</p>
<p>But read the whole thread.</p>
<p>I almost forgot - Coureur's daughter was also rejected by yale last year...she got into Harvard and MIT RD and sounds very happy at Harvard this year. Really, this is just like losing the lottery --- do what you can but encourage her to focus on other schools now.</p>
<p>Instead of thinking of it as rejection (which of course it isn't - or at least yet), she can now consider herself Free!</p>
<p>I say, don't spend any more emotional capital on Yale. Send in any new info and mid-year report and move on to the other apps that still need to be done. </p>
<p>Review the Yale essays (which you probably are planning to use for other colleges) with new eyes and critically ask yourself why the essays didn't bring in an acceptance. Make changes to essays to make them stronger.</p>
<p>[Coureur's D (also mine, by the way) used the same essays for both Yale and Harvard, with exact opposite results (rejection vs. acceptance). Go figure. . .]</p>
<p>Definitely read the "outcomes after EA/ED rejection" thread. It will give you hope (precious commodity now).</p>
<p>And don't fall in love with another school until the acceptances come out in March/April.</p>
<p>Fwiw, my D junked her Yale essays and came up with a new set. Someone who is a former admissions officer liked the second set a lot better.</p>
<p>As someone who was deferred EA last year and is now at Yale, while it is important to move on and not pin all your hopes on Yale, take solace in the fact that Yale accepts a higher percentage of deferred EA kids than RD kids. I didn't really do much except send a letter reiterating my interest in Yale and describing how it remained my first choice. I also wrote a completely new set of essays for my RD colleges. It sort of helps to move Yale to the back of your mind until Mid-March when the anxiety returns for all of the colleges once again.</p>