ED applicant => deferred into the RD pool. What went wrong, and what do I do?

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Miami - Florida
1

<p>Hey guys, I am pretty new around here as a member, but I have been a lurker for a while now, looking at most of the chance threads, Q&A's, etc., to see if I could find any bits of information that would help me chance my own chances at getting into my desired Universities.</p>

<p>Anyway, University of Miami is my top choice. I've been on campus before for multiple activities, my family consists of UM Hurricane football freaks, and on top of that, I hear their business and law schools are very good, which are two paths that I need to take in order to reach my desired profession of working in the front office for a professional sports team, or for the representation of a professional player, as a sports agent. Ever since Middle School, I have wanted to attend the University of Miami.</p>

<p>I got my ED application decision back today, and I saw that I was deferred into the RD pool. Obviously, I was not competitive enough to make the admissions officers give me a full yes to attend the institution, but there must have been some things they liked about my ED Common App if they keeping me in 'limbo', sort of speak. To be honest, I'd rather just have a flat out rejection, that way I can finish sending out other applications, and so I can give more consideration to my safety school (FIU). I really hate the feeling of false hope, and that is what being deferred seems like to me, just that. I surfed the web today, and saw that applicants who were differed decision from many different Universities, had a slim chance of getting accepted during the RD in April.</p>

<p>Here are my credentials:
-3.08 Unweighted GPA. However, I am in arguably the most competitive IB program and top public schools in my state, and have been taking tough classes ever since Freshman year. My primary/middle years education was also tough, considering they were precursors to the IB program as well (PYP and MYP programs). While the last bit of information wasn't exactly relevant, I am just giving you a background of my education. </p>

<ul>
<li><p>However, I have spoken to several admissions officers that have come to my school, and I have attended several seminars at UM, and during each of these instances, I was told that they'd look at my weighted GPA. Heck, even in their pamphlets, they base their undergraduate acceptance statistics on weighted GPA (which was an average of a 4.2). My weighted GPA is a 5.23. As far as I know, UM does not recalculate GPA like other schools do.</p></li>
<li><p>Class Rank: Top 18%/770 Students</p></li>
<li><p>My SAT is mediocre. 1800 overall, 570 in Math, 600 in Reading, 630 in Writing. I took the test only twice, and was planning on taking it a third time before the ED deadline, however, my counselor advised against it, since she thought that UM would average all 3 of my test scores in that case, which would end up hurting me. However, since she turned out to be wrong, and I am getting deferred anyway, I might as well take the SAT again and see if I can raise my Math score.</p></li>
<li><p>I have been a part of my school's varsity tennis team since freshman year. I placed decently at the districts, getting 2nd in my division (then again, who doesn't? Not trying to be snobby or anything, that is not my intention at all, but to my knowledge, nearly everyone walks out of a district competition with an award).</p></li>
<li><p>I am a part of my school's debate team.</p></li>
<li><p>I have over 100 hours of community service. However, they did not show up in my official transcripts (only 16 hrs did, if I recall correctly), since I did not have all of the appropriate letters/proofs for the various community service event supervisors at the time, in order to log all of it down, before the ED application went out.</p></li>
</ul>

<p>Just for reference, here have been the classes I have taken each year.</p>

<p>Freshman Year:
Algebra II- C
pre-IB Chemistry- C
(I struggled in both of these classes bad, I needed a tutor).
pre-IB English- A
AP Human Geography- A (3 on the exam)
AP World History- B (3 on the exam)
pre-IB French III- A</p>

<p>Sophomore Year:
AP European History- B (4 on the exam)
AP Lang- A (4 on the exam)
AP Environmental Science- B (2 on the exam...my teacher was too busy, working two jobs. She forgot to tell us/teach an entire essay, I don't think anyone in my class passed that exam).
French IV- C
Honors International Relations- A
IB Math Studies SL- B</p>

<p>Junior Year:
AP US History- A (4 on the exam)
AP/IB English Lit HL- B (3 on the AP exam)
IB Math Studies SL (year 2)- B (5 out of 7 on the IB exam)
Information technology in a global society (ITGS) HL- A
IB Biology SL- C. Another class I really struggled in, and my teacher could tell that I was trying really hard to do well. After not thinking I could pass the exam, I surprised myself by getting a 4 out of 7 on the IB Exam.
IB French V SL- A </p>

<p>Senior Year (based on 1 grading period so far):
Information technology in a global society (ITGS) HL- A
Theory of Knowledge (ToK)- A
Basketball Class- A
IB English Lit HL- A
IB French V SL- A
IB Contemporary History- B</p>

<p>The reason why I am practically posting everything is because I am trying to find the flaw in my application/transcript. I want to see where the Admissions Office saw the need to defer me instead of accept/rejecting me. This will also help you guys chance me in my current state, on my odds of getting into UM through the RD pool.</p>

<p>Any help I can get is greatly appreciated. I know I wrote a great essay, I revised it myself well over 10 times, and had other around me do the same (parents, teachers, etc.), and I had two LOR submitted from a former teacher, and my IB counselor (who is a UM alumni), so I don't think those two things are the problem.</p>

<p>Once again, any help is appreciated. Thank you soooo much, in advance. Is it even moderately realistic that I could get into UM through the RD pool, or am I just wasting my time on false hopes/dreams? Would I be better off preparing for my back up schools? From what I have read around the internet based on other deferred decisions, it sure looks that way.</p>

<p>Once again, thank you in advance for taking your time to read over/respond to this topic. Any help/suggestions would be greatly appreciated.</p>

2

<p>Perhaps you should try taking the ACT. Miami does superscore. I am not sure when the next test is, but as long as you can get results before final decisions, it could help. You might also have your counselor call the admissions office and see if there was anything they could share about your application. In a couple of months, maybe you could write an essay about how Miami would benefit from having you as a student there (not just why you want to go there, but what you would do while you are there). And last, possibly a recommendation letter that would share new insights about you. I don’t know what percent of deferred students Miami accepts, but it doesn’t hurt to give it all you’ve got. I would prepare for your back up schools, as college admissions are never a sure thing. Good luck to you.</p>

3

<p>I’m sorry to hear that. I’m also in the same boat and am glad someone else posted about this. I’m somewhat relieved because we actually have very similar credentials and EC’s. My GPA and SAT scores are a little higher, I have 4 years of varsity tennis along with being a captain and having a regional USTA ranking, various honors and AP courses, attend very competitive and nationally recognized private school, and have also strong leadership roles within my school. I’ve also played in the orchestra for my school for 9 years and lettered in Track my freshmen and sophomore years. My essays and recommendations were very strong and I attended every information session UM offered that I could get to. I feel the exact same way as you do about being deferred; it’s basically like they’re saying we have to wait until April to get rejected even though that completely defies the purpose of applying ED. So far from what I’ve heard and researched, our best bet is to contact the regional counselors for UM and find out specifically what they want to see improved. I do remember the reps saying that they use a holistic approach to application reviews and that they do recalculate certain GPAs if they feel it’s necessary. Other than that, even though I can’t speak for myself because I definitely did not take the news well, stay calm. Being deferred is the university’s way of telling you you’re close enough to admissibility that they want to give you more of a chance to prove your abilities. Best of luck and maybe we’ll both be there next fall!</p>

4

<p>The only reason I could see the officers deferring you is because if those C’s on your transcript. Other than that you have very good credentials and I don’t see why you would get deferred.</p>

5

<p>Ok, so I managed to get into contact with an admissions officer and here is what they told me:</p>

<p>My GPA is fine and it is definitely above what the average. However, my SAT isn’t where it needs to be. They received a lot of ED applicants who had the same high weighted GPA as I did, but they had a higher SAT score than I did. They told me that if I left my application the way it is (without taking the SAT again for the third time and improving, or taking the ACT and doing well on it), I would barely have a shot at getting accepted into the University during the April RD pool. So, I have to re-take the SAT and receive higher scores in order for me to get into UM.</p>

<p>@UMdeferred17 wow, that’s a crap load of EC’s you got there. I’m extremely surprised that an applicant like you got deferred from UM. I’m guessing re-taking the SAT or ACT could always help. UM has always been a competitive and selective school, judging by it’s acceptance rates, but this year, it seems to follow that trend even more so. At this point, all we can do is try to keep in contact with college admissions and remind them about anything new that we can add to our application (new scores, etc.) Good luck to you as well. I’d say you should contact the admissions office and see if your SAT scores were the problem, since that turned out to be my situation.</p>

<p>@dumbo11 thank you for the suggestion. I will take the ACT, along with re-taking the SAT. One of my friends did suggest that to me upon me telling her that I was deferred by UM. It can’t hurt to take both I guess. Some students to bad on the SAT, and do well on the ACT. Maybe that will end up being the case for me. It will definitely look good to have solid results for each test. I am prepared to go to my back up school, if I have to. It is definitely a lot more financially do-able for my family since they will probably accept a lot more of my credits (and on top of that, tuition is definitely lower at FIU than it is at UM lol), but right now, my heart is still set on going to UM. That’ll remain my #1 choice.</p>

<p>@Schuyl3rC thank you for the reply. Yeah, at first, I thought admissions officers would give me a problem based on the Cs on my transcript. Those never look to endearing to colleges. However, looks like I have to raise my SAT scores, based on what the admissions office told me over the phone.</p>

6

<p>haha yeah that’s why i was surprised. i figured the EC’s/ essays/ recs would get me in considering my GPA/SAT scores are on the lower end but still within range (not trying to sound cocky, i’m just still absorbing the deferral). I think you’re right about the test scores though. I kinda figured that if anything caused my deferral it was the scores. but it sounds like your rep thinks you have a good shot so that’s definitely better than nothing! did she happen to tell you if there’s a possibility of hearing back before april? I’ll be calling my rep tomorrow, if I hear any new info I’ll post it here.</p>

7

<p>She didn’t really say anything about how much better SAT scores would improve my chances, just that they’d improve them from where they are now, which is not exactly really good at all. </p>

<p>Your GPA isn’t on the lower end by any means, if mine was considered good. if anything, it may be the SAT. I’ll let you know if I find out anything else.</p>

<p>Yeah. The deferral has been pretty hard to deal with. Felt like **** the whole day. Still don’t know how to take it. Should I take it as “you were competitive enough to be given a second chance through the RD pool even though we didn’t give you the ED you applied for” or if I should take it as “slow rejection” as others have described deferral in such a way many times before.</p>

<p>I don’t want to be deferred if there is virtually no chance of me getting into UM. In that case, don’t make it look like false hope, and just go through with the rejection out right. However, I am hoping that the deferral has a more positive connotation behind it. If we did not get rejected outright, then something on our applications makes them want to keep us.</p>

<p>Wishful thinking from here on out.</p>

8

<p>Hi JKnick305 - hang in there as you are in the hunt and you have a big advantage over other RD applicants in that you have already declared your hand that Miami is your unreserved first choice. Yield is important to these places and knowing you are likely to accept, will help your case. </p>

<p>BTW, did they send you an email telling you of their decision or was it a FedEx or regular mail?</p>

9

<p>@AtticusFinch123 thank you for the reply. I saw the admissions decision online yesterday morning when I logged into my myMiami account on the UM website. The paper popped up in the middle of the screen, detailing my decision. I got a hard copy of the decision in the mail a couple minutes ago.</p>

10

<p>Hi UMdeferred17 - here’s my post to JKnick305 which also applies to you:</p>

<p>hang in there as you are in the hunt and you have a big advantage over other RD applicants in that you have already declared your hand that Miami is your unreserved first choice. Yield is important to these places and knowing you are likely to accept, will help your case. </p>

<p>BTW, did they send you an email telling you of their decision or was it a FedEx or regular mail?</p>

11

<p>my rep said the same thing- it was my scores. according to her I was admissible had my scores been about 50 points higher. she also told me that they’ll accept new test scores up to january 1st. i found out through my myUM account, too. does anyone happen to know how much the fact that we applied ED will weigh in while they’re reviewing the RD apps? In other words, do we definitely know that the committee that will be reviewing our applications in RD sees it as a deferred ED applicant, or does that status go away because they turned our applications into RD applications?</p>

12

<p>@UMdeferred17 so, since they are only accepting new test scores up to Jan 1st, I am guessing the December SAT was our last chance to take it to where the results would count for deferral to RD?</p>

13

<p>that’s what I took out of it. it doesn’t give people much leeway regarding scores but then again who knows what the RD pool will look like.</p>

14

<p>UMdeferred17- Can I ask what your SAT/ACT scores were?</p>

15

<p>620 math 580 cr. she specifically mentioned that the cr was my problem but I have extenuating circumstances regarding my scores which my counselor advised me not to disclose in the application. the target for UM is generally 1250-1350 according to the admissions reps</p>

16

<p>ok thank you</p>

17

<p>What were student’s stats that got in ED? My son applied early action.</p>

18

<p>Looks like I will not have the option to re-take the SAT. The UM admissions officer in my county said that the Jan. 26 SAT exam will not count, since it was past the Jan. 1st new scores deadline.</p>

<p>So, chances are not looking good for me and UM right now. The only thing I can do is send my midyear report when I get it and hope for the best…not looking good at all right now. So disappointing. Time to complete my FIU Honors college application (since I got in to that school’s normal program already as my back up school), and possibly look into UF/FSU for their regular decision applications. Might as well…</p>

19

<p>I’m worried about getting accepted through early action. I have a 1280 (M: 710 CR:570). Since the range is 1250-1350, does this mean that my SAT score won’t really help or hurt me?</p>

20

<p>@rightofway: they didn’t tell me, they only told me the scores from last year. I assume that this year is definitely more competitive than previous years but they haven’t really released any information about this years applicants.</p>

<p>@JKnick305: again, if they didn’t think you were qualified they would’ve rejected you. stay positive :)</p>

<p>@DRey24: overall your combined score is in range so I don’t think your CR will hurt you too badly, as long as your overall credentials are strong. they tend to have a larger variety of applicants in the EA pool so anything is possible.</p>