Fellow Deferrees:

Colleges and Universities A-Z Columbia University
1

<p>Anyone else choose to bum around the house today and grieve in solitude as opposed to going to school and facing the inevitable, "WERE YOU ACCPETED?!?!?!?!!" from everyone?</p>

<p>I cried for awhile and sat in my completely dark room under the blankets, but then after serious reflection, I decided that I refuse to take this as a rejection. Even though Columbia is still my number one, and I feel like I got a, "I just want to be friends..." after professing my undying love, I am not going to give up hope.</p>

<p>I now would like to ask for your advice (as well as those accepted ED and current students). Do you think it would be valuable to send in a little paragraph explaining how much acceptance to Columbia would mean to me? I know that was the function of the Why Columbia? response, and I really am not trying to push anyone's buttons, but I really feel that the admissions committee needs to understand how badly I want to go to Columbia as it has now become a major part of who I am as a person. I am not talking about a 20 page dissertation on the obvious assets of a Columbia education, but rather just a small paragraph expressing my heartfelt sentiment. And maybe a couple benjamins. ;) But do you guys think that is completely ridiculous? </p>

<p>Also, I couldn't help but look at the decisions thread and wow. Some of the deferred candidates were so darn qualified. It makes me feel honored to be among their ranks.</p>

<p>Oh, and one last thing: CONGRATS CLASS OF 2014!!! Everything you've ever wanted is finally coming true and I am so happy for you. As well as extremely envious. :)</p>

2

<p>I like how you excluded those that were rejected. I guess you don’t want my advice then!</p>

3

<p>Oh no, I’m so sorry. I would love to have your advice and everyone else who was rejected!</p>

<p>By the way, I was looking at a lot of the scores of those who were rejected and I was so surprised. A majority of those people were stellar applicants. You guys are amazing.</p>

4

<p>I went to school today and it actually went very well. People knew I was deferred and were really consoling. They said that if they had to put money on it they would’ve guessed that I’d get in and were annoyed that another student who had MUCH lower stats and disciplinary issues got in due to his fencing ability. All I can really do is keep up my great Senior year performance and retake my SAT II’s in January and hope for the best. Maybe I’ll enter an essay contest or something in order to improve my awards section. Does anyone know how much of an impact applying ED will have when they compare us to RD applicants?</p>

5

<p>When I was working on the app, I got the impression that Columbia doesn’t seem like the college that enjoys a lot of material. I even recall a line recommending us not to submit anything extra, right? So, idk, up to you I guess.</p>

<p>I’m still trying to figure out the percent of ED last year that got deferred, to get a better idea of where I stand… lol.</p>

6

<p>Good for you, Halfrican! I’m glad that your class was so sympathetic - I have a feeling mine wouldn’t be. Considering over half of the 350 or so kids in my graduating class will be attending a state university, they weren’t overly supportive of my branching out. </p>

<p>I think I’ll retake my SAT II’s in January as well. The only thing I’m worried about is my AP Calc BC grade! I got the lowest A possible first quarter and now I’m sitting on the fence again this quarter putting me in a bad position for the exam! Hopefully everything pans out though. :)</p>

7

<p>No one I know actually understands what ‘deferred’ even means. I have to explain it to everyone, and then they act like I’m BSing or something to avoid saying I got rejected. I went to school today, and everyone’s being pseudo-sympathetic. They act like they feel so bad for me, but it’s really clear that they’re enjoying the fact that I didn’t get in.</p>

<p>I don’t really know what to do but move on, finish my other apps, and hope for the best. Everything happens for a reason, I suppose, so there’s no option but to keep going. Whatever happens, happens.</p>

8

<p>I was also deferred, but I was only mildly dissappointed (I had already convinced myself I was going to be deferred, I didnt even think about being accepted or rejected). My good friend also applied and was rejected, which is difficult but now we have to move on and do all of our other applications. For those of you who have read Dante’s Inferno, I feel like Columbia is being an Opportunist (not choosing good or bad) and that i hope they are floating in that mist with wasps chasing after them until late march (if you havent read it then this just sounds insane).</p>

<p>I will tell you what I plan on doing about my defferal: </p>

<p>first I will MAIL them a handwritten letter not begging them to accept me but saying how excited I am that I was deferred (not rejected) and that Columbia is still my number one school and maybe mention something briefly about what I have been doing between submitting the application and now to make it less formal and get some of my personality in it. I will mail them one letter per month until I get their final decision. </p>

<p>I am also asking my college counselor to call Columbia just to reinforce how much I still want to go there and ask if there was anything missing from my app that they want to know, if they want me to re-test, etc. </p>

<p>I am also going to visit Columbia and sit in on classes and maybe stay overnight. </p>

<p>Halfrican: I hope it helps a lot, in the deferral letter the dean did mention that they take into account the fact that we committed to the school ED…</p>

9

<p>i got deferred as well.</p>

<p>@clevelc: that’s similar to what i plan on doing. however, do you think it matters if it’s a handwritten letter or an email? i also totally agree with your reference to dante’s inferno. that’s exactly what i thought of!</p>

10

<p>lol I thought of Dante’s inferno as well, but I was more thinking it in relation to that the deferral is like being put in college purgatory. :p</p>

11

<p>yeah I thought of purgatory too, basically anything inferno related haha, </p>

<p>@lw2014: I dont think the letter has to be handwritten, typed is fine, but I think it is important that it is mailed not emailed because they probably get so many emails and emails are more forgettable today (i have like thousands in my inbox just bequase I am too lazy to go through and delete them) than a letter. I know when I get mail it is kind of special and rare, if you want to email it I am sure that will work as well</p>

12

<p>First off, I want to say that I was accepted to the Columbia class of 2014. It was certainly an amazing surprise, but it was a surprise nonetheless. I was planning on a deferral and tried to prepare for it by speaking to my guidance counselor. He suggested not to send anything until late January or early February. This way, in addition to telling Columbia how you’re still devoted to them and would gladly attend if accepted, you can give them a list of accomplishments you’ve made in the past few months. It’s basically an update to your application. This seems like a good approach to me because it’s less like begging and more like appealing a decision: you’re giving new evidence for why you should be admitted, while restating the reason you’re a good fit for Columbia.</p>

<p>The other thing I knew it would be important to do is to look at and seriously consider other schools. I had already finalized my list of schools (Columbia, Brown, NYU, Johns Hopkins, Georgetown, Vassar, and Fordham) back in October, but what I started to do in the last month was begin to seriously entertain the possibility of attending some of these schools. Obviously we all want to write for the Spec, read the Bwog, and take LitHum, that’s why we applied ED. Columbia is like a dream for us. For me, it’s a dream that came true. For those of you who were deferred, it is, as the great poet Langston Hughes would say, a dream deferred. And the awful truth is that it may never be fulfilled. You may end up at another institution, and you should not fear that. Ultimately, you’ll end up somewhere that has the potential to provide you with an amazing college experience. So consider where else you’d love to go, where you think you’d be (almost) as happy as if you were in Columbia. </p>

<p>You really have to split your love: give some of it to Columbia, where you should certainly attend if you are admitted in RD, but also give some of it to another school or two where you can truly see yourself having a good college experience. All of us EDers had to hope for the best but prepare for the worst. To some extent, that’s true for you now. But ideally, instead of preparing for the worst, you could transform it into something good. If you define your self-worth or even your happiness based on whether or not you get into Columbia in April, you could be in a lot of trouble. Make sure you’re ready for new opportunities, even if Alma Mater is still number one on your list. In the end, even though some places are slightly better than others, who you are matters a lot more than where you go. That said, I’d love to see you in my classes next fall. </p>

<p>Best of luck to you all,
Peter, Columbia '14</p>

13

<p>@pwoods, thank you so much! Your advice is really sound and makes a lot of sense to me. Now I hope that I get into Columbia even more, since I would be attending classes with people as bright as you. :)</p>

14

<p>Thanks Peter for taking the time to give us advice and Congratulations on being accepted!
I am not worried about having to go to any of the other colleges on my list (we have quite a few in common), I am more worried about 1)having to do all of the other applications and 2)eventually having to pick from the schools I get into, which is why I applied ED because it could have relieved the pressure of choosing and it was my best shot at getting in (I heard Columbia holds it against you if you are a qualified applicant and you apply RD). </p>

<p>My counselor at my school told me to do nothing about being deferred and just move on (“Have you thought about Barnard?”). I met with a (really expensive and a friend of a family friend) outside of school counselor a while ago and she was the one who helped me decide to apply Early Decision to Columbia (i was going to apply early to Brown, Georgetown or Columbia, I just hadnt decided). I talked to her a couple of times after meeting her but I didnt meet with her again because she is insanely expensive. I emailed her that I was deferred and she called me (very enthuastic about me being deferred) and said she wanted to help me get in so she would help me until spring for free (I dont know why but after meeting her once she really likes me).
My plan above is exactly what she told me to do, so I am passing on my free expensive help to all of you, do with it what you will, or don’t do anything with it. I am sure hers isn’t the only plan that could help your chances of getting in.
now I must go do my other applications</p>

15

<p>I am surprised your counselor did not advise redoing essays. Having new/better essays for the new read can be key. Have her work on them with you.</p>

<p>And to the poster who suggests as letter explaining how Columbia is now a part of them, one word: DON’T. It will be seen as immature. Try the new essay approach.</p>

16

<p>do you guys know if we can call and ask why we were deferred?</p>

17

<p>We can revise our essays? I thought they only wanted updates on accomplishments, our midyear reports, and possibly new scores from SAT’s.</p>

18

<p>To the person who said that Columbia doesn’t like supplemental material:</p>

<p>I’m CC '13 and during my ED application I submitted an entire supplemental packet of pictures and material that showed the major things I did outside of schools from 8th grade until when I submitted my application. If you submit it then chances are they will read it.</p>