<p>Three years ago this month S1 was deferred from his ED school, Dartmouth. Then he was deferred from MIT ED. He was disappointed, but not terribly upset. In March he received a huge surprise in the mailbox; MIT accepted him! He suddenly realized that if he’d be accepted by Dartmouth in the first round, he’d never have known that MIT was an option. He always dreamed of MIT, but never believed he had a chance. </p>
<p>Sometimes deferrals and rejections are blessings in disguise. He loves MIT. He thinks it’s the center of the universe. Good luck applicants and parents. Focus on the moments of joy this application season. The bad moments fade quickly when the big envelope finally arrives ; )</p>
<p>dreamer88 – D was deferred at MIT today and it’s been sort of gray around here. Thanks for the reminder that this can lead all sort of wonderful places (and that it may not be over with MIT)</p>
<p>I’m sorry my3girls. Been there. Actually, S1 says MIT defers then admits more than most schools. Your D has a good chance. </p>
<p>FYI - My son sent a letter confirming his love for MIT and a bullet point list of a few things he did since he first applied. He also took the SAT again and brought up his verbal score a little bit. Nothing earth shattering, trust me. I don’t know if any of these actions affected the outcome, but it made him feel like he gave it his best shot. Good luck! As the mom of a happy junior, I can tell you that MIT is worth the stress.</p>
<p>DD got deferred form her ED. I did not know if I wanted to do a happy dance (I know there are better schools for her :)) or show disappointment. To my huge surprise, she was very calm about her thin envelope. I thought there would be tears and suffering. A huge help came in the form of two(!!) acceptances from her safeties by e-mail this morning. D laughed that if she does not get into any other schools (oh, she WILL!), she’d be the biggest jock at her “hippie” safety! She is really relieved that she does not have to go to the big state research U!</p>
<p>Now, where the heck is my UPS package?! :mad: Oh, I checked the tracking number - the delivery is deferred until Monday! Grrrrr!</p>
<p>Wow, glad to see I am not the only one who can’t sleep! Son got deffered from ed school, but got into two other schools who have offered large merit awards. Very wierd feeling right now. I know it will work out, but feel bad for son.</p>
<p>Safeties came in with merit for my D also just before her EA decision. Even though the EA verdict was good, we have a very warm spot in our hearts for the public University safety schools that showed her the love with such good timing. That is the best advice out there – when building the college list start with the safeties and don’t stint. At least two or three and take note of their decision schedules. My D seems determined to see this through to the end. Has a few more college and scholarship apps to get out before the end of the year. Her EA is definitely a dream option but this whole endeavour has taken so many years of hard work, she wants to look at all options before deciding. Good luck to all.</p>
<p>S got acceptance from one of his safety schools. He was actually over the ED deferral when the mail came in, but he was beaming when he received the acceptance. </p>
<p>Yes, the initial 24 hours or so from receiving the disappointing ED/EA deferral/rejection news can be heart wrenching for both the kids and parents. I’ve gotten some wonderful private messages from parents on this board which have been quite helpful. S is actually finishing up another application; he had been undecided about applying to this school, but based on other parents’ suggestions, he will apply.</p>
<p>Two days later, I am very much at peace with his ED deferral decision; somehow, I know it will all work out for the best.</p>
<p>It’s good to hear that there is still hope for deferred students. S was deferred at MIT. Ironically, he was at the MIT pool for a big swim meet when he found out. He somehow managed to swim a personal best time even after the bad news.
He was accepted EA at WPI.</p>
<p>Our D was deffered ED from UVa 2 years ago and was very surprised and disappointed. She then applied to several other schools including W & M. Turns out that UVa was missing her SAT scores and she was admitted regular decision as well as admitted to all of the other schools.</p>
<p>In the end, she choose to attend W & M and is very thankful that she was deffered, thus releasing her from the binding ED!</p>
<p>My son was deferred from MIT and eventually rejected, but we might never have discovered what a cool place Carnegie Mellon’s School of Computer Science is if he hadn’t been rejected. Last year I figured a deferred student at MIT had a 1 in 4 chance of being accepted in the regular round, probably a bit higher if you’re female.</p>
<p>An ED deferral is a disappointment but it provides the opportunity to reassess and perhaps open their minds to other options/opportunities to consider other schools. Within 24 hours, D2 had visited her GC and tweaked her list of colleges…which we discussed and, frankly, everyone is happier and more comfortable with. It’s a great feeling that she has taken charge of her future. As we learned with D1, at the end of the day, they will be where they were intended to be. Good luck to all…</p>
<p>One of DS’s good friends got into a couple of EAs and ultimately, his top choices RD. Between the time he sent in his apps to the big name schools (and heard nothing more from them until decision time), the state flagship was recruiting him, inviting him for visits to labs and courses, and showing him love all through the dead zone of Jan. 1–April 1. By the time April rolled around, he took the flagship with a full ride and hasn’t looked back since.</p>
<p>Never would have expected this – he turned down the school he’d wanted to attend since he was five years old.</p>
<p>A lot can happen between now and April – new doors open, kids change, opportunities present themselves. I also agree with folks who suggest sending an update of recent activities/another essay/some way to show love to the deferred school. You never know what will make the difference.</p>
<p>Twins. One in at UVM EA which is one of his top 5 choices so he’s very happy and we are too, he’s still waiting to hear from his other 3 EA’s and also has 6 RD apps out. Twin D STILL (did I mention still?) waiting to hear from Georgetown, which seems firmly buried in the year 1964, although they did manage to send emails to the international students as I know someone else mentioned. Pretty ridiculous that students from Brazil, and Switzerland, and Japan know they’re in or deferred but kids on the east coast don’t know yet. Dumb. Dumb. Dumb.</p>
<p>We are still waiting to hear from Vassar ED, but I have a feeling from a conversation I had with the FAid office last week that my son was NOT accepted. I was very upset when no news came yesterday, but after reflection, I realize that my son will end up at a place that really values who he is, whether it is Vassar or his EDII choice, Conn College, or some place else. </p>
<p>It is not surprising that these decisions are killing us, because to be honest, most kids who are accomplished enough to apply to schools like these have very involved and caring parents. </p>
<p>archermom - I agree with you 100%. S really liked his ED school so much, that while he carefully put together his RD list, he sort of put them aside. He spent most of the day going through his “college bin” of viewbooks and looking through them. Also, he decided to apply to one more school and app was submitted less than an hour ago. I’ve never seen him complete a supplement and essays so fast - and yet it was good. His GC will probably scramble tomorrow (assuming it’s not a snow day) to make sure all the recs go out on time.</p>
<p>adigal - Hang in there. We visited Conn a couple of weeks ago, and my S also applied RD.</p>
<p>Your kids sound wonderful–flexible, resilient, open-minded, focused. I am saying prayers (not very good at them, but still) for each one of them, and mine too of course!, that the right fit is found whether that be at the original first choice or somewhere else.</p>
<p>My daughter just opened her Stanford letter now–she was waiting (with two of her friends) until after the Nutcracker–she is thrilled with being deferred! She was almost done with her last three applications (all schools in her personal top 5) and now at least she can do them with her ego fairly intact. Very few kids from her school have been admitted so far (only athletes), and some of the really smart ones were rejected.</p>
<p>Mountains,
Although it is difficult to see our children go through the ups and downs of college admissions, it is also amazing to see them bounce back so quickly. The ED deferral letter arrived late Thursday afternoon. By the time she came home on Friday, D2 had met the GC, replaced 2 schools on her list with others, and informed the 2 teachers who wrote her recs. She even went out to celebrate with friends who had received positive EDs! Now she is busy studying for final exams. There is definitely hope!</p>
<p>Patient: I can’t believe we are both back for round 2! I am keeping my fingers crossed for all of us!</p>
<p>It is Monday morning and after the initial shock of deferral set in, the weekend went much better. We found another school to apply to that we had over looked and the two schools s already got in to are now looking much more appealing. In fact, one is right around the corner from his grandmother and she told him she would do his laundry if he went there. What was a huge disappointment may in fact have been a blessing. The other college has invited our whole family for a weekend because he won a prestigious scholarship. May we all look at the good that rejections sometimes bring. God Bless to all this time of year.</p>
As we learned with D1, at the end of the day, they will be where they were intended to be. Good luck to all…</p>