<p>Alright so I've been deferred. sad parts over. my mom got me four DELICIOUS chocolate covered pretzels from the local candy shop, and I'm all better. now is the part where I get accepted regular decision.</p>
<p>Basically, I posted those a few days ago. I knew I would most likely get deferred. My question is, how can I get that big white envelope I want so desperately?</p>
<p>Here's what I'm planning on doing right now:
-Sending in another recommendation from a teacher I've known a long time who is my favorite teacher ever (I would have had her write my original recommendation, but the timing was off)
-Reporting some of my new stats (at the bottom of my previous post)
-contacting admissions, asking about my application and what i should do to improve it
-continue with the 4.1+ GPA (which is .3 higher than my previous GPA)
-......???</p>
<p>i need your help. I'll prob post this in a couple more places, but I want the advice of people who have been accepted or know this college. I know I am boarderline if that. But Pomona IS known for having a very holistic approach towards their applications, so I want to know what I should do to increase my chances of acceptance.</p>
<p>PLEASE RESPOND</p>
<p>THANKS AND CONGRATS TO ALL WHO HAVE BEEN ACCEPTED!!!</p>
<p>Dear ilko7,
I am sorry you were deferred; however, your stats and accomplishments look good. You will no doubt get accepted at a school that meets and maybe even exceeds your expectations. The deferral is not a rejection. I strongly recommend that you look at the past year's posts and even search "deferred" to see what previous students did.
You will find some very helpful suggestions from accepted students and parents. You will also be able to see what previously deferred students felt, and the actions that they decided to take. </p>
<p>I will temper my next suggestion by telling you that my eldest son was waitlisted at his top school, regrouped and transferred the next year. The key to his success was immersing himself in the positive aspects of the school he was attending so when he presented his next application, he could feel creative, and excited about learning, rather than desperate. </p>
<p>Knowing you have a safety where you can really thrive is a key right now so you can relax and let your amazing, wonderful, self shine through. Ask your parent, you're the same great kid you were yesterday, right? </p>
<p>It's possible that Pomona College just decided that with so many great kids applying, they wanted to take a little more time to savor your application and get to know you better. I'm sure you'll find ways to help them discover more about you through suggestions from previous posts here, your school counselor, and your parents.</p>
<p>thanks so much for the advice pianomom. thankfully, I have found a safety (not a guaranteed safety however) that I do see myself happy at: Skidmore College.
Granted admissions has become much more competitive this year so anything can go, but I had a great interview (the admissions officer loved me and she was so sweet, she said I have a great positive air about me and that she'd love to see me at Skidmore), and I think I have a high chance of getting admitted.</p>
<p>I also love my schools at number 2, Carleton and Haverford, both of which I had great interviews at so hopefully I will have a shot getting into those places</p>
<p>I think your ideas about contacting admissions about what you can do to improve and sending the extra letter are great ideas. Pomona really loves students who will take this extra step and often expresses this. Your continuing upward trend in GPA will also be a huge help. I'm very impressed by your positive attitude about the deferral- it's certainly not the end!</p>
<p>Also, do you have any interest in playing sports at Pomona? You actually appear to have a very similar transcript as I had last year for Pomona-- I was also a field hockey/lacrosse player. If you haven't done so yet, talking to a coach (lacrosse, since field hockey is just club) can be a HUGE help in the admissions process even if you aren't positive about playing here. If you have been in contact with the coach, STAY IN CONTACT! This can really help bump your chances up for the spring admissions.</p>
<p>knr802- thanks a lot... i would contact the coach for lax, except last year i sat on the bench the whole year lol. it wasn't a big deal, i know i'm not horrible, we just had five returning varsity forwards. i'm much better at field hockey, i played the whole game every game and was the lead scorer. my mom actually made a little thing with all of my newspaper clippings from the year- would that be worth sending in? (i know that's dorky, but that's my mommy and i love her for it- didn't you read about the chocolate pretzels? lol) if i went to pomona i'd absolutely want to play either lax, club field hockey, or club rugby. would it be a good idea to tell them that?</p>
<p>and bethievt- i LOVE saratoga springs, one of the best college towns i've seen, so that is definitely a plus!</p>
<p>ilk07 - ditto what knr802 said. Our son had very similar stats but is a recruited athlete. The coach is one more person who can add another dimension to your application file.
It sounds like you have a wonderful mom. She might need to split one of those pretzels with you today.</p>
<p>It's interesting you say that-- I actually play club rugby as well.
As for your not having played much last year in lacrosse- the team is actually very new (we even have a couple players each year who have never picked up sticks before college) and we have a new coach this year so while we're looking to turn things around.. really anyone is welcome and recruitable. West coast lacrosse is very different form east coast lacrosse so while you may not have had much playing time back east, it could be different here. You should definitely, if nothing else, send over an email.</p>
<p>As for field hockey and rugby, unfortunately neither of those will help you out much. Field hockey is a student run club that really from what I hear nobody shows up to (which is a shame- I love field hockey and would absolutely be playing it)
Rugby, while being a much more competitive club sport and even with a volunteer coach, really won't be able to help you out so much either.</p>
<p>If you have any questions at all about any of these sports or about coaches, definitely feel free to send me over a message.</p>
<p>Ilk, I feel for you...I got a deferral yesterday in the mail. How disappointing! We still have hope, though. :) At least they didn't chuck our applications out the window!</p>
<p>i'm sorry catsushi that does suck... at least you're positive too! i've been doing a lot of research this weekend, and i think pomona is one of those few schools that really does just consider you with the regular decision and doesnt automatically reject you, so i really think we both have a chance. my academic stuff is obvs not the best but i'm hoping that they can look past that. i was just looking at some of your stats (but i SWEAR i'm not a creeper! lol) and you still look like a good candidate so don't lose hope! as they say in swahili and, more importantly, in the lion king, hakuna matata!</p>
<p>knr802- thanks for telling me that, i'll definitely contact the coach now, because i DO love lax and it would be amazing to play in college. do you play with the lacrosse team?</p>
<p>ilk07-- Yes, I do play for the team. I'm a freshman so I have only experienced the fall (prep) season, but the coach is great and very enthusiastic -- I'm sure she would love to hear from anyone possibly interested. </p>