<p>Hey! Hope everyone's holiday season is going well! I wrote this article for the Huffington Post after I found out about my deferral from my number one school. You don't have to read it obviously, but if you were rejected or deferred I think it articulates what you maybe feeling. If you were accepted, Congrats!!!! :) Anyways, enjoy the rest of your break!
Sherin</a> Nassar: The Deferral</p>
<p>my number one school was Duke btw</p>
<p>There is something truly wrong if you and other students are working solely to get into one school in the world or the very few schools that have very low acceptance rates. Just by definition, the vast majority of you are going to be rejected. Most everyone who applies to school like Yale is qualifed to go there. So most of those rejected are still top flight students and the work they have done is going to prepare them well at any number of colleges. Just maybe not Yale. Your highschool and your labors were not to funnel you into Yale. They were to prepare you for college, work and life. There are about 3000 colleges in the US and only a handful are so selective that they won’t take you. Hopefully, you look at things differently than your essay indicates.</p>
<p>I appreciate your comment. My essay indicated nothing but being dissapointed. I’ve moved on and as I say in the last paragraph I know that the only factor my future hinges on is myself. My work and labors was not to get into one school, but there was a school I felt was the perfect fit. Everyone has a dream and that was mine. But, it’s okay, because I have gotten back up and be excited about my future. But, the outlook of my essay is one that many students are currently feeling and it’s intention was to inspire others in similar situations. Not sure why you mention Yale, since I didn’t even apply there.</p>
<p>Your article to the Huffington Post was beautiful and will help so many other bright and worthy students get through this horrible time. My husband and I went to Duke and our oldest son is there now. I recommend that you send your article into admissions. Getting published in the Huffington Post seems like quite an addition to your application. Your letter is heartfelt, thoughtful and honest. Duke admissions is actually a wonderful admissions office. I would hope and bet that they would receive your letter well. You might write a letter with it that augments your article and highlights your continued love for the school and deepest desire to go there. Show them your resilient side. Also, of course, send them updates of how your senior year is going. As an independent college counselor, I’ve supported three students’ getting into Duke from the wait-list or deferral list by encouraging them to send more of their honest truth into the school, and it worked! The odds aren’t great, so definitely get excited about your other schools, but there’s still light at the end of the tunnel for you and Duke, and there’s lots of blinding light at the end of the tunnel for you in general. Also I have to remind you of this. The absolute worst thing about a deferral or rejection EA or ED is that you have to sit with it until late March! It’s torture. There’s a great chance that this time next year you will be at another school completely in love with it and floored and horrified that you might have missed it had you gotten into Duke. There’s also a chance that you will be on Duke’s East Campus, and this moment will be long forgotten. Can you share your other schools with us? PS Our middle son goes to a different school-- bet you can’t guess where-- and it’s perfect for him. We used to think that Duke was the only way, now we see there are lots of ways to do it right! Thank you for your wonderful post. I’m sending it all my students who got deferred or rejected right now.</p>
<p>Thank you so much! I truly appreciate it! Would you recommend I email my regional admissions officer with the link and updates of my senior year? Or should I write a letter specifically to Duke Admissions? I’m apply to a bunch of schools since I’m extremely indecisive but a few of them are Northwestern, Vanderbilt, Rice, Cornell, William and Mary, George Washington University, and Emory among some others. Duke has been my dream school for forever. The deferral hurt, but I wanted to help others get through the same situation I was put in. I hope that I will end up at Duke, but if not, I’m not going to let it stop me from achieveing my dreams. I know Duke would not want that and I don’t want that. Thank you so much again! :)</p>
<p>Hi Sherin55, I think contacting your regional admissions officer is the best bet. If it were my son, I’d have him email and also send the letter as a hard copy for the application file-- then again I’m neurotic, and I bet email alone is sufficient. Here’s a useful article from 2010 in which Christoph Guttentag, Duke’s head of admissions gives advice to deferred students. You can’t get better advice about being deferred at Duke from anyone else-- he is the horse’s mouth. [You</a> Got Deferred. Now What? - NYTimes.com](<a href=“http://thechoice.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/02/09/defer/]You”>You Got Deferred. Now What? - The New York Times) He says to write a letter in late February re-iterating your greatest desire to go to the school (if it’s still true.) Include any updates that you feel strengthen your application or of which you are proud. Don’t send too much-- send relevant new info-- your new grades, any new awards or accomplishments. Don’t be negative or bitter or depressed, he says. I know your article expresses your initial sadness, but that’s human. Use it as a jumping off place to write a positive new update in February that shows your resilience and positive spirit, while still showing your pointed interest in Duke. Don’t send the link now. Send it all in one correspondance in mid to late February. You might say you were so proud to get published in the Huffington Post and you hope you helped others in your shoes. Don’t dwell on those same emotions that you expressed in the article, don’t mention them, just be very upbeat in your new letter. Say that you are having a great senior year-- if you are-- and that you wanted to strengthen your application because Duke is still your dream school. Only write them once. Also see if your high school counselor will send a nice short little update about you with your mid year grades. Also, if you have another teacher rec from a senior year teacher who can toot your horn, send that in too. It’s hard to get in if you are deferred. Be respectful and very careful in what you send in, but you have nothing to lose. In my experience, the squeaky wheel gets oiled. All the kids I know (3) who got in from Deferral/waitlist made a strong case for themselves in an appropriate, dignified, humble, way-- show your personality-- don’t be too formal. 
I wish you the best of luck!!!</p>
<p>thank you!!! I hope they don’t take the post the wrong way, but I think I’m sending it in!</p>
<p>Send it. If any school cannot appreciate the rolling emotions of college admissions, and if they cannot accept or have lost site of the fact that their wonderful marketing brochures, sexy info sessions, world class research, cozy basketball games on TV, and magnificent campuses, actually do make 16 and 17 year olds fall in love, then you DO NOT WANT TO GO THERE. Don’t be a dog wagged by the tail (is that the expression.) Be brave and take a risk. I bet you that lots of the other deferred students out there wish they could submit a personal publication from a national media outlet. 
Happy New Year</p>
<p>I don’t think it’s a good idea to send that article as it could be interpreted in several different ways, negatively among them. </p>
<p>They could interpret it as a gimmick to try to get in and thus label you as trying too hard. The admissions committee consists of several different people. All it takes is for one person to find a flaw and sway the rest of the committee’s opinions. For example, this sentence: “But in the end, what I don’t understand and what leaves an ugly feeling in the bellows of my stomach is this: How could you not want me when I wanted you so much?” could easily be passed as arrogance, although it may not be what you intended. </p>
<p>I personally like your article and I think it sends a positive message to others in your positions but the myriad of ways the adcom could interpret it just isn’t worth the risk.</p>
<p>Here’s a helpful article on what you can do as a deferred applicant to mostly not increase your chances of being dinged. You’ll notice the section in which Guttentag weighs in: </p>
<p>[You</a> Got Deferred. Now What? - NYTimes.com](<a href=“http://thechoice.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/02/09/defer/]You”>You Got Deferred. Now What? - The New York Times)</p>
<p>HauteStandard, that’s the same article that I linked. I still say that the Duke I know won’t penalize a 17 year old for having an ugly feeling in the bellows of her stomach for having been deferred. (However, it doesn’t mean it will necessarily get her in, unfortunately, either.) Colleges want authentic kids. The only way to play this game is NOT TO PLAY a game. Honesty and resilience are two very sought after qualities. I think the part of her article about having worked so hard in high school for a goal is insightful and powerful. (I’d let her into my college if I had one! I’d bet this young lady is going to have a higher GPA where ever she goes than lots of kids who got in ED.)
Plus being published in the Huffington Post is quite cool. I vote to take the risk. Happy New Year!!!</p>
<p>Woops, didn’t see that!! Thanks DartDart. It’s definitely something sherin55 should seriously think about (if she hasn’t already emailed). Who knows, it may work in her favor. I seriously hope it does. I also hope she comes back to see this thread.</p>
<p>Happy New Year!</p>
<p>Hi, I realize that this post is two years old but I just found out that I have been deferred from Duke ED as well, and I really appreciate your article’s articulation of everything I am thinking and feeling. I hope that you ended up at a place you now love! Thanks again for this article. I needed it. </p>