<p>I applied early decision and was deferred. Do these sound like good ideas to show them I’m still interested? I was going to call and ask why I was deferred. I know some other people who’ve done this and other people who say it’s a bad idea. Has anyone done this? Also, I got a job, raised my GPA up to a 3.83 (so far) compared to last quarter (3.1), was named captain of my lacrosse team and just wanted to write them a hand written letter as an update. Lastly, I’ve been learning German very intensively for the last year with my aunt and I’m now fluent in it. I put this on my application but there’s no indication whether or not I’m just lying or not meaning I didn’t take any SAT IIs for German. I don’t really have any time to study and take another SAT so I was thinking of writing a letter in German to a German professor at BU just saying that BU is still my top choice and basically explaining that I feel like I need to prove I’m not lying, although, this doesn’t really seem like a great idea because I don’t know how anything like that would make its way to admissions…any ideas on that? If anyone else knows what to do could you help? THANKS!!!</p>
<p>My friend was deferred from a college, and got a lot of information of why she was deferred when she called in. It turned out that the college had the wrong SAT scores, which was the whole reason she was deferred. So, I don’t think it could hurt that much to just call. You never know.</p>
<p>I think it is a good idea to fill in the admissions department on significant accomplishments, but a hand written letter to a professor is very unlikely to make it in to your application file! You are making work for the professor who might not even know where the admissions department is or what to do with such a letter. (Usually professors are very far removed from admissions. They focus on the students already attending.) He or she could be on sabbatical. You could get lucky, but you are much better off submitting a brief (brief!) and polite email to the admissions department. You don’t need to prove that you learned German. I think they will take it on good faith that you studied it. Is there a specific admissions counselor assigned to your region? Maybe send the email to that person as well.</p>
<p>As a senior at SMG I wouldn’t fret too much about not being accepted to BU. Look onward and consider other schools.</p>
<p>Dd got deferred and then accepted. I think the secret was that she wrote a letter reiterating that bu remained her top choice, and she was looking forward to their decision. She gave specific information regarding how she chose bu which demonstrated serious interest. she sent in an additional recommendation from her main extracurricular advisor. </p>
<p>I think that many people don’t bother, and these steps made her stand out. Good luck!</p>
<p>How long do you think the letter should be? Like a page?</p>
<p>I would think less than a page. Maybe a few sentences. It is a big school, and the admissions counselors have a lot of applications to go through. I would make it really to-the-point. If you sent your midyear grades, you don’t need to go in to great detail about that, perhaps just mention it. I would think email would be the most efficient way to get it to them. I would send more than one note, but not too close on the heels of the previous.</p>
<p>Last year my son was waitlisted at another school (he almost went to BU; I am a BU grad and also former professor at yet another university) and as soon as he heard, he submitted extra information to his admissions counselor every few days for the month of April between when the decisions came out and when people had to submit deposits on May 1. He sent in an enthusiastic note saying he would go this school for sure if accepted, then he sent an update on an new job he got, he asked a teacher/coach who he worked for as a youth sports assistant to send an email, and then he sent an update on an award he got. He had his school send his 3rd quarter grades. He tried not to be a pest, but at the same time he kept letting her know he was definitely interested. I think your situation is less dire. But, perhaps you could consider that strategy – sending something every once in a while – as long as it is somewhat significant. It might help to keep you on their radar. (If financial aid amount is an issue, you might not want to say you will go to BU “no matter what”. What if your fin aid award is not big enough?) My son did end up getting in to this school, and he heard very shortly after May 1.</p>
<p>GOOD LUCK!! I am sure everything will work out regardless of where you end up. Always look for the silver lining.</p>
<p>Dd’s letter was one carefully crafted page…perhaps 3 paragraphs. It was extremely specific…not only did she talk about herself, but species she had read in BU Today, the Boston Globe, etc. It was not an email, but a formal letter. I guess to each his own…to me, one well crafted letter will really stand out.</p>
<p>Some schools track the number of times you contact them. They do this because schools would rather admit people who really want to come as it improves their yield. This is why multiple notes (contacts) can be advantageous. I don’t know if BU is one of those schools or not. But with that said, I think my son’s waitlist situation was different. I still think short and to the point is better. Admissions people have a lot to read. </p>
<p>(what new information about your daughter did citing those publications provide besides “I really want to come.” ?)</p>
<p>That’s interesting, LBowie - I never thought of that! I was simply reacting as a business owner, who would be irritated by repeat short emails. Wish I had a mole in admissions to ask. </p>
<p>I think it was something like
-Received your letter of deferral. Want you to know that BU is still my top choice and I am looking forward to hearing from you. Attached is a copy of my mid year grades, which you may note continue to echo a strong upward trend. I have also attached my newest SAT scores, which were recorded after the EA deadline, and again demonstrate a strong upward trend.
- I noted in reading BU today that you are starting a new program in x. I am excited about the possibility of participating in that because of y and z.<br>
- I have included a recommendation (attached) from (Alyssa) regarding my participation in the EC program to tutor kids with 2nd language needs. Last year, I began working 2 hours a week in this program, and felt it was so critical that in September I increased my commitment to 4 hours a week until June. (indicating that she didn’t do it to get in.)<br>
- I have been excited about attending BU since I first visited in 2009 (indicating long term interest, especially as we live on the opposite coast) and remain enthusiastic about joining your community. </p>
<p>The thing that was puzzling to us on the initial application (taking into account that this was 2 years ago) was that the Common App had no way of allowing recs from non-school personnel. Her recs reflected a required recommendation from her counselor (who knew her quite well, but is responsible for 700 students) and two teachers (who she also had a strong relationship with - but only as one of 175 students per day). In contrast, her EC recommendation came from someone who has perhaps 10 students per week assisting her as well as perhaps 10 adults). It stands to reason that this recommendation would be more meaningful and “depthy.” If Common App has the same policies when our 2nd daughter comes through, we will start by sending additional recommendations at the beginning. I know that the most common advice is “don’t send anything that we don’t request” but that advice pre-dated the current Common App methodology, which effectively eliminates comments from anyone outside the school setting. Hopefully, this will be, or has been, modified in the interest of getting the best window into applicants.</p>
<p>shoot4moon – great details. Thanks for posting the letter contents. I guess we will never know if one approach is better than another. I also thought the multiple email approach would be annoying, but a friend who was also waitlisted 2 years prior (and his mother) coached us to do this. The friend actually emailed every single day for the entire month after getting the waitlist decision! He wrote a generic email to the generic admissions department address saying he would come for sure and he really wanted to come (not at BU, another school). I thought it was overkill, and was a little afraid that would be annoying, so my son wrote maybe 5 times over the course of the month (plus made one in-person visit). Both of these boys were taken off the waitlist very shortly after May 1.</p>
<p>I guess we will never really know if there is an approach that works best, and obviously our kids have had success with both. It also probably varies between universities, whether they actually count contacts from the student or not.</p>