<p>What is the BEST ADVICE that you could give a student who has been waitlisted ED?</p>
<p>Find something “magical” about every school on the applicant’s list. Assuming that you have taken good CC advice and already done other apps and already have a safety to love.</p>
<p>Waitlist SUCKS. I also think deferrals SUCK. Just a yes or no would be better. </p>
<p>DD got deferred ED and I think it made it worse having that slim hope until the final rejection end. Also made it harder to accept the accepts with wholehearted JOY.</p>
<p>However … have to say she LOVES where she ended up… so also have faith that it will come to a happy ending. And promote that faith…</p>
<p>I didnt know they have a waitlist for ED, terrygreg. I thought it was just admit, defer or deny. Do you mean the student was deferred to regular admission? The best advice is to get out those other applications ASAP and love thy safety!</p>
<p>Technically, you’re in deferral hell. Waitlist hell comes up in the spring.</p>
<p>I think the best advice at this point is to assume that you will not be admitted to your ED school in the RD round and ask whether you are satisfied with the list of other schools that you have already applied to. If not, get going on some additional applications right now and make sure that your guidance counselor knows that you’re doing it. You may need to hustle to meet your high school’s deadlines for submitting requests for transcripts and recommendations.</p>
<p>Forget about that particular school. Find a safety school and match school that you can see yourself attending and apply now.</p>
<p>Use the deferral as inspiration to work harder on the other applications. Take a second look at the essays and tweak them. Consider whether you have any additional information you want to add. (Mathson had considered getting a couple of outside recommendations, and the deferrals were a wake up call that he needed them.) In our case both schools Mathson was deferred from welcomed additional information. However ultimately he was rejected from both the schools that deferred him, so be sure to find other schools you like. Our son ended up at a school that is just about perfect for him, despite those rejections, so there may yet be a happy ending.</p>
<p>To emotionally move on, if you get in great, but put youself fully into the other apps.</p>
<p>Yes, I meant deferral hell 
But, waiting nonetheless.</p>
<p>Deferral hell can become waitlist hell in the spring! Nothing like prolonging agony. I reiterate what I and others have said above-- the studnet shoul get to work on other applications in earnest and be sure he/she has a safety or two that are schools they’d want to attend. LEss focus on what might have been, and more focus on what can be. Good luck</p>
<p>My son had his other apps done in case he was denied, but this deferral/waitlist thing is like emotionally hanging on by your fingernails, you’re not here nor there. I’m going to have him send the other school apps out soon (probably tweak them a bit, since he didn’t exactly put his heart and soul into them) but what should he do about the school that deferred him? Some of the other posts suggest sending out an updated activity sheet or another letter of recommendation - is this worthwhile or just postponing the inevitable?</p>
<p>In the vast majority of cases the deferred will not get in. There is also a range of reasons why a kid is deferred. Some colleges never outright reject kids from certain high schools, legacies, connected kids, etc. It’s just a polite rejection.</p>
<p>Kid’s I’ve seen get in after being deferred usually have had had strong stats for the school and something happen between ED and RD like receiving a major honor. A girl from my DS’s school got into Yale last year after scoring a part in a movie. I’ve also seen sudden large donations make things happen.</p>
<p>It’s wise for a deferred student to take an honest look at chances. If they have a low stat they were hoping would be overlooked or sub par ECs, chances are pretty poor.</p>
<p>Some deferreds get in; most do not. Agree with above posters who say the best thing to do is to move on emotionally. Send in any updated honors and awards when you send in the mid-year report. If you can make it through the RD round, great.</p>
<p>D went through deferral hell and waitlist hell last year. Was eventually rejected at first choice school (the deferral), and the waitlist school she most wanted to attend never took a single person off the waitlist (and she campaigned vigorously to get off the waitlist). So she went to her safety with a good merit scholarship, and absolutely loves it. She said to me the other day, “Mom, the admissions people DO know best”. So take the time to look for a safety or two that interests you - - they are out there, we had never heard of her safety before spotting it in the Fiske book.</p>
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<p>Then why not put the poor kids out of their misery SOONER! I think it would be psychologically terrible to go through waitlist hell.</p>
<p>Esobay had great advice. </p>
<p>Treat wait list and deferrals as no’s for now and find things to love with your remaining list, if unable, add to your list. </p>
<p>As I mentioned in a previous post I made, you can find fulfillment many places you just have to be willing to look. Sometimes being a high achiever in a different schools might end up being better than just getting into another school. By going to our State University my son got research and leadership opportunities as a freshman he would not have at other schools. Over the summer he participated in study groups with the assistant dean of his school, a school with an enrollment of over 40k students. That would not have happened had he got into his “dream” school. Fit is the most important factor the admissions dept is not trying to break your heart they are trying to achieve a good fit.</p>
<p>Intparent, I think your post, above, should be bronzed and made required reading for everyone on CC! :D</p>
<p>You have to treat it as a rejection, and move on.</p>
<p>You can send an update with semester grades/new awards, etc later. But for now you have to concentrate on your other schools. </p>
<p>You should also treat it as a warning sign. Check your list to make sure you have some sure safeties on it. A deferral from ED may signal that you will not get into schools of its caliber RD.</p>
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I must say, I don’t buy that. If it was true, there would be no college transfers, and no kids flunking out. And every super-selective college will honestly tell you that they could admit at least two equally wonderful entering classes from their pool of applicants that would be virtually indistinguishable.</p>
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<p>When older D was rejected on the early round, for a while, she didn’t think she would get into ANY college!</p>
<p>A deferral is kind of like being turned down for a date; at the first asking, the object of your desires has said they would rather wait and see…</p>
<p>So, move along, and promptly. There is nothing you can do about the deferral. However, you probably have several applications pending, and those are the ones that you can improve. Your strategy is the other thing that needs your attention. If you are going to add schools, your recommendations and counselor’s report need to be taken care of ASAP. Go back to your list of schools and reconsider whether you have enough solid matches at schools you like to give yourself a good set of options in April.</p>