<p>Time to repost a message I've put up every year since Dec. 2005:</p>
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<p>Okay, the EA decisions are about to come out. Everyone is hopeful. Everyone is nervous. Two years ago I had the same sense of hope and nervousness, because my daughter was an EA applicant to Yale.</p>
<p>She had very strong stats, and she really liked Yale. However when Dec. 15th rolled around she was not admitted. She was not even deferred. She was REJECTED. Needless to say she was very disappointed. She became convinced that no college would take her. It was a long, cold winter.</p>
<p>Why am I telling you this? Because fast forward from Dec. 15th to April 1st and it's a brand new day. The RD round was very kind to her. She was accepted at Harvard, MIT, Stanford, Berkeley, Pomona, and all her safeties. She is now a very happy sophomore at Harvard College. I'm telling you this because the majority of you are NOT going to get accepted by Yale EA. And some of you, like her, will even be rejected outright. So the moral of the story is that even if you lose in EA, it's not the end of the world. If your stats are strong enough that you have a decent shot at Yale, you will get MANY fine acceptances in the RD round. I can't guarantee you Harvard, but unless you made some really big mistakes in drawing up your college list, next April you will have many wonderful schools stumbling all over themselves - vying for your affection. Trust me; it will all work out fine.</p>
<p>PS: 2008 Update: D1 has now graduated from Harvard and is nicely employed. She loved her time at Harvard, got a great education, and has long since forgotten all about her Yale disappointment. D2 is applying to college this year, but she has put her EA wager on Stanford. Who knows? Maybe she will be disappointed too and end up at Yale in the RD round. These things have a way of working out.</p>
<p>coureur, I was hoping you'd put this up again this year. These words were very helpful a year ago, and are right on target. I'm glad to hear D1 is no longer requiring tuition payments! What would that be like?! Keeping my fingers crossed for D2. Those who let your wisdom sink in will suffer less than those who insist that there is only one match for them. Heed ye well, young ones.</p>
<p>Ditto, thank you so much. I read these kinds of posts every year and am glad that I can apply to myself this year. I always need to remind myself that no matter what happens EA, I will have a place to go next fall that I will like just as much.</p>
<p>Thanks, coureur. When December 15th comes around, I'll come and take another look at this post before I check my decision. It will make me feel better. :)</p>
<p>I would like to echo what coureur says. My D was deferred two years ago, and was pretty disappointed. She, too, felt that no school would accept her. In fact, because of the SCEA deferral, she had to wait until April 1 for every other notification. She was truly the last person in her group to hear, and she heard mightily! She was accepted at five schools, waitlisted at one, rejected at two, including Yale! She is currently a soph at Brown and truly believes that she would not have been as happy at Yale as she is at Brown. So the world will not end in a few days if and when you are not accepted. There will be a good school for each of you.</p>
<p>My mom got rejected EA at Yale, but got accepted at Princeton, where she met my dad. So I probably wouldn't be alive had she not been rejected from Yale.</p>
<p>I'm not sure that will be of much solace if it's bad news on the 15th, however...</p>
<p>Great post.
I was rejected from this year's TASP and remember it being a big blow to my self-esteem. But the rejection really got me into working on my college applications early on, so yes, silver linings indeed.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, the majority of us will also not be accepted to every other school we apply to, so this consolation will only work Monday, not in April.</p>
<p>...but I'm finding comfort in it anyway. :)</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Unfortunately, the majority of us will also not be accepted to every other school we apply to....<<</p>
</blockquote>
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<p>Not so. The point of my post is that, assuming your stats are strong enough that you've got a legitimate shot at Yale in the first place and that you've applied to more schools than just HYPS, you will get <em>lots</em> of good acceptances in April. The vast majority of colleges, including some very prestigious ones, would love to have a kid of your your caliber enroll.</p>
<p>Hey asiantofu, I was rejected from TASP, too. At first it really bothered me, then I realized that I didn't really like the topic I signed up for anyway. Plus, when I looked over my essay, I realized how completely horrible they were.</p>
<p>Thanks so much for what I thought was actually a very encouraging message coureur! Now, I will do whatever it takes to make sure I have a strong string of RD applications to send out if necessary.</p>