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Everyone here is so knowledgable so I hope someone can help shed some light. My son was deferred to RD by Davidson College. Does anyone know if this is akin to being rejected? I mean, if he was not accepted ED, why would they accept him in RD? I think that he should just move on to Plan B now, and really concentrate on the remaining schools on his list; or is it worth it to pursue wooing Davidson with mail, more grades, more essays, etc.?

By Mike (Mike) on Wednesday, February 04, 2004 - 01:41 am: Edit

I have no idea about chances but Mike's attitude is if offered wait list he has no interest in being someone's bridesmaid. Propose or you lost your chance.
Mike's Dad

By Mom08 (Mom08) on Wednesday, February 04, 2004 - 07:50 am: Edit

My son is leaning towards the same thought too. He's done his best with his first application to Davidson, and he feels if that wasn't good enough for them (which he thinks was pretty darn good), it's their loss, and he's going to spend his energy on others. There's no ONE perfect school for anyone. I was just wondering though why not just reject applicants outright instead of deferring?

By Aparent4 (Aparent4) on Wednesday, February 04, 2004 - 08:32 am: Edit

Well, I think the answer to this question varies at different schools. At some a deferral is pretty much like being left at the altar, to continue Mike's dad's analogy. However, when we visited Yale the adcom rep told us that deferred students got a little special attention in the RD round, because their applications were tagged as having come in early and this indicated strong interest, which tended to give the adcom positive feelings about them. What does that add up to statistically? I don't know. Do you know anybody else who has been deferred at Davidson? Is there an interviewer your son is in touch with, so he could ask? I guess a deferral means they didn't fall in love with the applicant but they are still interested in him...

By Mom08 (Mom08) on Wednesday, February 04, 2004 - 09:38 am: Edit

Aparent...thanks. 2 kids from his school were already accepted in the ED1 round. He was in the 2nd ED batch of applicants. I guess as with all deferrals and rejections, it's disappointing not to have your interest reciprocated...so i think in his mind he's already moved on. He's away at boarding school, so I'm not in constant conversation with him over this. I have noticed a few other deferrals from Davdison, but no outright rejections on this board.

By Massdad (Massdad) on Wednesday, February 04, 2004 - 10:25 am: Edit

Aparent,

I have little confidence in what adcoms tell people in information session, as their own actions have so often been inconsistent with their pronouncements.

W/R/T Yale, we shall see.

Historically, deferred students are admitted at a lower rate than fresh applicants. I am not aware of ANY exceptions to this, but others may know of some.

My advice? Time to move on.

By Blossom (Blossom) on Wednesday, February 04, 2004 - 10:36 am: Edit

Both of the kids we know at Yale were first deferred in the early round-- one was told by the GC that the Adcom said they liked the application but wanted to see first semester grades-- he was taking a very tough load, and they wanted to make sure he was managing it well. (case of a weak Freshman year, strong uptick thereafter, so I guess they wanted one more piece of data.) He's very happy there. The other was told, "strong application; just want another read in the context of the larger pool" and was later admitted. Nothing wierd about his application I think, but he was exceptional in two EC's (one music, one sport, although not a recruited athlete) and I think they wanted to see if anyone else w/his profile was applying before they committed to him.
Neither seem bothered by the early deferral, both had "plan B" but seemed happy it worked out in the end.

By Pennamom (Pennamom) on Wednesday, February 04, 2004 - 10:41 am: Edit

I completely agree with Massdad and especially with Mike's Dad. Do not allow these people to leave your child dangling for the next four months while they wait to see if someone better comes along. In my opinion, that entire ED deferral process is simply insulting.

By Aparent4 (Aparent4) on Wednesday, February 04, 2004 - 10:54 am: Edit

Mom08, if your son would be comfortable with and interested in "wooing Davidson" while at the same time going full steam ahead with the other applications, then why not? Seems wise not to focus too narrowly on that one school, but there's something about feeling you gave what you wanted your best shot...Good luck.

By Patient (Patient) on Wednesday, February 04, 2004 - 11:47 am: Edit

Many kids share the feelings expressed above--if they didn't like me enough the first round, then I'm not so interested in them. But I personally know someone who was deferred at his 1st choice Ivy (as a legacy, no less) and then was accepted in the regular round. He is a sophomore there now and extremely, extremely happy. I know two others who were deferred, one at Duke, one at Yale; they ended up being admitted in the regular round but chose other schools instead because of the unpleasant feeling it left being deferred at first.

Bottom line: this is the kid's call, if they get admitted. If they still really want to go, then go!

Agree with posters that a deferral means different things at different schools and if you can't find knowledgeable people to tell you what it means at this particular school, then don't read too much into it. You never know whether it was one of those "polite" deferrals, or whether the adcom absolutely agonized over it and he was almost in except for they just couldn't quite admit 3 from one school in the early round.

By Perry (Perry) on Wednesday, February 04, 2004 - 01:05 pm: Edit

Jay Mathews, education reporter for the Washington Post, wrote an article on defferals last year. He noted that at most (perhaps not all) top colleges, it's tantamount to rejection and advised parents and students to discount the possibility of being accepted and to focus on other possibiltiies. Many colleges defer students as a form of gentle denial, in effect, saying that you were a contender for a spot in our freshman class. Colleges also use the wait list as another strategy of this sort. I agree that one should not accept at face value what adcoms say about deferrals or being waitlisted. Only very few applicants appear to be accepted from either category.

By Ariesathena (Ariesathena) on Wednesday, February 04, 2004 - 01:13 pm: Edit

Some schools do not reject in the early round, or reject only the enormously unqualified candidates. In these cases, a deferral is nearly a rejection, and the student should move on. There are also some schools which reject high numbers the early round (didn't even Yale hit almost 40%?), so a deferral shows that the candidate still has a chance. If you can find the specific stats on % deferred and % rejected at Davidson, that may answer your question.

By Garland (Garland) on Wednesday, February 04, 2004 - 01:33 pm: Edit

MassDad: an exception for you--Columbia claims an ED defers admit rate of 15%, while the overall acceptance rate is 11%.

By Mike (Mike) on Wednesday, February 04, 2004 - 01:36 pm: Edit

US NEWS list number waitlisted, number who accept waitlist and number who are taken from waitlist. SOme schools give a fairly good shot at getting n and some none at all. That number would be worth the premium price if one was really wanting in to a school. I am not aware of any ED stats like that.
Mike's Dad

By Mom08 (Mom08) on Wednesday, February 04, 2004 - 02:41 pm: Edit

Davidson's letter basically said that he should send in grades, awards, etc. that he has received since submitting his app, but encourages him at this time to submit applications to other schools...what do you make of that? ha!
Anyway, I believe he gave it his all with that application, and he's ready to move on...If they still accept him at RD, I don't know if he'll feel the same about the school. But that's just my feeling.

By Garland (Garland) on Wednesday, February 04, 2004 - 02:48 pm: Edit

His feelings are important, and I wouldn't want to tell him to go somewhere if he feels bad about it. However, I don't think that deferral means that he wasn't good enough; I think it means they want to compare him to the whole group of applicants rather than the ED subset. If they then take him, it's because he stood up to that crowd. If it's possible, I'd tell him to send in the other stuff, but just think of it as one of the bunch of schools he's applied to, then see how he feels when the acceptances come in.

By Garland (Garland) on Wednesday, February 04, 2004 - 02:51 pm: Edit

double post, sorry!

By Mom08 (Mom08) on Wednesday, February 04, 2004 - 02:53 pm: Edit

Garland...thank you, and to all of you. We're going to call him at school tonight, and I'll have a whole bunch of advice for him thanks to you all.

By Lvdad (Lvdad) on Wednesday, February 04, 2004 - 03:26 pm: Edit

Just read this thread and have similar question. Daughter was recently deferred at Michigan (out of state from New Jersey with reasonably good stats, not outstanding). As an out-of-state student, she was realistic that Michigan was a long shot of a reach, at best, so the deferral wasn't received too badly. She's been recently accepted to Penn State-University Park, Pitt, and Maryland-College Park. What does deferral from Michigan mean? Is this pretty much a rejection or should she continue to purse them with letter, additional recommendations, SAT II's, etc? Thanks for any feedback.

By Massdad (Massdad) on Wednesday, February 04, 2004 - 03:33 pm: Edit

Garland, thanks for the data point with Columbia. Anyone else?

By S17 (S17) on Wednesday, February 04, 2004 - 04:28 pm: Edit

Stanford claims (at least in the deferral letter that they sent me) that they will accept between 7 and 23 percent of deferred applicants. Of course that's a huge range, but it is higher than the regular admit rate.

By Angstridden (Angstridden) on Wednesday, February 04, 2004 - 09:54 pm: Edit

Lvdad..How was your D. accepted to MD College Park..the letters are being sent out on the 15th of Feb...?

Regarding the deferral..lots of times admissions is a crapshoot really. If he gave his best then he must have wanted in, I would suggest he call and see what he can do to strengthen his app and follow the suggestions.
BUT he should also pursue other schools.

By Patient (Patient) on Wednesday, February 04, 2004 - 11:43 pm: Edit

I'm not sure if many of you saw this, but right before the Stanford EA letters were sent, someone wrote a post under the Stanford thread and discussed at length a lot of information about the EA results. I don't know who this person was, but a lot of the information he or she provided turned out to be close to accurate (in terms of mailing dates, number of EA admits, etc.)Someone surmised it was a student intern in the admissions office....we'll never know, I guess.

In any case, this person stated that the EA group was fairly limited to the athletes, "A-OK" legacies, and true standouts (kudos to Sac's son!). That the deferred students should not lose heart, that it was a big group but a sizable number would get in RD. I guess we'll have to wait to see the RD results to see if this part of the person's information was accurate. This person also grouped the EA deferrals into different sets, some of which had a very good chance of being admitted and some of whom didn't.

Anyway, just thought I'd repeat the gist of the post since probably a lot of people missed it as it was just under the Stanford thread.

You can probably do a message search for the author's name, "Iknowlittle", and find the whole thing.

By Ruby (Ruby) on Thursday, February 05, 2004 - 05:01 pm: Edit

I have a freshman at Davidson College. Last year, they over enrolled by about 25 students and it has placed a great deal of strain on their housing situation. They will not triple their student but have converted lounges to rooms and have made college-owned houses available to upper classmen. I think this will be a conservative year for them for admissions. My child did not apply early but she was an extremely strong candidate and felt she would fare fine in the regular round. She did have a friend at her high school who was deferred early admission and later accepted in the regular round who is now attending Davidson. By the way, she loves the school. Best of luck to your son.

By Patient (Patient) on Thursday, February 05, 2004 - 11:27 pm: Edit

Thanks for the useful information about housing. My son has applied also RD to Davidson, and it is fairly high on his list. What part of the country are you from? One of my concerns was whether it was too regional a school, as well over half the student body seems to be from a few southern states. Another concern is social life: is there pressure to attend parties, is there a diverse enough social scene?

By Ruby (Ruby) on Friday, February 06, 2004 - 02:09 pm: Edit

We are from the Washington D.C. metro area. There are a lot of students from this area. She hasn't had any trouble finding a ride home for any of the holidays or breaks. She has friends from all over the country (PA,MA,Tex,CA,and of course the southern states). The school has a definate southern feel to it but she likes that component. My impression is that she is very happy with the social scene. She has been to Charlotte for a concert (otherwise the kids don't seem to go there that much). They can walk to restaurants and coffee shops from campus. Being a girl, she goes shopping at the malls which are a couple of exits away. The campus events are well attended (Bill Cosby, various speakers). They also have their share of dorm and theme parties. Their version of frats and sororities is called Patterson Court which is located on campus where there are also parties. The school seems very accepting of individuals and there doesn't seem to be pressure to party if one doesn't want to. The academics are quite rigorous and some kids study all the time.

By Patient (Patient) on Friday, February 06, 2004 - 11:37 pm: Edit

Thanks so much for the information! It is still a while to wait for admissions results but gathering information in advance doesn't hurt; that way, if there are choices to be made in April, there may be less of a scramble.

By S17 (S17) on Saturday, February 07, 2004 - 07:09 pm: Edit

Patient,
I saw that series of posts. Actually, I just visited the Stanford forum and the original poster just returned, hopefully to post some more useful information. Check it out when you get a chance.

By Barbara913 (Barbara913) on Monday, February 09, 2004 - 12:40 am: Edit

My son was deferred by University of Wisconsin. He wrote a personal statement as to how much he wants to go there (even though he said he already did that the first time!), had a couple more letters of recommendation sent, grades sent, had no more awards (how many do???). We found out that the letter of recommendation from the principal of the school (very competitive school, and the principal only writes 5 letters per year) hadn't gotten there before the deferral letter went out -- don't know if that would have made a difference. Was wondering if he should write or call and find out who the rep counselor is for our area (Missouri) and ask what more we can do. Does anyone know about the deferrals from Wisconsin?

By Dstark (Dstark) on Monday, February 09, 2004 - 12:58 am: Edit

Barbara913, how are your son's grades first semester senior year? How many hard classes is he taking? What was his overall gpa? My cousin's kid just got deferred from Wisconsin. Wisconsin wants to see fall semester senior grades.

By Barbara913 (Barbara913) on Monday, February 09, 2004 - 06:44 pm: Edit

My son's gpa is 3.86 and remains the same in his senior first semester, with several honors and college credit courses. Yesterday he got accepted to the University of Illinois at Urbana, but he still wants Wisconsin. I get so depressed when I hear people say that a deferral is a polite rejection. What do you think about following up the personal statement with an email or phone call? What are your cousin's kid's grades and his ACT? My son got a 29. His best friend got the same ACT and 2/10 of a point higher gpa and was accepted.

By Dstark (Dstark) on Monday, February 09, 2004 - 07:03 pm: Edit

Lower grades and ACT scores. If he has taken 5 solids every semester and exceeded the academic requirements, I have no idea why he didn't get in. His academics are well above average. I would also think that after Wisconsin sees his senior year grades they would accept him. I don't know how Wisconsin will react to a phone call. Did he do a bad job on his application? I was talking to a professor from Wharton last week. She knew somebody who she thought was a shoe-in at Harvard. He was rejected. She asked to see the application. Under the essay portion the applicant wrote a three line arrogant proof on why he should be accepted. Congrats on your son getting into Illinois. I am as shocked as you are he didn't get into Wisconsin. I also don't believe that a deferral at Wisconsin is the same as a deferral at Harvard. I think your son has a chance.

By Barbara913 (Barbara913) on Monday, February 09, 2004 - 07:39 pm: Edit

Dstark, thank you for the uplifting comments. Actually, his essays were quite good. His high school counselor told him that our high school is highly competitive and schools like Wisconsin will only take 4.0 gpa's and over. But my son refused to give up. His essay mainly said that math has always been what he loves and his research told him that Wisconsin has a great math and computer science department. Just to show you how our school is, our class valadictorian (sp? Luckily, I'm not the student) who has a 4.9 average, got deferred by Harvard. My son is also waiting to hear from the University of Texas at Austin. We hear it's hard for out-of-staters. Anyone know anything about that? They don't let kids know until April! I think the stress on seniors is hard enough without all this waiting!!!! Thanks again for your positive comments. Good luck to your cousin's child.

By Lizschup (Lizschup) on Monday, February 09, 2004 - 09:54 pm: Edit

Barbara913, I agree with dstark that a deferral from U of Wisconsin is not the same as a deferral from an elite schoo,but I disagree with his assessment that your sons academics are well above average for Wisconsin. We had also heard that they do not take kids below an A or A- average. It is very competitive and tough to get into in terms of public universities. Was his 3.86 a weighted gpa? Also, when did he apply? As you know they have rolling admissions and when he applied may have had some affect on being deferred.

I suggest that he call the admissions office and ask them how many kids were accepted from the deferral list and if there is anything else he can do to give them more information about himself that would help his application.

By Dstark (Dstark) on Monday, February 09, 2004 - 10:22 pm: Edit

Well, from both US News and Princeton Review the average gpa was 3.6 in 2002. So they must take kids with below A- averages. However, weighted or unweighted is important. I have the 2003-2004 viewbook for Wisconsin. On page seven it states that Wisconsin accepts 97% of the top ten %, 74% of the next ten, and 26% of the next 10. Without explaining how, Wisconsin does treat out of state and in state differently. Also on page seven, they have three categories, the highly qualified who get accepted, the people they deny, and the third category, the middle group, strong applicants that Wisconsin is not sure they have spaces for. Wisconsin postpones making a final decision on these applicants. Last year people knew by March 15th.

By Lizschup (Lizschup) on Tuesday, February 10, 2004 - 10:55 am: Edit

Dstark, I stand corrected. Thanks for the statistics. The only thing I wonder about is if the bar is higher for out of state students. We are in Minnesota and have reciprocity with Wisconsin and we had heard that it was becoming a school that admits only A students. My nephew who lives in Wisconsin was deferred and admitted later but I don't know his stats. It would also be helpful to know if Barbara's son's gpa is weighted.

By Barbara913 (Barbara913) on Tuesday, February 10, 2004 - 09:44 pm: Edit

Yes, Andy's grade is weighted, and as I said, his counselor said schools like Wisconsin are taking only kids with 4.0 and over from competitive high schools like his. Andy has all A's, but I guess that means he didn't have quite enough honors courses over the 4 years???? (not sure). Wisconsin is getting harder and harder to get into every year (harder than last year). Kids who are getting turned down by Wisconsin are getting into Michigan!! Too bad Andy didn't want to go to Michigan and didn't apply!! But I heard Wisconsin is heavily in debt and needs out-of-state tuition, so I hear conflicting things about in-state residents, etc. He applied in October, 2003......thus, the wait goes on. We don't hold out much hope, since so many kids have 4 pt gpa's and greater. We are also hoping for the University of Texas at Austin, but hard for out-of-state applicants.

Lizschup - did you mean call to see how many were accepted from last year's deferral list? I didn't quite understand.

We were also told March 15. I guess some things don't change!!

By Angstridden (Angstridden) on Tuesday, February 10, 2004 - 10:01 pm: Edit

That must be why his GPA is 4.0 weighted. My D has a 4.65 weighted but took tons of honors and AP classes.
She would like UNC but has mediocre SAT..1290 so is deferred..A shame cus she has certainly shown she can do the work.
s

By Lizschup (Lizschup) on Tuesday, February 10, 2004 - 10:53 pm: Edit

Barbara913, Yes I did mean how many were accepted from last year's deferral list. I was just suggesting that because it might give you an indication of his chances and a good first question to ask the admissions office. I also think they probably look at his unweighted grade which should be a 4.0 if he has all A's. Good Luck.

By Dstark (Dstark) on Wednesday, February 11, 2004 - 12:49 am: Edit

Barbara913, Lischup and whoever cares, If you go to the discussion forum College Search and Selection and click on the link Carolyn..San Diego state...harder than Harvard, Barrons has put the 2003-2004, who is likely to get in Wisconsin chart. Actually, I will just use his link...http://www.admissions.wisc.edu/fr_expect.pdf

By Jamimom (Jamimom) on Wednesday, February 11, 2004 - 10:43 am: Edit

Barbara, I would have your son talk to his guidance counselor. Most colleges are more upfront with the schools than with the students and I have known of cases where the college has actually told the counselor that the student had little chance of acceptance. This is also the opportunity for the counselor to "talk up" the student and bring up any new information that would help bring a positive decision. It is also a strong sign of continued interest. The counselor can bring up the UI admissions and tell the adcom that the student still really wants to go to UWisc.

By Jamimom (Jamimom) on Wednesday, February 11, 2004 - 10:44 am: Edit

Another tip I want to pass along is that some state schools have more lenient admission policies for those students willing to enter in the summer session. That might be another issue the counselor can ask about.

By Barbara913 (Barbara913) on Thursday, February 12, 2004 - 12:56 pm: Edit

Thank you all for the comments. I am going to call his counselor now!

By Mr0range (Mr0range) on Thursday, February 12, 2004 - 05:21 pm: Edit

Does anyone know the stats for the deferred early decision from Princeton this year, or the % of deferrees accepted in the regular round last year? From what I've read, I think I was "politely denied" but I'd like to know what kind of shot awaits me in the regular round. Thanks..

By Dstark (Dstark) on Sunday, February 15, 2004 - 01:29 pm: Edit

Barbara913, what happened?

By Barbara913 (Barbara913) on Sunday, February 22, 2004 - 08:24 pm: Edit

Hi. You're all so nice to care. I talked to both his counselor and the principal and both said they were going to call Wisconsin and the U. of Texas (that would have been last Tuesday (there was no school on Monday), and the counselor told me he has learned never to call a college on a Friday afternoon! I haven't heard from either. I know that the counselor was just about to make a call to Harvard for our valedictorian I told you about who was deferred. I'm hoping Andy has a better chance at Wisconsin than he does at Harvard. Though, I sure do wish him luck too -- he's absolutely amazing. I must say, this is the longest February I have ever lived through!

By Caseyatthebat (Caseyatthebat) on Sunday, February 22, 2004 - 11:28 pm: Edit

In the Ivies, what % of ED/EA admittees are usually recruited athletes, anyone have an idea? The poster from Stanford said the EA pool was evenly apportioned between a # of groups, one of which was the recruited athlete. I read somewhere that highly competitive schools like to establish their statistical SAT/ACT/GPA "floor," so to speak, through the ED process, by taking as many recruited athletes as possible at that time. It must be a tug of war between the need to field competitive teams and the need to hold up academic standards.

My S is a recruited athlete for one of the Ivies who was accepted ED. He had very high academic credentials in his own right, but I know of others who did not at any # of places.

By Dstark (Dstark) on Sunday, February 22, 2004 - 11:44 pm: Edit

Caseyatthebat, what were some of the lower numbers you have seen?

By Jamimom (Jamimom) on Sunday, February 22, 2004 - 11:55 pm: Edit

Caseyatthebat, the % fluctuates greatly from school to school. Size of the school is a great determinent of the %. When you take a school like Columbia,the smallest of the ivies, the % that their football team alone takes is sizeable at Cornell or U Penn, it is not such a big deal. In schools like Ohio State it is but a drop in the bucket. For schools like Williams, it can make a big difference. Also it depends what the political atmosphere at the college is like for athletics. There are years when key people at the helm or events can bring up or take down these statistics. A humiliating loss by H to Y, can suddenly change athletic priorities at even that school. An athletic scandal can bring the numbers the other way.

By Caseyatthebat (Caseyatthebat) on Monday, February 23, 2004 - 12:06 am: Edit

Well, on our recruiting visit this October my S heard scores from other recruits that were in the high 1200s and low 1300s. The kids seem to freely echange this type of info. FYI, at Y one of the players told S that the range of SAT scores on the team was 1150-1550. I know the low end to be true, because there are other ways of checking this info. When you go to a showcase, this info is requested on individual players and then often it is published in the showcase materials, which are sometimes available on the web.

Jamimom: Thanks for the enlightening post, I had not thought to "connect all the dots" up like that.

By Jamimom (Jamimom) on Monday, February 23, 2004 - 12:30 am: Edit

Also many schools and reporting agencies want the composite score for a team, or a composite gpa. You may find at some schools a much valued player who is never cut from the team though he does not seem to ever play or practice much. Also "Bubba" is told to keep his paws off of the guy and pay him some homeage because his 1500 and 4.0 balance out "Bubba's" 1000 and 2.0. When the coach puts together his team, he has to put all of that stuff together. He may regretfully sacrifice a better athlete for one not quite as good but with great stats that bring up the team averages. That can often explain what is going on with some teams.
I have an son who is a college athlete and I have seen all of this and more!

By Caseyatthebat (Caseyatthebat) on Monday, February 23, 2004 - 12:52 am: Edit

Jamimom: Ha!Ha! We are from AR so we know all about the "Bubbas" down here!! Geez, I hope my "Bubba" is not the academic token on the team, sounds somewhat paradoxical, "Bubba" and "academics." That makes me recall a comment I learned of made by the coach asking an admitted recruit to consider retaking the SAT to up the team average.

By Michmom (Michmom) on Monday, February 23, 2004 - 10:19 am: Edit

To Barbara:
Barbara, I am from Minnesota. We have reciprocity with Wisconsin and because we pay instate tuition as opposed to out-of-state, our kids have always had a harder time getting into Madison. Around here it is common knowledge that you need a 3.8. That said, my friend's daughter applied the day the applications came out. She had a 3.7 and only a 25 on her ACTS. She is going there next year.

I know another boy with a 29 on his ACTs and an A- average who also was recently deferred. I am wondering if they have all the applicants they normally accept and are waiting to see how many accept them, and then will send out another round of acceptances. Also around here, many kids get in after being deferred. In fact, I only know one kid who did not!

Hope this helps.

By Barbara913 (Barbara913) on Monday, February 23, 2004 - 05:18 pm: Edit

That is wonderful news, Michmom! My son has a 29 ACT and I suppose you'd call it an A- average (?). I'm having a little difficulty understanding how your friend's daughter got in with a 3.7 and only a 25 ACT. That's below what they require as a minimum, I believe. She must have done other great things! Good luck to her! Regarding the deferral, I heard that the school waits for two things: late applicants (January) who the school absolutely wants, and spaces left by kids who were accepted but decided on different schools. In other words, they do leave some room for that first group I mentioned. My son figured (somewhow, I don't know how - maybe just wishful thinking) that he must be in the upper 10% of the referrals, so maybe he has a chance. Who knows?

Last night I got routed by accident to a parent topic about coping with rejection when it happens (it was an archive from April, 2003). It was a wonderful thread. It talked about how the kids take the rejections so much better than the parents do!! A couple of students wrote in and told the parents to kind of chill out because they can handle it! One parent said that these upper caliber kids are not used to rejection (varsity sports, honor roll, club captains, etc.), but some of the kids stated the obvious -- they are going to have to learn to handle rejection because it is part of life, they can't just fall apart! I think it hurts us because we have to hold it in and "appear" strong for them when actually...well, you parents all know...

Well, Michmom, thank you for writing. Let's all keep in touch!

By Barbara913 (Barbara913) on Monday, February 23, 2004 - 10:28 pm: Edit

Hi! Just wanted to let all of you nice parents know that my son got accepted at Wisconsin today! After being deferred! And they had said he wouldn't know before March 15 in writing, and it was on the internet under his profile. We're very excited and relieved!!!!! Now, as I may have mentioned before, Illinois was his 3rd choice (got accepted first), Wisconsin was his 2nd choice (just got accepted) but his very first choice is the University of Texas at Austin. Very very hard for out-of-state kids (9,000 applicants for 900 openings is what the admissions office told me, and they prefer in-state kids). Well, I think he's been very lucky so far and should be very, very thankful and happy with Wisconsin -- it's a great school and just as good (maybe better) than Texas! Thank you all and the best of luck to all of your very smart kids!!!

By Dstark (Dstark) on Monday, February 23, 2004 - 10:33 pm: Edit

Barbara913, congratulations to both you and your son. Great school.

By Jamimom (Jamimom) on Monday, February 23, 2004 - 10:50 pm: Edit

Congratulations! Had my fingers crossed for you.

By Marite (Marite) on Tuesday, February 24, 2004 - 07:47 am: Edit

Barbara913:

Congrats to your S. Madison does have a great math department, and I liked the town and the campus when I visited several years ago. Too bad that it is so far for us, otherwise it would be very high on my S's list of colleges to apply to.

By Cubfan (Cubfan) on Tuesday, February 24, 2004 - 09:52 pm: Edit

Mom08, does your son go to Woodbury or episcopal? Lots of kids from there usually so maybe they were just looking for a little more diversity.

By Northstarmom (Northstarmom) on Tuesday, February 24, 2004 - 09:55 pm: Edit

Congratulations, Barbara!

By Megsdad (Megsdad) on Wednesday, February 25, 2004 - 10:12 am: Edit

I feel compelled to write to all the applicants and their parents who are deferred. This selection process has become so insane!! Not everyone has 1600's or a 4.5 GPA. There are many, many great kids out there perfectly capable of doing a super job in these highly selective schools. BTW, I have a daughter who has done well, but it is because she is totally driven to excel (her mother and I remain amazed). We have become somewhat overwhelmed with the whole process and will be happy to be through with it in a month or so.

By Barbara913 (Barbara913) on Monday, March 15, 2004 - 06:36 pm: Edit

Megsdad, I sure do agree with you! The selection process is insane! I don't know why my son got deferred in the first place by Wisconsin or why he got accepted in the second place!! Anyway, I'm writing today with more good news. Remember I said his first choice was the University of Texas at Austin, but it was a very slim chance because they had 9,000 applicants and 900 openings? (they like in-state kids better). Well, he got in!!!! I never thought my emotions would be going this way instead of the other, believe me! But now, he can't decide which one to accept!! He's been researching them as he did before, and Texas seems to have the edge in the field he wants to go into -- computer sciences. But what if he changes his mind on his major? They usually do!! Does anyone know a really good way to research which school is better overall?