T20 deferred, then waitlisted, then accepted- happy ending

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:When you apply ED you're telling a school that you're a sure thing...that you'll 100% show up. That is gold to schools and their obsession with yield. So when they defer you and go with the unknown "door B" of regular decision kids they're making it quite loud and clear that they're not interested in you. Which is why the admit rate after deferrals for top 20 schools is like 2-5%.

Believe them when they send this message cause they'll happily string you on for 8 more months "just in case" (ie they lose enough of the students they really want).

Admit rate for EA deferrals to some T20s can be as high as 15%. And that depends on how you stack up against the other deferrals.

Which schools?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Could moms stop posting depressing stories? The title says “happy ending.”

Yes, there are two meanings for “happy ending,” and I don’t know about you guys, but this discussion is providing neither to me.

Here's a happy ending. Deferred from ED to top choice T10. While waiting for RD decision, got accepted to several other schools that he was really excited about. Top choice school ultimately did not accept him, but that was ok because he had already moved on. Is very happy at one of the other schools, and can't even imagine being at what was his top choice school. It's a very happy story for him.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Could moms stop posting depressing stories? The title says “happy ending.”

Only massages in seedy places end with "happy ending"

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Here’s a story with a happy ending:

-Deferred Cornell two years ago. This was the dream school.
-Waitlisted in March.
-Chose her school by May 1. Was offered a lot of scholarship money.
-Then at the end of June, offered a transfer option from Cornell. Basically it’s a guaranteed entrance sophomore year.

She had a great freshman year. Adjusted to college and managing her time in a less intense place. And we saved money a lot of money. She decided to follow through with the transfer option.

Entered Cornell this fall and is enjoying it. Really likes her classes. In the end, it worked out. If she had decided to stay at her freshman school, I’d say the same this. It all worked out.

This is really heartwarming.

Thanks for sharing!

[Anonymous]

I know 2 who came off the waitlist at Brown. They didn’t hear until the very last minute. Both were happy in the end but they were already commited to other (great!) schools so it was very disruptive to change the plan with almost no notice. If it were my child, I would not encourage holding out hope. DS was WL at a few schools (non-Ivy) and told them no thank you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is like watching your girlfriend move cross country for the guy who already told her he “wants to see other people.” I suppose in theory it might work out but it’s almost guaranteed to be a train wreck. There are plenty of other fish in the sea.

yep. This.

[Anonymous]

In 2023 and 2024 cycle, know kids deferred in ED and then accepted RD at Wake Forest and Brown.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Here’s a story with a happy ending:

-Deferred Cornell two years ago. This was the dream school.
-Waitlisted in March.
-Chose her school by May 1. Was offered a lot of scholarship money.
-Then at the end of June, offered a transfer option from Cornell. Basically it’s a guaranteed entrance sophomore year.

She had a great freshman year. Adjusted to college and managing her time in a less intense place. And we saved money a lot of money. She decided to follow through with the transfer option.

Entered Cornell this fall and is enjoying it. Really likes her classes. In the end, it worked out. If she had decided to stay at her freshman school, I’d say the same this. It all worked out.

Congratulations! That’s wonderful!!

How was her freshman year, knowing she was likely to transfer? Did she invest in joining clubs, meeting friends, being a part of the community? Or did it feel more transactional - doing well in her classes, but not connecting as much socially?

Then same question in reverse at Cornell. How hard has it been to meet people and feel part of the community as a transfer student? I know my DD would be very concerned that “everybody already has a friend group” and it would be hard to connect and feel part of the community like everyone else.

Related: Do Cornell sororities offer fall rush for transfer students? I know two boys who transferred to other schools and rushed first semester they got there, which helped a lot.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hope that you are not encouraging unrealistic expectations in your kid.

My kid was waitlisted (not at a T20). She got into that school eventually, after she had accepted another offer (by necessity, the deadline had passed). She had not attended Accepted Students Day at the school that initially waitlisted her, so did not feel like a part of their community. That, added with some resentment of their treatment of her (vs the warm welcome and merit aid she had received at the second choice school), caused her to decline the offer from the higher ranked school that initially put her in their waitlist.

I think it feeds too much into the universities’ narcissism. If a school isn’t deliriously happy to have your great kid, it doesn’t deserve to have your kid.

[Anonymous]

This year many schools took fewer kids than past years ED, even at some schools where application numbers were up.

That means they rejected more earlier (at the schools that don’t defer everyone) so chances are better than past years. But- manage expectations and tell kid it’s unlikely and try to get excited about other schools.

I had a defer at Georgetown, accepted RD in 2024. Then- WL to accepted at 2 Ivies and Hopkins mid-May.

It was long and drawn out and I was hoping we would avoid it with my current senior. But, alas, they received an ED deferral. Deferral is like sitting in purgatory- lol

[Anonymous]

WL at "fake ivy" and "public ivy oos". Public offered admission less than a week after acceptance deadline. Fake strung along through July and made zero WL admits.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Here’s a story with a happy ending:

-Deferred Cornell two years ago. This was the dream school.
-Waitlisted in March.
-Chose her school by May 1. Was offered a lot of scholarship money.
-Then at the end of June, offered a transfer option from Cornell. Basically it’s a guaranteed entrance sophomore year.

She had a great freshman year. Adjusted to college and managing her time in a less intense place. And we saved money a lot of money. She decided to follow through with the transfer option.

Entered Cornell this fall and is enjoying it. Really likes her classes. In the end, it worked out. If she had decided to stay at her freshman school, I’d say the same this. It all worked out.

Congratulations! That’s wonderful!!

How was her freshman year, knowing she was likely to transfer? Did she invest in joining clubs, meeting friends, being a part of the community? Or did it feel more transactional - doing well in her classes, but not connecting as much socially?

Then same question in reverse at Cornell. How hard has it been to meet people and feel part of the community as a transfer student? I know my DD would be very concerned that “everybody already has a friend group” and it would be hard to connect and feel part of the community like everyone else.

Related: Do Cornell sororities offer fall rush for transfer students? I know two boys who transferred to other schools and rushed first semester they got there, which helped a lot.

Thank you!

Freshman year: She had a great time and made some good friends that she is still in touch with. The one thing I really appreciated that the Cornell transfer advisor said was to “enjoy your home school. Get involved.” And that she did. I think it’s also just her personality to get out and be engaged.


Sophomore year at Cornell: It is definitely more of an uphill battle to connect with others as a sophomore transfer. Part of it is being surrounded by kids who already have their friend groups. And part of it is being Cornell. Everyone studies hard and plays hard. I would say that it took until about November for her to really settle in and feel like it was “home.” That’s not the right word because it’s not home. Maybe “settled in” is better. She’s joined clubs and made friends and has different activities on the weekends that she didn’t have earlier in the fall. It helps that Cornell has a large transfer class and that there are different social events to help them get connected.

I believe one can rush sororities as a sophomore. But I don’t know for sure since that is not an interest of my kid.

I hope this helps. If your kid or anyone reading this is offered a TO, accept it when offered. It is not binding until you actually apply and are accepted later in your freshman year. But you have to first say that you’re interested. For our kid, it was the right decision.

[Anonymous]

^ huh? You get a transfer offer before applying?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid last cycle.

Deferred and then accepted RA to school he chose.

Deferred and the Accepted to T20. Did not choose

Deferred and then Waitlisted and then Accepted to T10 - Did not choose.

Your son applied ED to 3 schools?

Nope didn't apply ED to any.

So it's irrelevant to OP's question

lol. Do you have reading comprehension issues?

"Please share your stories of DC being deferred, then waitlisted, and finally accepted into any of the top schools."

I state my kid was deferred from:

Early Action non-binding at 2 Top 20 schools and RD at 1 (one Top 10).

Deferred at all then accepted to all either during RD or watilisted then accepted. Get a grip.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This year many schools took fewer kids than past years ED, even at some schools where application numbers were up.

That means they rejected more earlier (at the schools that don’t defer everyone) so chances are better than past years. But- manage expectations and tell kid it’s unlikely and try to get excited about other schools.

I had a defer at Georgetown, accepted RD in 2024. Then- WL to accepted at 2 Ivies and Hopkins mid-May.

It was long and drawn out and I was hoping we would avoid it with my current senior. But, alas, they received an ED deferral. Deferral is like sitting in purgatory- lol

Which schools? I haven’t heard this.