Admitted, Deferred, or Denied-How to Manage College Decisions
A good strategy for parents to follow in supporting their children through the college process is to try not to show intense emotion when hearing the outcomes of admissions decisions. Celebrate their acceptances and support them if they are deferred or denied but try to be reassuring that college admissions will work out.
Here is some advice for both parents and students on how to process admissions news.
Admitted
Celebrate the acceptance while being mindful that others may be dealing with deferrals or denials. Parents may want to be mindful when posting about acceptances on social media.
Accept the offer as instructed by the college in the portal.
If you are accepted to your ED college, withdraw all applications to other colleges. If you are accepted EA to a college, consider whether there are any Regular Decision applications that are no longer necessary to submit.
Deferred
Students should take time to process the decision.
Consider whether to apply Early Decision 2 to another college.
Keep notes on any significant extracurriculars and any meaningful projects or papers from first semester of senior year. Communicate these updates to the Early Decision school. Follow the directions from the college on how to submit updates. Decide whether to tell the college that you are committed to attending if admitted during the Regular Decision round.
Denied
It is understandable to be disappointed but try not to take it personally. Colleges have different institutional objectives, and an individual student may not fit into those objectives at this time.
Regroup and consider your application strategy. Review the college list to ensure that it has a balance of reach, target, and likely schools. Consider applying Early Decision 2.
Thoughts about Early Decision 2
Many private colleges offer the option to apply ED2. The deadline for ED2 applications is usually the same day or close to the Regular Decision deadline. Like ED1, applying ED2 is a commitment by the student to attend the college, if admitted. Students often hear back on ED2 decisions before Regular Decisions are released.
Applying ED2 is one way to demonstrate interest to the college and let them know how much a student would like to attend. Keep in mind that most colleges do not publish their acceptance rates for ED2 (separately from ED1) and, in some cases, the ED2 round may be more competitive than the other rounds. If a student is ready to commit to a college by the January deadline, ED2 can be a good option to consider.
If you have questions or would like to learn more about college admissions, please visit Excelsioradmissions.com or click here to schedule a free 30-minute consultation to learn how I can help with your college admissions process.
