Open Thread: Deferred by Matt McGann '00
An open thread for deferred students.
In the coming weeks, the blogs will have some thoughts & advice about being deferred. In the meantime, feel free to use this post’s comments space to discuss anything deferral-related.
oh man :-(
I’m deferred
Well…I guess its better than the alternative (denied)…I was really hoping to be done with my college stuff by today, but I guess thats not going to happen…well, I guess I better get around to finishing those Stanford essays!
I got deferred, but you know…that’s better than being outright denied, AND that means I still have a chance
me too :( …. March is gonna be a long wait
I was deferred too. I’m not too saddened by it…realistically, it was what I was expecting.
Yeah, I’ve been avoiding my other apps out of hope too. But you’re right, Ravi, it’s much better than being denied. Oh well.
Ya… I really really really long wait…
Wow… *sigh* another 3 months… I thought the waiting was bad this time. lol
Dang, I’m in for another wait…
I was expecting it too… but March is very far away.
:-( I was hoping to know for sure today, now I have to apply to stanford :-(
I really wish I had something profound to say right now, but such a comment eludes me at the moment. Best of luck to everyone in March.
DEFERRED!!! come on you guys cheer up .. atleast we were not rejected! Atleast they think we are somewhat qualified!! haha
aww crud. o well i was expecting rejection anyway.
I agree w/ Chiraag — I mean think about HOW selective MIT is, and how many kids were denied — it’s amazing that we weren’t — we’re deferred —
deferred and thrilled!
Blarg. Pi day, here I come!
Got Deffered, I guess anxiety is a function of time till march :(
hm, getting deferred wasn’t too bad. Time to wait it out another few months.
Ouch, oh well…at least there’s still a chance. No one from my school has ever made it past EA, its always been rejection so at least I got this far. Now just counting down the days until Januarary 1st when I’ll have all my other apps out.
Aha, half an hour before I dreamed that I got rejected. Then I woke up, went back to sleep, and dreamed I got accepted. Looks like Reality is a mixture of the two!
It looks as though 11% of those who were deferred will be accepted in March, so the odds won’t be any better than this time around. :(
lol @ Lei, yeah, I slept like 8 last night, woke up at 3 this morning, then slept, then had 3 dreams – first one was that my application somehow got split into two applicants (because the name I go by is different from my official name on my app), and both got rejected…second one was that I forgot to pay the application fee and they rejected…and the third one i got deferred.
so that was fun.
What a nervous morning. Kinda relieved but hopefully the next nervous morning in March will be a happy one!
kristina, ha ha i was thinking exactly the same thing… time to apply to stanford.
Hey, at least we weren’t denied outright. We all still have a chance to get in. Good luck.
:D @Josiah, that’s awesome, I slept at 8:30. Hope to see you in MIT (which means I would have been accepted…!).
Also, as a general question, although the decision was available on the MIT decision board, I still haven’t received an email, and since my parents aren’t shoving a letter in my face, I guess it didn’t come in the mail either. Could I be lost somewhere?
Sigh….hope for the best and plan for the worst…
:D @Josiah, that’s awesome, I slept at 8:30. Hope to see you in MIT (which means I would have been accepted…!).
Also, as a general question, although the decision was available on the MIT decision board, I still haven’t received an email, and since my parents aren’t shoving a letter in my face, I guess it didn’t come in the mail either. Could I be lost somewhere?
Yeah, I was expecting to be deferred too, but that doesn’t make you hope any less…
Actually, though, being deferred still gives you a bit of an edge. I was crunching the numbers on last year’s admit rates, and deferred students were admitted at a rate of 12.4% during Regular Action last year, while people who applied regular action had a 9.6% admit rate. Those aren’t bad odds.
Really, being deferred means that the admissions committe thinks that you’d do well at MIT; they just want a little extra freedom to pick and choose in case there’s some fantastic applicant out there in the regular application pool.
I got deferred. At least I know that I’m close to MIT material now.
I had to be talked through pressing the button.
Good luck to everyone here! I wish we could all be admitted–we all deserve it.
That makes me feel a little better.
That makes me feel a little better.
although i really wanted to be in, i expected being deferred. at least it wasn’t rejection, that would be the worst. Now, I can get some advice on how to be competetive when regular action comes along.
best of luck to everyone. there is still hope
good luck, you guys. don’t give up–you all have more than a fighting chance at this!
Deferred*
Be happy you all weren’t denied
I agree with Larry and I’m happy to know that I am close to MIT material
I’m volunteering at a hospital now, and I couldn’t bring myself to check the decision. I had to go and transport some guy who just had an ICD implant before I realized how silly I was being.
Deferred. Gah, well, it’s not the end of the world. Least we weren’t rejected, and just being considered good enough to be reviewed a second time is kind of an ego boost for me. :D Good luck to all of you when second reviews come around in March!
I was very disappointed at first, but I can’t say I didn’t expect it. Best of luck to all of you in march, I hope things are going to work out.
Yeah- I expect most of us expected to be deferred, but you know what? The last two months have been complete and total nerves, and the next three months are the worst part of being deferred there is! But hey, I agree, at least we weren’t rejected. I only have two more essays to write! Thank God I’ve been working on them. So long! Maybe I’ll be able to keep myself from checking the blogs thrice daily until March. Good luck everyone!
Actually, since only 75% of early applicants get deferred, and about the same number get accepted in the regular decisions process in comparison to the number accepted in the initial early action process, there’s a better chance (15%ish, I guess) of being accepted if you’re deferred. 15%>11%
Or at least that’s what I’m going to keep telling myself.
Aw, come on guys, I’m sure none of us would get rejected outright for early. Almost nobody gets rejected from the early action pool. You’d have to be pretty bad to give them the impression that you are somebody they don’t want at all, even from the regular pool. And since most of us who apply early are qualified students, almost nobody should get denied.
Now, the effect of this deferral is that I’m going to have to do a lot more apps now. If I had been accepted, I would have only done one or two other ones, but now I still have to do a whole slew of ’em. A slight inconvenience.
BUT HEY, PEOPLE, LET’S NOT GIVE UP HOPE!!
uy. deferred, and somewhat proud. its weird to think that im actually up there with the rest of you. i say we celebrate. i hope we all get in in the spring!
Deferred … but then again every single person i’ve known to applyt o MIT has been deferred … except for this one Intel Talent Search Finalist.
But hey, I feel good.
For some odd reason, I feel even more motivated now to complete my essays and study.
*super study mode* *vroom*
I’m deferred. Although I did not want that to happen, I am really happy that it did. I am still hopeful of MIT, and very happy that I did not get rejected! Thank you so much, and I am looking forward to March!
I’m not attaching my name to this, for fear that it’s a stupid question, but: I’ve heard before that if you’ve been deferred, you should keep emailing and letting the school know about what you’ve done and why you want to go there. I don’t mean harassing per se, but I’ve always heard that it’ll help your chances if you try and continually advocate your case. Is this true?
@ Anonymous
That’d be a great option, if they had some special email or a “defer” essay that you can write to reemphasize how much you want to go. One of my key regrets was not writing the optional essays as well as I had.
Keep in mind though, that in being deferred we are added to the normal applicant pool, and normal applicants do not get such options as emailing them directly. I’d say no.
and so the stress continues…but at least I still have a chance…
so guys…and the wait begins….
Hey, I went to MIT, and my son not only is *exactly* like the kind of student that is a perfect fit at MIT, but is a WAY better academic than I ever was, tops in math and physics, highest test scores, does web consulting etc and he STILL got deferred.
So, don’t take it personally. This may not have much to do with you as a student.
I just hope this doesn’t sour him or any of you on MIT, it’s a fantastical place.
aww.. deferred… =(
Deferred! I’m actually happy about that, it wasn’t a flat our rejection! There’s still hope! XD
Or as my friend said:
The admissions office just loves your application so much they want to hold on to it for another three months to study it.
That goes out to everyone else who got deferred! Can’t wait til March!
Haha Maha, thats definitely the best way of looking at it I’ve heard so far.
*sigh*
This means I’ll be competing with a couple friends of mine…who are RIDICULOUSLY qualified. Which should be the same for most of you guys too…aw man.
oh well. I’ll wallow in my emo-ness for a bit, then go back to sleep. =P
i’d almost rather be outright denied…at least then you know…now i have to wait to the end of march and i don’t know any more than i did yesterday (except i was hoping to be relieved of this burden)
“Also, as a general question, although the decision was available on the MIT decision board, I still haven’t received an email, and since my parents aren’t shoving a letter in my face, I guess it didn’t come in the mail either. Could I be lost somewhere?”
I think they only post the decision online…i haven’t recieved an e-mail either, and they JUST sent the letters today at noon. So you’ll probably get the letter sometime next week…I don’t think they send an e-mail…..
@ Maha
Definitely one of the best ways of looking at a deferral that I have thus heard of! =] Made it easier to handle I shall have to admit. Good luck to all of you guys too in the deferral!
I don’t feel that bad, I mean, less than 1/6 get admitted EA, just wait for March now.
Yeah I got deferred but I expected that. Well I just have to work hard on my finals and second semester and hope for good news in March.
I did not let myself get too worked up. I kept my expectations realistic.
Keep in mind that they only accepted up to 30% of the class in early.
So now that we are in the regular pool there are a lot more spaces (75% of the freshman class)
And look at their decisions last year around 300 of us will probably get in regular so, I wish everyone the best of luck.
I am sure most of us would thrive in many environments so don’t worry too much about getting deferred.
Welcome to deferred anonymous.
Hi my name is Michael and I was deferred….
*awaits response*
HEY MICHAEL!!
Well, I guess I’ve joined the list of those who were deferred this year.
I just checked my decision a few minutes ago, and, while it certainly didn’t make me as happy as I would have been if I had seen “Accepted”, it’s not bad at all.
Now I’ve got over two more months to wait on a final decision; I’m not out of the race, but it certainly does make me wonder about my chances.
And I’ll admit it- it is partially a letdown being deferred, even when trying to rationalize it. But again, it’s not only me, and there are tons of you out there who have also been deferred.
Here’s to another wait- and this time we know it’ll come with a definite answer.
Deferred as well…..hopefully I’ll be accepted in March. As a matter of fact, Pi day happens to be my birthday.
I might have an awesome 18th birthday present……..sweet!
to everyone else who got deferred: i know it kinda sucks that we have to wait some more, but we’re a fabulous group of students. we’re good enough to have made it this far and not have been rejected by MIT!
ha ha. i think i’ll make that into a facebook group: “we’re good enough to not have been rejected by MIT”
Ello, im just wondering does any1 play runescape?
I thought I’d get defferred but my two best friends thought they would too, and then they both got in. So yeah I’m pretty bummed, but at least there is still some hope.
@josh — i don’t see how you could possibly not get in if you’re born on pi day.
and to the bloggers, i hope we’ll be hearing more from you now that decisions are out. actually, matt and ben, i’d love to read some entries about supplemental materials we could send in.
http://hs.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2222724260
that’s the facebook group: we’re so good we weren’t immediately rejected by mit.
it’s just for fun… so we can help each other make it to march.
Three and a half more months to go, still hanging.
Better than denied…
And, hey, I think I did good at my audition this morning. Yay!
Good luck to everyone!
Hi michael!
So many people from my school applied and now I have to compete with even more overqualified people in regular decision.
I went to breakfast with two others who applied early and we all checked together. (haha if either of you are reading this) They both got in, but obviously I was deffered. There is nothing like a massive game of pictionary/charades/20 questions/hangman to ease the pain. I know it is not rejection, but now I have to be nervouse for more months.
Oh and I recommend bianary based puzzles. They make everything seem right with the world.
Good Luck waiting and lets try to do something that can eat time..
I’m deferred, too! Now for the long wait until March…
mmmm!! Am I the only 16 year old here,, please tell me NO!! Is there anybody younger?
I got deferred and I’ve been trying to “rationalize” why this could’ve happended but nothing comes to me. Does anyone else feel this way? But I still know there’s hope. I just hate waiting for about four more months. That’s a loooong time.
well, my big problem right now is money, and trying to decide on whether or not not knowing until march will give me enough time to raise the money to go.
one thing i was told by an academic advisor at another school is that since still very few of the deferred are accepted regular action, i should try to get in contact with a member of the admissions team and find out what my chances are, or if, for example, someone with my application credentials has in the past been accepted regular action. does this seem totally off-base, or should i try it?
also, good luck to everyone. i’d been debating what would be “good” news today due to the money issue for a week now, so when i finally saw the letter, i sighed and took a 2-hour nap. how’d you guys deal?
I was deferred too. Everyone was crowding around me at Columbia right after class when I was logging on to get the decision. I can’t say I’m not disappointed, but at least I wasn’t denied (on my own birthday.) On the other hand, it is going to be a long way till March.
And I have a question, did any of you write the optional essay?
@ Natalie: yup i wrote the essay, i kind of had fun with that essay
i’m actually pretty excited to get deferred. My chances of getting accepted increase at regular action and thanks Maha for that nice preception of things.
@Ken: I guess you could try…of course, I doubt they’d be explicit, or even give you a straight answer, if any at all.
How did I deal? Pumped techno music. Photoshopped Jessica Alba. =P
@Natalie: MIT gave you a pretty crappy birthday present, if you ask me. ^.^ haha *siiggh*
@GRP: I feel the same way…the only explanation I can come up with is that the people they accepted were better qualified than me. Since they only accept 300…bleh. I guess there were just 300+ better qualified people.
Ah, well… I guess that the wait will be longer…
Anyway, at least we still have some hope…
I got deferred too. Now we gotta wait another 3months. Good luck everyone
@ Natalie: Didn’t know you were applying early to MIT as well. Happy Birthday to you!
So after getting deferred, I took one more look at my application and noticed that I mentioned some of my ongoing work. That leaves me three months to turn some of my ongoing projects into successes. I’m not simply going to wait until March.
(@ Charles: I’m going to discuss a few things about web hosting with you.)
@ Abdulrahman Fereiduni
I’m 16…and won’t b 17 until next september…
DEFFERED!!!!…ok its not that exciting…
congrats kelly!! (my “solo” was beast the other night)..
i’m actually excited — my week was awesome, and this was a good end to it — I’ll try my best to keep optimistic…
Unlike most people’s responses that I have read indicate, I was really expecting the worst news: MIT thought my application was so bad they would come to my house and physically abuse me. Fortunately, I was just deferred! Heh. At least that means I’m somewhat on par with the “average MIT student” (if such a thing exists!).
Best of luck to everyone come February! Let’s hope for that plane ride to Boston.
-AJ
At least I’m not the only one deffered…or the only one who put off the other applications…I know it’s a long wait until March, but I bet it’ll seem longer (relatively) when they announce when the decisions go out…Good luck to everyone, and don’t exams/end of term projects make life miserable and sleep-deprived? Or is that just me because I work?
Random quote (from The Two Towers movie):
“But in the end, it’s only a passing thing, this shadow. Even darkness must pass. A new day will come. And when the sun shines, it will shine out the clearer.” ~Sam
my heart’s not broken.
when I told people I was deferred they congratulated me.
hooray, I wasn’t rejected!
I’m seeing several people refer to an optional essay – what optional essay is this? I must have looked over my application (I sent it in on paper) 20 times, and all I saw was the essay A/B, which you had to write one of. This isn’t what everyone’s referring to is it?
Anonymous: There was an optional essay which read “tell us about something you have helped to create.”
Solomon, thanks for clearing that up. I know what you’re talking about, I just didn’t think of that part as an essay, but more of a show-and-tell. That’s probably because I sent in a copy of CAD project.
I did one of the two optional essay… is there a correlation between not doing the optional essays and getting deferred?
Survey Time!!: How many people did an optional essay??
I need some alcohol.
I did both … the “something you have created” one was a narrative essay that I spent a few hours on, the additional info one was just about some biology research … neither made a big difference though, apparently.
I need some acceptance letters.
Is Inebriated the same as the Anonymous who said they needed some alcohol?
=P
I did an optional essay. Twas an actual essay, not like, an abstract or whatever.
So, anyone think that it’d be possible to go back and send in that optional essay we may or may not have done?
I wrote the “created” essay about an art project I have been working on for a year and a half, then I wrote the “completely optional” essay about a musical piece I discovered over the summer. They were both narrative format.
I think maybe I wasn’t sciencey enough :( I thought my activities would speak for themselves.
It is horrible that now the waiting just has to start all over. How cruel.
I am glad that there is a blog for us. That’s what makes us better than the rejected ones.