Phillip*, The Athlete

Phillip received a shock last Wednesday when he was deferred from Harvard.
“It was pretty disappointing but I’m trying to take it in stride,” Phillip said. “I still have a pretty good chance of getting in since I have until January to keep getting better at my sport and to keep talking to the coach.”
Phillip has been on official recruiting visits to both Duke University and the University of Pennsylvania. While he was most impressed with Duke’s athletics he worries that there is not enough academic focus at the school. Rather than commit to Duke, Phillip will apply regular decision.
Though he liked Penn, he would prefer a college town rather than an urban setting.
“I’m just pretending like I didn’t apply early anywhere,” Phillip said. “Track and field has such a long recruitment season so I don’t have to make a decision right now. I don’t want to lose any opportunities by deciding before I’m ready.”

Doug*, The Brain

Though Doug said he was not frustrated, he was ready to know whether or not he got in to Princeton, which released their early-action decisions yesterday (after press time). While Doug felt confident in the work he submitted, he has not been relaxed about his work this year.
“I feel like I want to feel senioritis, but I know that there’s a possibility I won’t get in so I prevent myself from feeling it,” Doug said.
Most of all he said he is sick of doing applications. If he got in, Doug said he would plan to significantly cut down on the number of schools he would apply to.
Out of the 10 on his list, he will likely eliminate five if admitted to Princeton.

Francesca*, The All-Around

While Francesca was deferred from Brown University, she was admitted to University of Michigan and has been focusing on maintaining her grades and finishing the 12 applications she has left.
“It was really tough, don’t get me wrong, but I know what I have to do and I knew there was a chance I wouldn’t get in,” Francesca said.
She said that she could easily adapt her Brown essays to other prompts. She is left mostly with the essays that ask why she chose to apply to a given school.
As for tension among her peers, Francesca is trying to tune it out.
“Some people don’t know how to act the day after [decisions come out,] but it feels really good to have support from my friends,” she said.

Arthur*, The Artist

Arthur was accepted early  decision to Brown University and is finished with his college process. He said he plans not to slack off and needs to focus on keeping his grades up but is relieved.
“It hasn’t registered yet. I can’t even believe it,” Arthur said days after his acceptance.
A supplemental recommendation for Arthur from a performing arts teacher was not submitted until less than a week before the day decisions came out which made the Upper School Deans angry, according to Arthur, yet he could not help but forgive his teacher.
Arthur and his parents are ecstatic. When they heard the good news his parents told him, “our parenting has lead up to this point,” Arthur said.