By Catherine Wang

 

Madison the Performer:

Madison,* who applied to Wesleyan University Early Decision, was deferred to the Early Decision II applicant pool.

“Basically, they will re-evaluate my application with the Early Decision II applicants,” she said. She will receive notification of her admissions decision in mid-February. If accepted, Madison must agree to accept Wesleyan’s offer of admission.

“I was surprised because I didn’t know that program even existed,” she said. “I was given the option to withdraw, but I didn’t.”

Students that apply Early Decision to Wesleyan may either be rejected, deferred to the Regular Decision applicant pool, or deferred to the Early Decision II applicant pool.

“Wesleyan doesn’t defer that much,” she said. “It’s actually a pretty good sign.”

Madison learned of her deferral Monday at 12:15 p.m. She checked for her admission decision online in her dean’s office.

“I was a little frustrated, since I have to do more apps,” she said. “But I’m happy I wasn’t rejected.”

Madison applied to Emerson College Early Action and learns of her admissions decision today at 12 p.m.

“What happens with Emerson won’t affect where I apply,” she said. “I’m still going to apply to six other schools.” She has completed two or three of those applications, she said.

 

Aiden the All-Around:

“It’s the same as it’s always been,” Aiden* said of the status of his college applications. “Not much action.”

Aiden did not submit any early applications.

“I have to wait ’til regular decisions come out, so right now I’m just smooth sailing trying to do well in my senior year classes,” he said.

He has been watching from the sidelines as his classmates receive their admissions decisions.

“I’m really happy for [my friends who have gotten in],” he said. “It’s a bit sad. For the first time college seems ‘real’ so to speak. We’ve all talked about going to college and our top choices. But now, we’re actually hearing back from them.”

Though he still has applications to work on, Aiden does not regret his decision to not apply early.

“It would be nice to have gotten a decision by now, but I really wasn’t down to get killed by a school work and application combo first quarter,” he said. “I’m satisfied with my decision.”

Aiden has submitted applications to University of Michigan, University of the Southern California, and several campuses of the University of California. He applied to USC’s College of Arts and Sciences, and he applied to the University of California’s Santa Cruz, Santa Barbara, San Diego and Riverside campuses.

“It’s alleviating having submitted them,” he said.

 

Zoe the Artist:

Zoe,* who applied to New York University Early Decision and Emerson University Early Action, is “nervous like never before” as she awaits admissions decisions from both schools.

NYU notifies applicants of its admissions decisions via e-mail today at 2 p.m. Zoe is “pretty sure” Emerson releases its decisions today as well.

“I haven’t been able to focus on anything for the past week,” she said. “It’s a constant countdown.”

Zoe is leaving her cell phone at home today, so that she will not be tempted to check her e-mail. She wants to check in the comfort and privacy of her home, she said.

“I’m going to be crying either way,” she said. “I don’t want to be a mess. It’s just to be safe.”

In addition to her early applications, Zoe submitted her University of Southern California application. She has almost completed her applications for Wesleyan University, Bard College and Loyola Marymount University.

“I just want to know,” she said. “It’s come to the point that I don’t care what the outcome is. I just want them to tell me if they want me or not.”

 

Alexis the Athlete:

Alexis,* who applied Early Decision to and was recruited by St. Mary’s College of California, will receive her admissions decision sometime before Christmas, she said. She was recruited by St. Mary’s and spoke to its coaches last week.

“I kind of feel good, but I don’t want to feel too confident,” she said. “I’m comfortable.”

In addition to her early application to St. Mary’s, she submitted California State University applications to the Fullerton, Northridge and San Luis Obispo campuses.

Alexis is happy with her grades right now.

“I think being able to drop history and foreign language, and double up on science and math has allowed me to do better,” she said.

Now that her school sport season is over, she has resumed training with her club team, which she said is more of a time commitment. She is taking her club season seriously, as she may get recruited by other schools in the coming months.

 

Carter the Brain:

Carter* finds out whether he is accepted to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology under Early Action, tomorrow at 6 p.m.

“I will probably check [at] the exact moment it comes out,” he said.

He admits he is feeling the stress of those who have recently learned their admissions fate.

“Thinking about the early decisions results fills almost every moment,” he said.

In addition to his MIT application, Carter has submitted applications to four University of California campuses: Berkeley, Los Angeles, San Diego, and Irvine.

“Honestly, I still have a lot of work to do,” he said. “I pushed the [MIT] Early Application way too close. I should have started sooner.”

He plans on dedicating his winter break to applications.

“It’s not a good time to work on applications right now, since there are a lot of tests before winter break,” he said.

He has 11 more applications to complete, most of which use the Common Application.

“I think it’s important I work on my Common App. essay,” he said. “I’m still getting feedback on [it].”

Carter admits that he will probably work on applications up until their deadlines.

“Not because of procrastination,” he said. “But because I know there’s always more work I can do. The second round of applications is my last chance. I don’t want to shortchange myself by turning in something that may not be as polished as it could be.”

Acceptance to MIT will not end Carter’s college application work. As of now, he believes he will still apply to Harvard University, Princeton University, Stanford University and California Institute of Technology.

 

 

*names have been changed