From Deny to Defer status

psycholing
Thu, 14 Dec 2017 00:38:15 +0000

@4boyzsmom I know just how you feel. At this time last year my son was just deferred from Penn’s Huntsman program ED. Ironically, now he is at CMU Dietrich (with a merit scholarship) and very happy. With the Penn deferral, he had the option to write an “update” letter to Penn Arts and Sciences (not his first choice) asking for admission. He chose not to do this, as without Huntsman he was not sure how he felt about Penn. Being able to rapidly put aside his dreams of Penn is what gave him the time and mental energy to apply to CMU – a last minute add-on to the application list. So, for us at least, not chasing the original dream led to a positive outcome.

The other item I wanted to mention is that CMU SCS is impossibly hard to get into, so probably that will not be successful for an applicant already denied ED. Dietrich (home of stats) is somewhat less competitive, with the caveat that (1) statistics/big data is the “hot” major at Dietrich right now, and it is increasingly hard to get in with that major, and (2) CMU particularly seeks students whose entire application show a progression and passion for their major interest.

Good luck to your son – sounds like he will land on his feet.