Last year I was in the same exact spot as you. I was anxiously awaiting decisions from the universities I applied to, especially the University of Michigan.

I had done enough snooping on College Confidential to know exactly when the emails for early action applicants came out, and if you didn’t get an email by a certain time, chances are you weren’t getting an acceptance that day.

The time the emails were supposed to come out I was in my AP Spanish class. I pulled out my laptop and kept clicking refresh on my email and the portal and then I would check if other people had heard. They had.

I spent the next three hours doing that same thing until my computer died. This wasn’t looking so optimistic.

I begrudgingly drove home and tried to distract myself from the fact that I still hadn’t heard. At like 4 I got an email from the university. I had been deferred.

There were a lot of tears. But thanks to some good friends and a lot of ice cream I managed to pull myself together, despite the dozens of texts from people asking if I had heard.

While I was initially upset, upon further investigation a lot of people get deferred from Michigan early action. I had friends with way higher GPAs and test scores that got deferred as well, so that made me feel better.

As painful that deferral was, the joy of my acceptance made it all worth it.

And as I sat at lunch yesterday with two of my friends who are high school seniors who got deferred from Michigan early action, I thought I might offer some positive words.

You will end up at the right university for you. Everything happens for a reason. If you are meant to get into Michigan, you will hear later in the year.

Just send a nice little note to the representative from your area solidifying your continued interest in the school - it helps I promise.

Good luck high school seniors, you're halfway there!

Love Always,

Paris