In the past couple of weeks a good amount of schools released their decisions for students that applied early action. With these decisions, many seniors at Benilde-St. Margaret’s have been accepted to their top school, but many also received a deferred decision for their top choice school.

Students who have received a deferred decision have many choices to make. The deferred decision comes with more tasks and waiting needed so that students can still have a shot to go to their top school. The choice whether to go the extra mile or to move on to their second choice school is a very tough one and comes down to how much students love their first choice option. “I think the deferred decision actually makes me want to go to the University of Wisconsin-Madison more because I think it would just prove that I have it in me,” an anonymous applicant to Madison said.

The students that do choose to go above and beyond have lots of different routes to take. Whether it is submitting their grades from the first semester, writing a letter of continued interest, or sending in new letters of recommendation, students will have to pick and choose what is the best course of action for their chances to get accepted into the school. “I am having different people in my life and my community write recommendation letters for me, along with submitting my first semester grades and updating my resume with my current extracurriculars and those that I’ve continued,” a senior girl at BSM said.

Many schools require students that were deferred to submit their first semester grades. Often it is said that seniors in high school can “senior slide”, but as students who were deferred have seen, you need to keep your grades up. Your chances of being accepted are diminished if schools see that you did not maintain your usual grades, so it is best to try your best senior year. “My grades are pretty good. I worked hard in school the first semester in case this happened,” another senior girl at BSM said.

Even though lots of people want their top choice college, many students would be happy with their second or even third choice college if they do not get accepted. This is because many students believe that wherever they end up will be best for them. “I am not necessarily super committed to one school compared to another, rather I think wherever I will end up will be where I’m meant to be,” a senior girl at BSM said.