Deferred from your top choice school?  Here's the latest from the NYT, although I don't recommend reading it if you attend a top prep schol in the east…or the west…or anywhere else in the country.  Here's a quote:

So in certain precincts of Manhattan, parents of those who were deferred or rejected in December have been swapping stories ever since about the seemingly perfect senior at the Spence School who did not make the cut (“If not her, who?” lamented one parent) and the six Brearley School girls who were deferred from Yale (“I thought Yale loved Brearley,” cried another, pointing out that 20 Brearley graduates have gone to Yale in the last five years, more than any other university).

What to do if you're deferred?  According to the latest newsletter from Application Boot Camp, you might have a greater chance of eventually getting in this year because the new trend is to reject unqualified applicants outright.  But you can't just sit around. You need to get good grades, collect additional recommendation letters and engage in a full-fledged self-promotion campaign.  Here's what they advise:

Write a letter reaffirming that the college is still your first choice, send an extra letter of recommendation, make sure your grades go up and send updates about what you are doing in school.  The only deferred kids who end up being accepted are those who make themselves into polite pests.

More specifically, by the middle of February, draw up a one-page letter reaffirming your interest in the college, and then submit a bullet-point list of all the earth-shattering news/awards that you have won. 

Having trouble figuring out what to write?  Are you just a normal kid with few, if any, earthshattering news/awards?  No worries.  The Neurotic Parent Institute has come up with several adaptable templates, which we will share with you free of charge:

"The knitting club I founded has now produced sweaters for an entire colony of freezing penguins in Antarctica.  I have won a Golden Needle award for my efforts."

"I am proud to let you know that I am now shadowing an ENT at Cedars Sinai Hospital, and I have just assisted in my first septoplasty (repair of a deviated septum)."

"Since my deferral, I have composed a series of trombone concertos, one of which will be perfomed this season by the Cleveland Symphony."

"During spring break I plan to travel to Chinle, AZ, where I have organized an Intertribal, multigenerational pow wow.  I have received an advance to write a book of poetry about the event, tentatively titled "Meditations of Harmony and Wonder," and I intend to donate the profits to Habitat for Humanity."

and, finally:

"My grades, unfortunately, have not improved, and the only award I have won was 'Customer of the Month' at the Verizon store, after losing or damaging seven iPhones in a three-week period.  But I thought it would be of interest that my grandma's foundation plans to finance a state-of-the-art neuroscience lab at the university that I ultimately attend."