The first wave of college applications have been submitted and as the Class of 2022 Dubs begin to hear back, the results are not what many hoped for and are quite unexpected in some cases. Applying to colleges is always a competitive process but it has been especially difficult this year and this has taken a toll on many seniors’ intended plans for after high school graduation. In the midst of many unexpected deferrals or denials, the Dubs begin to figure out what they are going to do from here. 

In one case, senior twins Emily and Julia Barfield got news that no close pair of siblings want to get.  The pair’s shared dream school is Auburn University. When the acceptance email came from the school, Julia got in as an early admit and Emily was deferred. While they are still going to wait for the final decision to come back in the spring, they did plan on going to the same college and need to make sure they have an option that will allow them to do so. One of them being deferred caused them to both have to quickly apply to more schools so they can have more options and be able to stay together. It was quite surprising that one of them was deferred with the other being accepted as they had very similar GPAs and test scores which made this a somewhat unexpected situation. 

Many Dubs share the ambition of attending the University of Georgia and there is a lot of competition coming from North Atlanta as so many people apply. This year deferral rates were exceptionally high with more applicants being deferred than accepted. While there is still a good chance that you will be accepted after deferral, it is important to make sure you work toward strengthening your application in the meantime which is what many are doing. “I was hoping I could get into Georgia early and be done with college applications and stress altogether,” said senior Ava Granot “Now I am just working hard to get my grades up and keep them that way to hopefully better my chances in the spring.” 

When applying early to a college, many are aware of the fact that often admissions look closely at numbers such as test scores and your GPA and doesn’t take into consideration other factors such as essays and activities as much. With exceptionally high deferral rates this year, many students have made the decision to shift their plan of applying early to the regular stage. “I was initially going to apply to many of the schools I was looking at for early action but after looking into it, I would rather wait because I want other aspects of my application to be considered aside from my test scores and grades,” said senior Margo Werner

Despite some unexpected outcomes, there is still a lot of hope left for many Dubs being admitted to schools at a later date. For now, all they can do is work hard to strengthen applications as they wait for final decisions to come in the Spring.