You turned everything in, complete and on time. Advanced Placement (AP) classes bloated your GPA. You're SAT scores were way past the minimum requirements. You're personal essay was Pulitzer-esque. You had a letter of recommendation from Colin Powell himself, but still no answer.

Then one day it comes. Your offer letter is either good news, bad news or maybe. The maybe comes in the form of deferrals and waitlists. With bad news, you move on. With good news, you look forward. If you get a maybe, you're moment of truth is postponed, and you're stuck in limbo.

If your application is deferred, you've gone through the early action or early decision process. Early action is when you apply for admissions well before the deadline, you will receive an early response and you'll have until May to choose whether or not you want to attend. Early decision is quite similar; you apply early and get an early response. The difference between early action and early decision is that early decision involves more commitment. When you apply as an early decision applicant, you promise to attend if accepted. You agree to drop all other college applications.

If you are deferred as an early action applicant, your application just gets put into the regular stack of applicants to be reviewed later. If you are deferred as an early decision applicant, you're free from your exclusive commitment to attend, and your application is reviewed through the regular admissions process. In both cases, you're still stuck with maybe.

Getting waitlisted is the ultimate “don't call us, we'll call you” situation. You're certainly not out, but you're definitely not in, at least not yet. When you get on the waitlist, you haven't been cut completely, but you're a reservist at best. You have to wait for enough accepted applicants to refuse their offers before you can earn a spot on the roster.

The degree to which you can be optimistic about the future decision of your deferral or waitlist situation really depends on how the college you applied to handles their admissions process. You could be almost there or not even close, but it's best to assume the worst. That way, you can take evasive action and form contingency plans. If you happen to make it, you'll be that much more surprised and enthused. But for practical purposes, you should plan to move on.

Just in case though, be serious about your senior year. Keep the admissions office apprised of your continued accomplishments. Let them know that you are a dedicated, hard-working student who respects the admissions process, but also let them know that you are worthy of further consideration.