Help, I Was Deferred! How to Process Getting Deferred from Early Action
HELP, I WAS DEFERRED! You’re feeling a small dose of disappointment, and a large dose of confusion, or vice-versa, right? I know you wish you had better news, so your deferral to the Regular Decision pool must feel anticlimactic, if not bittersweet. Fortunately, due to my countless hours in admission committee, culling lists and crunching numbers, I can explain exactly what it means to be deferred, and how to process the sitch.
WHY WASN’T I ADMITTED? I would like to forever banish the term “rejected,” replacing it with “not admitted.” You we’re actually a perfect fit, which is why they’re holding on to you. The thing is, thousands of other applicants were also perfect fits, and the college needs to see what kind of and how many applications are submitted in the next round.
Check out Harvard this year. For the class of 2024, they admitted 895 out of 6,424 students who applied Early Action. That’s 14%, and most of them had an unusual “hook” or filled a super -specific niche for the university — one that you couldn’t have ever filled even if you did learn fencing. So, it’s not that someone considered your application unworthy, they just had to admit their top cohort of students who met demographic, ethic, geographic, gender, athletic and artistic needs (whatever they currently are at any given institution) and there wasn’t room for you, at least not yet.
WHAT DOES IT MEAN? Running the risk of administering false hope, I invite you to celebrate what is actually fantastic news. Essentially, your college doesn’t want to let go of you. You’re a strong enough applicant to be admitted, so they are holding on to your application because there’s a chance you’ll be admitted this spring. Many schools err on the side of flat-out denying students early, especially since research shows students lose affinity for a school after getting deferred. So it’s good news, but…
WILL I BE ADMITTED IN THE NEXT ROUND? I can’t say this next part enough: even they don’t know what the applicant pool will look like in the Regular Action. There is absolutely no way to read the tea leaves or try to guess what each school’s institutional needs are for this fall’s freshman class. Your chances are impossible to predict. If you’ve been working with me, you’ve likely heard me point out the futility of guessing since it won’t change your behavior, right? In that spirit…
WHAT NOW? WHAT NOW? First off, “opt in” to be considered for the next round, as your school instructed. There should be clear directives in your deferral notification. No matter what, don’t skip this step or consider withdrawing your app due to hard feelings. You should have submitted several other applications, and you may want to consider even more if there is still time! Channel your energy into alternatives and, most importantly, try to relax or at least distract yourself.
WHAT TO WRITE. Your college might welcome a letter or message to advocate for yourself in the next round, sometimes called Letters of Continued Interest, or “LOCIs.” If so, craft one within two weeks following the below outline, but keep it to a a few paragraphs:
Begin by stating that you’re honored to be considered for the next round.
Reiterate that they’re your top choice.
Expound upon why, specifically, they remain your top choice.
Briefly state what you’ll be up to in the meantime, academically and co-curricularly.
If you have any impressive updates (new scores, grades, athletic accomplishments or stats, awards), make them very clear here. New sports stats are worth a call to the coach, and new SAT or ACT scores are worth a special call to ensure your application was updated.
TAKEAWAY. You are an ideal candidate for the school, or else they would have let you go already. It may feel anticlimactic or even disappointing, but you should actually take pride in your deferral, since most applicants were denied outright. After you’ve “opted-in,” you should try to keep a positive attitude, especially regarding your other options. College acceptance is unpredictable, messy, complex, and controversial. With any luck, we’ve devised a plan to ensure alternate outcomes that should also be extremely exciting. Your worst case scenario: like most students in the world, you didn’t get in to your first choice, but you have incredibly awesome, privileged, impressive, world-class alternatives. You’re lucky.