<p>Most universities/colleges have a higher acceptance rate for Early Decision and Early Action applicants than for Regular Decision applicants. Lots of ED/EA applicants get deferred and have their application re-evaluated with the regular decision applicants. If the acceptance rate for RD is lower than ED/EA and a lot more people apply RD, then if you get deferred ED/EA, how, logically, would you ever get accepted RD?!?!? Wouldn't you need to have even better qualifications than if you were an ED/EA applicant? </p>
<p>I hope my post makes sense... And I hope it isn't a moronic question...</p>
<p>It is not a moronic question. Some schools have a very high number of "unusual" ED applicants. Many athletes, legacies, and highly motivated students apply ED. If a particular school gets a high number of these "definite admits" during the ED season, it's going to be harder for someone who may meet the admit requirements for the school and be a good candidate overall to stand out as such with this crowd. If the rest of the applicant pool is equally competitive during the RD season, such a deferred candidate would be out of luck, but if the teams have the athletic admits that they wanted and the RD pool is more similar to the deferred ED candidate, he would have a good chance of getting in at that time, since it was his first choice school. I have known a number of kids who did get in RD after ED deferral. Some wrote to reiterate that this is still their first choice school, having their GC substantiate this as well; that the candidate is not applying ED2 anywhere. Also an update of activities and midyear transcript is usually sent. Someone so strongly interested and showing a strong performance senior year would be a player for RD. Also if the ED candidate has some special skill or interest that turns out to be scarce that year after all of the apps are in, that could be a turning point. Though there may be a higher accept for ED, many schools are reluctant to accept more than a certain number/% ED as it does limit them during the RD season when they have a better idea what this year's "crop" is going to be.</p>
<p>You can get accepted after you get deferred if your application becomes stronger. For example, your SAT/ACT scores get higher or your GPA and class rank rise. That's just one case though.</p>
<p>Yes - btw - there are A NUMBER of threads on this topic - you should check it out. </p>
<p>Just to give you an idea, I heard from a friend who was rejected (not deferred mind you) from Stanford ED, that half of the students either had perfect GPAs or perfect 2400s. Of course, this could be an exaggeration, but his mom confirmed that it was some high number. ED pools are much more competitive.</p>
<p>Don't be fooled by the numbers though––Princeton's admit rate for the normal smart kid do not double as their numbers indicate. Legs, development cases, URMs, and athletes take up many of the spots that account for that higher admit rate, leaving the 'normal' applicants with a meager increase in admit chances. Many times, your best bet is to apply RD. </p>
<p>Remember, if you're deferred, you have a virtual slash on your app. The adcoms have already said some form of a no (whether it's covered in pretty flowers and hearts or rusty nails is up to you) so you have a ranking of negative one on your app. However, the adcoms have never seen the RD apps before, so they're at a value of zero. If acceptance has a value of one, we can all see that it's a lot easier to go from zero to one, than from negative one to one. </p>
<p>fhimas, a lot of schools don't even indicate whether or not an app was deferred EA or just RD. So you're little "negative one" thing doesn't work in all cases.</p>
<p>I applied EA to Boston Colllege and UNC Chapel Hill. I was deferred at both of them. Since I applied my ACT score rose one point and my overall GPA improved as well. I wonder what will happen with me but only time can tell.</p>
<p>GO FOR IT is the key after being deferred. If you haven't interviewed in person, get over there and do it. Keep your name in front of them as you find out what things you have that you can really build up that they are looking for. Re-submit SAT scores if they have gone up a few points. Have the director of the place you volunteer for regularly send a note of recommendation. Have your principal, if he knows you well, give you a hand. ASK them what you can do to improve your application.</p>