Deferrals Aren't Created Equally

Applying to College
1

I wanted to post a thread about deferrals, as I and many others have been deferred in the early round. We all know that some schools, like Stanford, defer very few applicants, while others, like Princeton, defer a great majority of applicants.

However, I’m curious to gather input about how even within a school the odds of acceptance for deferrals are vastly different. We know that a deferred legacy is essentially a polite rejection, but beyond that, is it possible to gauge the deferral at all?

2

I think it depends on the number of deferrals. If you are deferred at Stanford your application is still in the running, while a school like Princeton a deferral is a light rejection.

3

Two years ago, roughly a quarter (25%) of deferred Stanford applicants were accepted.