Deferred from Early Decision, what does that mean?

I applied to Columbia for early decision and I got deferred. What were the chances of getting deferred in the first place? And are my chances of getting in RD better, the same, or worse?

It means you are not competitive enough for them to accept you straight away, however they would like you to be in the regular decision pool and see if you are competitive enough to be accepted based on the strength of other applicants.

A lot of early decision applicants are either legacy students or athletes. Do not be discouraged if you are deferred. You still have a fair chance in the regular decision applicant pool. A lot of schools deffer around 50 percent of early decision applicants. Not too sure of Columbia specifically though. You should ask your school’s guidance counselor for more info, since they usually have that information as specific for your school.

In terms of chances, you will not be regarded differently in the regular decision pool now that you are deferred. Meaning that they will look at you as if you are a regular decision applicant. Based on your competitiveness (scores, grades, EC’s, etc), your chances of getting in might increase, decrease, or stay the same in regards to early decision. It’s hard to say.

ED is very self-selective. Usually only the confident, top students apply ED (as well as legacies and athletes). So, if you think you are one of them, your chances of getting in regular decision are actually higher, since the regular decision pool isn’t as competitive as ED (relatively speaking)

If you think you are average, then your chances are probably the same or worse, since there are much more applicants in the RD pool.

It’s good that you weren’t rejected, you still have a chance. Being wait-listed is a totally different story…

Hope this info helps.

Thank you so much guys!!

It means they are neither ready to accept nor deny you. I’d say you were a good enough candidate to be considered, but maybe not quite accepted or accepted yet at least.
chance me?
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1952661-unviersity-of-virginia-chances.html#latest

Although it might be a bit late, improving your test scores may improve your chances. Columbia still accepts the Jan SAT. The fact you were deferred and not denied means Columbia is giving you another chance and you may still have the chance to send in a higher SAT.