Given my stats (ACT 33, GPA 3.8, Rank 14/108), I was expecting a rejection from Harvard, but I got a deferral instead. I think it may have been my essay that had gotten me the deferral instead of just a rejection. My question is, would it be worth trying to apply to other schools like John Hopkins, Columbia, or Princeton? To put it into perspective, my general match/safety schools were supposed to be UMich Ann Arbor, UW Madison, Northeastern, UVA, etc. Thank you!
Harvard defers about 75% of applicants, and admits less than 5% of those they defer. You shouldn’t count on being one of the 5% - it’s time to send RD applications.
You have the stats to be academically qualified for schools like JHU/Columbia/Princeton, so unless your ECs or essays aren’t any good, it’s worth a shot. I do think you could use a couple of safety schools and maybe a low match (think BU or similarly selective colleges) - UMich and UVA are probably low reaches for an OOS applicant, while UW Madison and Northeastern are high matches given your stats.
@NotVerySmart Thank you for your input! I’m in-state for UMich, so I’m thinking I’ll likely attend there (if accepted) more than anything.
If you’re in-state, UMich becomes a high match.
You still need a safety, though - it’s quite possible for a student to be rejected from 3 high matches, and that’s a risk you don’t want to take.
JHU is a bit below the others, more of a low reach. I see no safeties in the schools you listed.
Find two safeties quickly and start expressing interest (as some safeties will reject applicants who make it obvious they see their university as a mere safety).
Apply to other top schools but make sure you have several universities with 30%+ acceptance rates for matches.