I’ve read online in a lot of places that if you are deferred, you should email the admissions officer with a letter reaffirming your interest in the school. However, is this necessary for Yale? I feel like it’s such a great school and that writing a letter will only be a hindrance to the admissions officer.
Why would it be a hindrance to update Admissions if you have won awards, honors or achievements since you submitted your application? By your logic, students selected in the final round of Intel, Google, or Siemens shouldn’t bother updating admissions as it would be toooooooooooooooooooo much of a bother. Please!
What is unspoken in your post is that YOU have no such awards, honors or achievements to report since you pressed the submit button. In that case, you’re correct, don’t pester Admissions with an update that contains zero new information.
@gibby Thank you for the honest and helpful information! When I read articles about submitting letters, I focused mostly on how they said to express your continued interest. I thought it wouldn’t matter a lot for a school as great Yale if I re-expressed my interest because most people are interested in going to Yale. I will take your advice to heart!
On that note, do you or anyone else know if there is an unofficial deadline of sorts for these letters? Because I know a lot of people who have already submitted their letters of interest to other schools after being deferred and I’m going to hear about a competition I entered in late January and a music competition in February…
Writing a letter of continued interest is ONLY applicable for colleges that TRACK a students interest. Yale does not. So, don’t just write a letter for that purpose, as it’s indeed a waste of time.
An update letter should be sent by the end of February, beginning of March allowing Admissions enough time to consider your updates before final decisions are made.
@gibby Ahh I see, thank you sooo much!
I think re-iterating your interest and letting them know, if true, that you would accept an offer if they extend one can really make a difference even without new information.
^^ I disagree. At this point in the admissions process, the vast majority of SCEA deferred students don’t have other college acceptances in their back pocket, so of course Yale is going to be their first choice school. I kind of imagine Yale Admissions reading such a letter and going “duh!”
I wouldn’t do it now. I’d wait…but I would do it. Can’t hurt-especially if you have gotten into some other strong schools-which will help you know how competitive you are Then it isn’t a duh.
^^ The letter you are suggesting a student make is called a “Waitlisted Continued Interest Letter.” While that kind of letter may help after May 1st, what leverage does an SCEA deferred student have at present? Or, from now until April 1st? Absolutely none! It’s not like a deferred SCEA student can write to Admissions in the next 3 months and say “I was admitted to Harvard, Princeton and Dartmouth, but my first choice school is Yale!”
Definitely hold back on sending anything until next semester, maybe about 2-3 weeks before decisions come out, and send an update if you can. But also, more importantly, apply to MANY more schools, especially if they are all peer schools to Harvard. While deferrals can turn into acceptances, it is statistically quite low. In my experience, I had been deferred to Harvard, and did send them updates throughout the admissions process - even whilst being accepted to other peer schools. I ended up being waitlisted, and still sent a letter of interest, noting the offers I had. I was still rejected. But I still emerged from the process with acceptances that I was happy with 