<p>My daughter's Reed ED I application has been deferred to regular admission. Apparently that means that Reed feels she has the qualifications to be a student at Reed, or that she has the stats to compete against Reed applicants. But why would they defer a student applying to ED who they, themselves, have indicated has the potential for success? </p>
<p>What they seem to be implying in a deferment is this: "We like what we see, but not enough; there might be others after you who we like more. If we don't get better applicants, we'll let you in--I guess we'll have to. In the meantime, we'll keep you on tenterhooks for the next four months, and then we may very well deny you after the long wait. So sorry--applying to college these days has become such a rat race, so cut throat, hasn't it?" </p>
<p>By the way, despite not being accepted in the first round, my daughter is still very gung-ho about Reed--as are we. It's still by far her first choice. It's a wonderful school in so many ways.</p>
<p>In a brief search of Google I found several schools who don't defer early decision applicants; it's either you're in or you're not. This suggests that these schools recognize the inherent cruelty of deferment. If Reed had simply denied admission my daughter (and my husband and I) could move on--she could plan her next move without the baggage of carrying around with her what is a perhaps a forlorn hope of getting in later. Disappointment is part of life; dealing with it once would be appropriate; twice would not. Personally, I would have preferred a denial to a "postponement" (Reed's term). </p>
<p>Question: Does anyone know what the chances are in a general sense--or specific to Reed--of the acceptance of a deferred ED applicant later through the "regular" application process? (BTW: If you're wondering, our daughter WILL BE applying to at least six LACs now, as well as a few state schools [east coast]. Her SAT is about 2100/gpa 3.8/superb writer.)</p>
<p>Any help would be appreciated and sorry for the rant!</p>
<p>Totalrecall, I’m so sorry to hear this. Since her basic stats are broadly in line with the average stats of last year’s entering class, my guess is that her interest in the school, and understanding of the school’s distinctive culture, may not have come through in her essays. As I am sure you know, Reed puts a huge premium on “fit” and hence puts more emphasis on the essay than perhaps other schools of similar caliber. Reed of course is a very demanding academically-oriented school, and the admission office wants to be sure applicants understand what the place is all about.</p>
<p>All is not lost. Reed fills about two-thirds of the class through regular admission. If she has not already done so, I would suggest she schedules an admission interview. If she has already interviewed, contacting the admission office to find out more would not hurt. Good luck!</p>
<p>My suggestion is that your daughter emails the admissions office asking if there’s anything she might do to indicate her continued interest… Because being deferred is an opportunity to do just that. Additional recs, interviews, letter of interest (this one is very important and I would start writing it right away), updated test scores and transcripts, etc. are all ways for her to express a strong interest in Reed. There will be deferred applicants who get in during the RD round without doing all this, but if she wants to increase her chances, I would think this is the best way to do it.</p>
<p>She should definitely interview if she hasn’t! With Reed the interview is super crucial, and can literally make or break an applicant.</p>
<p>Also, have some hope! You’re acting as if deferment is a death sentence. I agree that it sends a message of hesitance about an applicant, but think about it this way: it would be much better for Reed to defer and get a better picture of your daughter, and potentially accept her, than to be unsure and reject her so that she has a solid answer.</p>
<p>Thank you, all, for your replies; you’ve been very helpful. My daughter will be staying in touch with Reed in the weeks to come, as you have all indicated she should. Her disappointment is over and she’s taking her deferrment, as Ghostt says above, as an opportunity to show Reed more of her achievements.</p>
<p>Last year, someone on here was freaking out about their deferment from ED to RD, and went back through his application and noticed several typos in his essay… perhaps he had even sent an earlier draft-? I forget the exact details. But he contacted Reed with a corrected essay, a letter of interest and all that and got in. So as others have said, embrace this as an opportunity to prove her continued interest in Reed and supplement any potentially weak parts of her application.</p>
<p>Another factor could be financial aid, like they only have so much set aside for ED and may have decided to give it to other applicants, but want to put her in the running for RD financial aid. Who knows? If I were her, I’d be happy that there is still hope, even if the lack of closure sucks right now.</p>