<p>Are these essentially the same thing?</p>
<p>no. Deferred means u are put into the regular application pool to compete against all the RD applicants. Waitlisted means you'll be accepted depending on how many ppl matriculate (agree to go to that school) and based on how many openings they have after that they will choose to accept u later on</p>
<p>No, deferred means they will reconsider you in the RD round. At many schools it's a polite rejection.</p>