Hello,
I was deferred from Yale’s SCEA program. Since I wasn’t flat out rejected, can I just assume what was on my application was accurate to the T and good enough to be competitive at other schools? I looked over my application and I don’t really see anything that is a red flag. Any advice?
PS A little disappointed I was deferred, but I suppose it is normal. Life will go on without Yale 
I think that is a fair assessment. If there is anything upon review you want to change, now is a good time to do it but it’s not necessary.
@gardenstategal Colleges don’t share data from applications correct?
No, @mdchang99.
From the Yale Daily News:
“The Office of Undergraduate Admissions welcomed the largest group of admitted early action students in several years on Thursday, inviting 871 students to join the class of 2021.
The admitted students represent 17.1 percent of a pool of 5,086 early applicants. Additionally, 53 percent of applicants were deferred to the regular decision process in the spring, 28 percent were denied admission, and 2 percent were withdrawn or incomplete.”
More than half of the applicant pool was deferred. This is a good opportunity to review your application with your college counselor or a parent and make sure that you have done the best you can representing yourself. You will also want to carefully consider your remaining application list to make sure that you have enough options.
All competitive colleges these days received MORE applications than they have seats in their freshman class. As @siliconvalleymom suggested, this would be a good time for you to realistically look at your stats versus your college list and possibly add a few more target and safety schools to it, just in case things don’t turn out differently in the RD round with Yale and with the other selective colleges on your list.
@gibby @siliconvalleymom I have already begun to plan beyond Yale since I will most likely be rejected second time around. I would like to think my stats are competitive (valedictorian, 33 ACT) and this might just be a issue of finding the right school for me. I just hope I’ll find the school that fits me since it seems that Yale probably isn’t the place for me.
I’ve applied to these schools so far:
Berkeley, Columbia, Duke, Harvard, and Stanford – reaches for me I think?
Fordham, Tulane, UVa – match?
UF, FIU – safety?
– Am I on the right track thus far? (Even though I’m praying I get into dreamy UC-Berkeley)
Are you OOS for UCB? If so, it will be even harder for you to get in. The UCs are in a bit of a budget crisis now, and won’t give much financial aid if you need it/request it.
Qualifying data is one thing but you need to be the reason they pick you over other students with pretty much the same qualifications. And the kicker is that you don’t know what any of these schools are still looking to fill the class. I suggest reading your application and asking yourself what in it makes you shine above all of the others. We always joke that it was my daughter being a cheerleader that threw her over the edge because its funny but it very well could have been a real quality they were looking for. We will never know.
One thing I noted when looking at the results page and the STATS of those accepted/deferred/rejected was that they all were pretty much the same in the end. So then you have to look at the fine print. What was it that made them stand out? It probably isn’t a matter of profiling and filling minority spots because there will be thousands of other applications to choose from in the next few months so what was it? Was it the essays? That can only go so far as well. Because they can be written and edited, tweaked and perfected by someone other than the student- I doubt that is the deciding factor. There has to be something bigger, a theme throughout the application that says,“This kid is different”.
Do I think you should still apply? If you can afford the application then why not? Take a chance and see. But if you are being selective on where you are spending money on fees, perhaps a few challenging schools over super reach/holistic decision might be your better place to spend it. Go back and read the stats of all the accepted students for the schools you are looking at and ask yourself if you compare. And then honestly ask yourself if you are better than that. Good luck!!!
@mdchang99 I do not think UVA is a match with valedictorian and act 33. I think your Act is on the lower end for that school - to be considered a march. UVA is very hard to get into these days unless you are in state. They will look at much more than being a valedictorian and act - courses and rigor and essays and recs and ECS.
@hcmom65 well… it is a holistic process, so hopefully I can put myself out there well enough. I’ll give it a shot