I recently just got deferred from my top choice. I was wondering how hard it is to get in after being deferred. Do you have the same chance as the RD pool or a little lower? Is it a polite rejection letter? Are there any advantages for a school deferring a lot of people? Thanks
Same chance as RD.
A school deferring a lot of people gets to look at the whole applicant pool when spring arrives, which isn’t a bad thing, although it makes the application readers’ jobs more difficult.
Are your chances really the same in the RD. Do you think they have in the back of their minds that if they are to offer admission to a deferred candidate in RD the candidate would be much more sure to accept than someone who didn’t get deferred?
It really depends, but at most schools your chances are probably a bit better than the RD. Very few schools reveal much. Way back when my oldest applied MIT actually supplied the statistics. AT the time (2007) regular admissions was about 15% overall the 25% for those who had been deferred in the first round. Some schools like Georgetown don’t reject anyone in EA so you have no information. For others like Tufts, there was someone in the admissions office who really liked you, but often concerns about grades. There it’s really worth while to make your first term senior year grades pop.
But it’s not a polite rejection letter. (Sometimes the waitlist is however - mostly only for legacies.)
Depends on how the college handles ED/EA decisions.
Some schools only defer borderline cases, while others defer most non-admits, even though some may have very little chance of admission in the RD round.
Okay. My reasoning is that if they are worried about yeild and what not, why not accept the deferred candidates in the RD because they are more likely to accept. Therefore, it will boost their rankings.
Being deferred does tell you one thing: you are not a clear admit. Meaning that you are borderline at best or below.
If any college takes this into account, I haven’t heard of it. Sorry, but if you’re looking for reasons to believe you’ll get in RD, you’re barking up the wrong tree.
Your chances are what they are, and it’s out of your hands - don’t let angst rule the next 4 months of your life. You’ll either get into your top choice come spring, or attend another great school. Almost everyone loves the college they end up attending - there are several dozen “right” colleges for any given person.
It depends on the school. MOST schools (the Ivies in particular) use the deferral as a “polite rejection” and very, very rarely accept an applicant who has been deferred. Stanford, on the other hand, defers something like 10% of early applicants, so a deferral there actually indicates a chance. There are exceptions, of course–I know students who have gotten into Columbia, Cornell, Brown, and Penn after deferrals, but they all accomplished something between early and regular application seasons and sent meaningful update letters.
I’d like to add my thoughts on a deferred status. That you didn’t get rejected the first go around. Get your subject tests done, take the SAT or ACT test again and keep your mid year grades up as high as you can. When the application team reviews again these higher scores may just sway them. After all, you could of had a rejection letter to start with. What do the professionals say out there?