***Stanford Class of 2020 Deferred Thread***

Colleges and Universities A-Z Stanford University
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@fredthered @mountaingoats @1golfer1 Thanks for the replies. My legacy is sadly kind of strongish… My dad went for grad, mom for undergrad. They donate verrrrryyyy little. Like 500-1000 a year I believe. Could it still be not a courtesy defer? I mean yeah I think I’m a really good candidate, gotten all A’s except a couple A-'s, 35 like I said. To hint at some EC I’m ranked nationally for debate, editor in chief of newspaper, list goes on.

I actually applied as undecided :confused: Because I really am! So I don’t know if the similar major thing works for me? Could they have deferred me because so many people from my school applied (small school, but relatively a ton did and 1 got in for major connections and 1 for football) Ugh

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@jetynz Your stats sound pretty strong, so I’d say that it wasn’t a courtesy defer. You’ll probably never know for sure, so just be confident!

I really don’t know what I’m gonna submit for my deferral update form. All that’s changed is that I’m doing badly in one class…

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As someone who has followed Stanford admissions almost as a hobby over the years, I would like to offer a few observations to the deferred students.

First, congratulations. Unlike other schools, Stanford historically defers relatively few students. This year Stanford deferred only 701, while Harvard deferred 4,673. I think it is disgraceful what schools like Harvard do in deferring so many. They know they will accept only a very, very small percentage of those deferred.

Second, the most recent hard data I am aware of show is for the Stanford class of 2018. That round 593 were deferred and 145 of those individuals were eventually admitted. This gives an approximate admission rate for the deferred students of 25%. Here is the link to the relevant information:

https://stanford.app.box.com/s/y4abufqg66nte7uax6eq

This year somewhat more were deferred, but there are rumors of the class size increasing somewhat.

Third, I know the uncertainty is maddening, but there is little you can do to increase your odds. If you win a significant award, by all means report it to the admissions office. Stanford has a policy of not waitlisting deferred students. I applaud this policy. The uncertainty must end at some point.

Fourth and most important by far, do not fall in love with a school until you have been admitted. There are a lot of good schools out there. About 90% of college is what you make of it.

You have given Stanford your best shot. Send the significant updates, otherwise move on with your life. The odds are that you will not be admitted. If you are, it will be a nice surprise and you will have some decisions to make.

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@fredthered Thanks for the info. I’ve never heard of that policy of not waitlisting deferred applicants before, but it’s good news. Would you advise against turning in the deferral update if I don’t have anything positive to report?

Some more data- as in previous years, my deferral letter stated the following: “Although we cannot predict the likelihood of gaining admission, in each of the past four years approximately fifteen percent of deferred candidates have been admitted.”

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Hey y’all. Sorry to hear about your deferrals. I’m currently a junior at Yale and was deferred from Stanford three years ago today. The following year I kind of ran the Stanford 2018 deferral thread, and this was my original post. I figured I’d repost it here and refer you guys to the thread because I think it’s got some good content.

"Okay, I’m NOT a 2018 Stanford REAer. But I WAS deferred from Stanford last year. There is a light at the end of the tunnel. There is life after deferral…actually, there’s a pretty fantastic life after deferral.

Here is post #1138 from the REA discussion thread that I threw up yesterday (modified slightly to fit the situation…)

I knew I wanted to go to Stanford for five years by the time I applied. I was absolutely in love with the school and for me, it was Stanford or bust. I eagerly applied REA and patiently waited a grueling six weeks for my decision. I ended up getting a deferral, which I was really angry about. I knew that I would end up being either accepted or rejected and I wanted them to tell me right then, not three and a half months later. My pride was a little hurt, but I buckled down and submitted 12 other college applications (Harvard, Yale, Dartmouth, Duke, Johns Hopkins, Northwestern, Washington University in St. Louis, Cal Poly SLO, Rose Hulman, Yale NUS, and my state school). Just three weeks after submitting these applications in the hopes that I would get into at least one good school (I really thought I’d end up at Northwestern), I got a call from my Yale admissions offer telling me that I had gotten a likely letter and they wanted me to come visit campus. I spent the weekend of President’s Day being courted by a phenomenal school but couldn’t figure out why Stanford didn’t want me if Yale thought I was such a hot commodity. If I was in the top 100 applicants of Yale’s 27,000, why wasn’t I in the top 700 of Stanford’s 6,000? It didn’t make sense. I loved Yale but still thought I wanted to go to Stanford. A few days after coming back from Connecticut, I got a likely letter from Harvard in the mail. Once again, I was in the top 200 applicants of Harvard’s 30,000, but not in the top 700 of Stanford’s 6,000.

On March 29th, 2013 at 4pm I sat on my bed with my phone and hesitated before checking my email. I didn’t even know if I wanted to get in at that point. I mean, I really loved Yale, but my whole family desperately wanted my to go to Stanford. Getting in would make things confusing. I opened my email, found that I was accepted and was really happy. I called my mom and told her in a voice that shook with excitement. This is what I had always wanted. Right?

Then came the hard part… I had offers from Yale, Harvard, MIT, and Stanford (along with plenty of the others I applied to - ironically I was waitlisted at Northwestern). I narrowed it down to Yale and Stanford pretty quickly (for financial and weather reasons), but agonized over the decision from there. I did resent Stanford for deferring me and I knew that Yale WANTED me. I waited until 12 minutes before the deadline to decide…take a look at my username and you’ll figure out where I am now (hint, it’s not “cardinal2017”).

Basically what I’m trying to say is this:

  1. You WILL survive this deferral
  2. You WILL love your college, no matter where you go
  3. There is a school out there that WANTS you
  4. Sometimes what you think you want for your whole life doesn’t turn out to be what you actually want when push comes to shove

I am now a happy Yalie (hey, you all should apply here!) and I don’t regret my decision one bit. If I had been accepted early, I would be writing this from Palo Alto and not New Haven. In reality, this is the place for me to be, to grow as an academic and a person, and I’m almost grateful that I didn’t get in REA because admissions pushed me to explore my East Coast options.

I know you might be bitter now, but things will work out. I promise.

I’d rather have you guys post questions here instead of PMing me so that I don’t have to answer the same questions over and over again and also so it will be on the interwebs for all posterity. If I do get a PM related to this thread, I’ll post the question and my response here anyway."

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Here’s the link: http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/stanford-university/1589943-deferred-rea-stanford-2018-p1.html

Sorry for not writing a new long post for y’all. I have finals, don’t judge.

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Where else are you guys applying?

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Also deferred. Two from my school. Congrats to us though – still a good indication of where we stand!

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I got deferred. International from Kenya. I applied without subject tests, I think they’d like to see those. All the best everyone.

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I’m applying to Duke UCB WashU Princeton Yale NYU (safety) MSU (safety) University of Rochester UPenn MIT Northwestern Rice Notredamr

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And possibly Minerva

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@SoniaMl are you seeking FA. I’m also an international from Kenya

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hey guys, would it be okay to contact the admissions office and ask for more information as to why you were differed and gain some insight as to what you can do to increase your chances?

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^no. Do not do this.

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Hard no. They won’t tell you why you got deferred, and it gives off the worst impression imaginable.

36

Just realized I forgot to submit the CSS profile to Stanford. Could this have affected my deferral decision?
Since my chances of getting aid are pretty low anyways, I’m wondering if I just shouldn’t submit it at all. Maybe it’ll increase my chances if I’m not requesting aid. :-/

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@fruitfly2020 It has no bearing on decisions. I was accepted but forgot to turn it in too (yeah… I’m really stupid with stuff like this). I gave them a call, though, and they said just turn it in as soon as possible.

If you’re deferred, technically you’re part of the RD pool now and are therefore bound to RD deadlines, so really the profile isn’t due until a couple months haha. I’d recommend submitting one anyway, just in case you do get aid - Stanford is pretty generous, so who knows? :slight_smile:

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@IBscholar Thank you!

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@SoniaMI Lol honestly I called and asked…obviously I didn’t give my name or anything, I just wanted to know if they’re able to even check that type of information…they said they’re not allowed to reopen people’s files until RD applications start to be reviewed.

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Does anyone know how heavily Stanford weighs being a first generation college student? My stats were slightly under average (33 ACT), with moderate EC but managed to receive a deferral instead of an all-out no.