Thank you all for this info. It’s made me feel better about my son’s rejection from his ED school (Emory), at which his GC thought he had a great shot.
@My3Kiddos Penn is far from the only top school that can get quite intense. Columbia, Cornell for example are just as intense. Stanford has the Duck Syndrome which is essentially the same as the Penn face. These schools are definitely not for everyone and students and parents should do a lot of research before applying and especially before choosing to attend. Many kids thrive in these kinds of environments but many don’t and would do much better at a smaller-size, less intense ivy (such as Brown, Yale, Dartmouth) or a top LAC.
@Penn95 - We were well aware of the intensity of other schools, but the reputation of UPenn as the “social ivy,” and the (limited) interaction with students while visiting campus led us to believe that things were dialed down a notch there if you weren’t in Wharton. It seems that what we may have been seeing was the “Penn Face” of the students.
I thought it meant that Stanford deferred legacies and rejected everybody else. But that may just be rumor.
All five Stanford deferrals I know were non-legacies. Only one was eventually admitted because she won a major national award in January and updated Stanford.
One less talked about aspect of downside of deferral is the Scarlet letter effect–and this is from an AO that I know–that deferred applications will bear evaluation/comment from earlier round. RD reviewers are typically very reluctant to overturn the judgment of their colleagues or their own, barring new development in the file. I imagine short of major award between Dec. 1 and March 1, a deferral would be basically a thank you note from AOs.
Ime, prior comments are wiped out. Of course, it’s possible LoRs are dated before the early deadline. Applicants need to take a breath and realize it’s a fresh start. Reviewing you in the RD pool is fine, if you really are a match and aren’t from an area with crazy competition.
@My3Kiddos Being the social ivy is also part of what makes Penn overwhelming to a lot of people. The main reason Penn can get overwhelming is because it attracts kids who are extremely driven and want to excel in multiple things at the same time. The ideal most Penn kids strive for on campus is to have top academic performance, have leadership positions in multiple student organizations, be on top of securing top internships and research positions for the summer, and maintain a very active social life, while appearing like they are barely breaking a sweat doing all of these things. Students are very friendly and helpful towards each other but they are very competitive with themselves and push themselves incredibly hard. Kids see their peers excelling in multiple fronts and this creates peer pressure. Luckily there have been initiatives to encourage people to be more open about their struggles and get rid of the urge of having to appear perfect on all fronts. It is working to an extent but still the culture is hard to change. Many kids thrive in this type of environment, many others dont.
None of the deferred posters in the current Stanford REA decision thread are legacies. I haven’t noted in correlation in other years as well.
@Penn95 Exactly my experience at Penn in the 80s. I think it is important to note that this phenomenon exists at all of the top schools. You have just a ton of kids who were “at the top” and the reality is that at these top colleges someone has be in the middle and the bottom…and those are going to be kids who did really well in HS. For some kids, that works and for others it doesn’t. Fortunately, I think that most schools are starting to really think long and hard about student mental health.
@Annie12 You can look at ED Results for some top 10 schools and you will see some kids with near perfect stats get denied – not even deferred. Sometimes it just comes down to whether the adcom who reviewed your application was receptive to your kid’s application etc. This is something you cannot control. So feel good that you and your kid did everything you could do, wait for the regular round decision and apply to some other schools. Life is not fair but in the long run, character, perseverance and hard work win out.
I was naive when I tried to figure out D1’s acceptance probability to her ED school (Columbia). It was a newbie mistake…I didn’t take into consideration of sports recruits, legacies, donors, URMs from her high school. I just looked at total acceptance rate. When I took out all of those “special people” the acceptance rate was very small. Her high school had close to 40% of students that were accepted to top 20 schools each year, but most of the parents also went to those schools and the high school had very competitive sports programs.
@oldfort Plus Columbia has the same ED admit rate as RD admit rate. (At least that is what they told us two years ago…it was a point of pride.) Penn’s ED admit rate is relatively high and then their RD admit rate is insanely low. Last year they had (approximately) less than 1000 spots left and 38,000 applications open at RD. (My math may be off a bit but it was something like that.)
Thank you all for taking the time to read and respond:) So much insight and knowledge from everyone. He has spent winter break applying/revising applications to other schools. Has been accepted to 2 so far, with honors and scholarships. I am realizing what a feat it was to have been deferred from Penn. He is taking it in stride, and knows it is part of the process. Thank you all for your input and I wish you the best in 2018!
Annie’s there is nothing like having an acceptance in hand. The $$$ is icing n the cake. I’m glad your son was so resilient.
Tell you son, instead of having just one option if he were accepted ED, now he will have multiple options come April.
My son got deferred from his number 1 ivy 6 years ago too, then rejected in RD. He also got rejected by 3 other ivies. The kid had straight A’s, a 2300 SAT, and graduated from a respectable private college prep school. It just doesn’t matter. The acceptance rates are so low at those places that it’s next to impossible to get in.
It’s good that he has other options, and hopefully, he’ll be excited about one of them. My son ended up at a small LAC and had a great 4 years with wonderful opportunities he probably wouldn’t have had in the Ivies. It’ll all be ok in the end. 
@annie12 I know I’m a Little late to the conversation, but I’m in the same boat as your son. I fell in love with penn and then was deferred from Wharton… I can’t imagine anything I could’ve done differently, so instead of thinking of couldas or shouldas, I look at it as a way to look at other schools.
Make sure your som does not feel defeated either. Pens accepted about 16%ED, which was a record low in percent and numbers… of that 25% we’re legacy… 12% we’re out of country, and 13% we’re first generation… when you take that into account we’ve just cut the possible spots for kids like me and your son to 50%… fifty percent of 16 is 8% which is their typical acceptance rate…
So I’m in aggreeance with most of the above posts… I’ve gotten a lot of money from some to place notch schools and am very excited to hear back from someone other schools that if I got in, I feel i may have more opportunities and ways to succeed than at Penn…
I was devastated at first but my best friend who also applied ED, who has a remarkable resume, grades, set scores also got deferred… we’re for, illjnois as well!. There’s really no rhyme or reason to it but I’m excited to see what the future holds and if penn id in my path well find out soon, but otherwise I’m sure anyone who got deferred fro, penn will be more than qualified and have success at a plethora of other uuniversities that are would love to Have him enroll.
Best of luck to the rest of the college process
Penn Legacy!!! Four Generations !!!
Son deferred tonight.
Caught your attention:)
My husband and I both Penn grads, our fathers and 3 grandfathers, both great grandfathers, brothers, cousins, great great grandfather- dorm named after him…blah blah blah…
Our son was deferred tonight. Straight A’s, 1400 scores (low for Penn) really good boy. Great New England boarding School. He’s worked as hard as he possibly could.
Deferred.
Tonight.
I’ve been prepping him for a possible rejection for a month. My advice: fabulous if you get in!
But,
“We love you just as much if you don’t!
Be prepared to pivot and broaden your horizons”
Acknowledge, move on.
Being a grad from there- ‘87- it’s a great school but not the ticket to a perfect life.
No school is.
Right now I’m trying to make him feel (via text) to be proud he made it this far! That says lots about his hard work. I’m impressed:)
Easy for me to say tho…
But I’m very proud and am certain that even if he were to go to a community college, he’d do well and be happy.
It’s not the name brand- it’s what you put into it.
That said, if he gets in, off of deferred, I’ll be thrilled for him, not me.
Having the privilege of growing up with many advantages, I can honestly say, name brand over no brand, has no bearing on one’s happiness!
He’s not getting a trust fund- doesn’t have rich parents, I just know- hard work, open mindedness and a creative problem solver goes much further than an Ivy League on a job resumé.
I’m going through a gut-wrenching divorce- which affects us ALL the same! We all have the same bumps in life.
Good luck to everyone and their babies;)
Happy, good priorities and friends- trump all.