<p>I'm not in any way bad mouthing Princeton. It's Princeton after all</p>
<p>We knew it was going to be a long shot anyway when S applied EA. Well, he got deferred along with over 2000 applicants!! 700+ accepted and only 49 rejected! WHAT? </p>
<p>These 2000+ students will be competing with approximately 20,000+ more candidates, so my question is: What's the point of applying SCEA? Was this pool of applicants so unique and good they couldn't get rid of more? and if they were so unique and good how come they didn't accept more?</p>
<p>Oh well, I'm glad S is not affected and moving on to his other choices. I'm sure in the end he'll end up where he belongs and be happy</p>
<p>It is 3000+ deferred. I’d rather they be like Stanford and defer only the ones they think really have a chance in RD. This dilutes the whole process honestly. Maybe they do have a list for “likely” vs “no way”…but maybe, they want to give everyone a very last chance in case something was missed - awards, show good grades, better scores…who knows.</p>
<p>I am just going ahead as if I have been rejected…but this kind of leaves people in limbo…wait, am I still a strong candidate or just a courtesy deferral? Sometimes I do feel it is a way to show their numbers and not scare away future scea applicants. Princeton has 3800 …way lower than a lot other ivies…and stanford.</p>
<p>“What’s the point of applying SCEA? Was this pool of applicants so unique and good they couldn’t get rid of more?”</p>
<p>They could but they accept more people early to protect their yield. They say it doesn’t matter but it does. This is not to say that underqualified applicants have a better chance early. It’s just that if you’re qualified, you are more likely to be admitted early.</p>
<p>“how come they didn’t accept more?”</p>
<p>If Princeton accepted everyone who’s qualified, it wouldn’t be Princeton with a single digit acceptance rate. </p>
<p>I honestly think being deferred is better than being rejected. People complain that they’re in a “limbo”. Well, in both scenarios, you have to do more applications and wait to see what happens so you’re in a limbo either way. Being deferred and then rejected hurts less than being rejected at once imho</p>
<p>Whether they deferred fewer kids like Stanford or deferred almost everyone as just happened, they would have accepted the exact same kids so no one was actually negatively affected by their decision to apply early by the change in policy. In fact, the message Princeton is sending is that if you apply early, you will have two bites at the apple instead of one.</p>
<p>…3,042 students were deferred to the regular decision pool for re-evaluation, 12 students withdrew their applications and 49 were denied admission.
…When asked why the number of rejections had declined significantly, Rapelye said her office had decided to give students every benefit of the doubt and make sure students had a chance to turn in all of their application materials.</p>
<p>That is good how Princeton thinks: give students every benefit of the doubt
And that is totally good thinking for the kids working so hard and not being rejected until the admission process is ended.</p>
<p>^ this may indicate Rapelye’s and Princeton’s consideration of the unique Common App problems this year and may not be indicative of a broader philosophy shift about defer/reject rates in future SCEA cycles.</p>
<p>I think last year they deferred almost the same number. I think it is a combination of “give students a 2nd chance” and “not scare away SCEA future years”…I know lots of students who are very strong and even if their first choice is Stanford, don’t do SCEA to Stanford (oh…I am just going to get rejected, as Stanford doesn’t defer much)…
Anyway, as expected, it is VERY difficult to get into the top schools unless you are really distinguishing yourself. Rest assured, “name of college” is just a name after the initial euphoria settles in…</p>
<p>Haha, those 49 could have been anyone or anything- not graduating on schedule, not having met academic requirements or completed the app, not able to do the level of work P requires-- or those who think the app is a crapshoot and they write whatever. Or other things.</p>
<p>3000 deferred adds a big bundle to RD. Even at 10 minutes each, it adds up. </p>
<p>But yes, there are many reasons one can be deferred. Best to look at it as an ongoing “maybe.”</p>
That makes me think internally they already have their strong pile and not strong pile. But like all ivies who are deferring 1000s to RD, they want to do the same…Also doesn’t it encourage a great RD round…with folks in the below average scores think they have a chance and send in their RD apps…this in turn will lead to the admit rate…Call me cynical…but it is not all about “this is princeton and we want to give everyone another chance since common app was not working well…” :)</p>