Hello, I just got deferred from Williams… Does anyone have any info about what percentage of applicants who don’t get accepted actually get deferred? Like do they hand out deferrals to nearly everyone? Also, how many deferred students are likely to get accepted in RD?
I’m in the same boat here. I don’t have an answer, since unlike some other selective colleges, Williams doesn’t seem to release many statistics. I’m considering emailing an admissions officer or something to see if they have any insights and also to express my continued interest in attending. Think this is a good idea or are there better courses of action?
@noahget I’m sorry you and others have been deferred, but do not give up hope.
However, do not contact an admissions officer directly about your deferral. You will fall into the annoying basket. Imagine if everyone deferred did this. They won’t comment on pending applications. And unless you withdraw your application, they will assume you still want to attend since you chose them ED.
If you have interesting and/or substantial changes to your application, like better grades, new extracurriculars, awards, accomplishments, etc., make sure you and your counselor send that to the admissions office in early January to update and improve your file, since you will be reconsidered in light of the RD applicants regardless, along with your autumn semester transcript.
If you are deferred, you are good enough to go to Williams. But since they only accept approx. 12% of applicants, they can’t accept everyone qualified. I wish you all the best of luck!
PS – this is different than getting on the waitlist, but still wanting to attend. That is the time to contact admissions to let them know you are still interested, even though the odds of getting off the waitlist are long. Also let them know about new accomplishments. In this case, pay the deposit money to the school you have chosen that has accepted you, and if Williams takes you off the list, you lose that deposit money, but have gotten into your preferred school.
Still hunting for those deferral acceptance rates. Did anyone manage to find them?
@ivegraduatedmom I’m a bit confused now because I read on other sites that you can, or even should, call the admissions office to see what part of your application may have made them hesitate to admit you, in order to strengthen your application later and show commitment. Are you sure that is not the case with Williams?
@ivegraduatedmom thank you for your help. I have heard conflicting views on this, and also heard of people deferred from Williams that have expressed their continued commitment to the school with a letter or email and gotten in regular decision. I’m inclined to trust you on this one though, since I have very little concrete evidence on either side. I can see how I would appear annoying by approaching them. With that in mind, is there a good way to actually find out their deferral rate and/or acceptance rate of deferred students? I would just like to know my chances at this stage.
@noahget and @hopeful72 – unless admissions procedures have radically changed and they’ve quadrupled their employees, don’t call them. These folks are the hardest working people you’ll meet this time of year. They eat, sleep, talk to coaches and faculty, read apps and have meetings about them. That’s it. If you wish to drop a postcard or email, that can’t hurt. Make it positive, upbeat and if possible, funny. They could use that. The point is that it’s one-way communication. But the idea that hundreds of students would call and expect an application analysis or even a verbal interaction beyond, “Thank you. We’ve logged your call,” is foolhardy. You don’t want to make admissions work harder than they already are. They remember the students who annoyed them. Trust me.
The fact that a prospective student called and still got in RD may be confusing correlation with causation. It may NOT have hurt certain candidates, but it didn’t mean it helped. The key is to not expect interaction beyond them answering general questions about the school, financial aid and to help you chose how or whether to apply. Admissions loves to talk to students about why Williams is great and help you apply in the right way. But you applied ED, so you know that already. 
Again, if things have changed appreciably in regards to your application, add to it along with your counselor and submit it in early January with your new transcript. There is a process for this. Some counselors also have personal relationships with the admissions reps and can get information or insights they won’t give you. Admissions reps will often talk about all the students who applied ED to that school’s counselor. Ask your counselor if that’s the case and if they’re willing to make that call and pitch you again.
The ONLY thing I can think of to change your odds beyond new accomplishments to your app is if you can get a coach, faculty or staff member of the school to take a personal interest in you for their department/group/team. If you stand out in something and want to make an impression by continuing in that field to add to the community, whether a major or extracurricular activity, perhaps try to get the appropriate person interested. If they are, they will put in a good word for you with admissions. But again, do this very carefully. You are by no means the only applicants trying this. This would have helped a lot during ED, but it can help during RD, too. Both my DD and DS did this and both were accepted ED. One had an outstanding background in a science, the other in an art form. Both departments were contacted, and they wanted DD/DS for their background and ability. But again, you need to be a special candidate in that field to get someone to talk to admissions on your behalf.
I wish I knew how to access likelihood percentages for you. Perhaps @Ephman, @TennisParent or @TheGreyKing know where those figures are kept. However, odds are not your friends in admissions. Please remember, you are one application of thousands. Highly competitive small schools like Williams are looking to create a balanced community as best they can. You may be a PERFECT candidate in theory, but so will many others. And if the orchestra that year needs an oboe, or the baseball team a shortstop, and you play the violin or are a pitcher, you may not fit that year’s needs. This goes for all elite college admissions. It’s more of a crap shoot odds-wise than you can imagine. Please do not take a deferral personally. You WILL find a great place to go to college. It may be Williams. It may be somewhere else. Wishing you all the best of luck now and always. Take care.
PS – if anyone is interested in how admissions work at an elite small private college, take a look at the book, The Gatekeepers: Inside the Admissions Process of a Premier College by Jacques Steinberg. It’s about Wesleyan (my own alma mater), but the message about how students are chosen for these schools is both universal and timeless.
@ivegraduatedmom I know someone who attended their fly-in WOW and was just deferred. Since the admit rate for WOW students is extremely high, and the admissions office seemed open to WOW students contacting them, would it still be a bad idea to reach out? It’s also worrying that there was anything in the application that could have caused a deferral when the admissions chance is so high, and if that same thing will later cause rejections from RD colleges.
@hopeful72 – as far as I have heard from WOW students, WOW is a different situation altogether. Yes, a WOW prospective can probably call their assigned admissions rep if admissions said at WOW that it was appropriate. I’m writing for the majority of students who simply send in a cold application and are not a recruit of some sort.
@ivegraduatedmom Thank you for all the help!