Getting deferred from Early Decision is really disappointing. You picked a school, College or the School of Engineering at Columbia, and said “yes, this is my perfect fit.” Then you went through the effort of applying Early Decision — and it didn’t pan out. You are well within your right to be frustrated and disappointed. But you also weren’t rejected. You have the chance to turn this around, or to launch into another great option. Basically, the stage lights are still on, and the curtain hasn’t dropped. You’re still in this.

First, let’s get one thing straight. If you weren’t Columbia ‘material,’ you wouldn’t have been deferred. You have the grades and the scores, and are extremely impressive overall. Something, though, made them pause. They want more time to assess your application in its own right, and against a larger pool of applicants. So, what happens next is not just about you. However, you can only control yourself.  

Before we get into what you are going to do next, though, let’s look at the numbers for a second. For enrollment in the fall of 2023, Columbia accepted of Early Decision applicants. It should be remembered, though, that this includes (probably dozens of) recruited athletes who were nearly guaranteed admission before even submitting. The actual acceptance rate of students who are not recruited athletes or other ‘special’ cases is probably closer to 8%.  The overall acceptance rate including early and regular decision is . The International Student acceptance rate is almost half that, at closer to .  

This isn’t to discourage you, though. Rather, we feel empowered when we have numbers to guide us through the deferral process and, hopefully, to an eventual offer of admission. In this post, we’ll break down everything you need to do to increase your chances of getting into Columbia in the regular decision round, and what else needs to be at the top of your to-do list to ensure a successful admissions experience.

Getting deferred can feel like a rejection, but the door is still open. Contact us to learn how to increase your chances of walking through it.

If you’re anxious to make sure Columbia knows how awesome you are, we get it — but there are a few really crucial things that need to be at the top of your list before you turn your attention back to Columbia. Namely, the rest of your college list. You take a few days to be annoyed you even need to apply anywhere else, and then you need to turn that frustration into action. Here are your three action steps:

Review Your College List

First, you need to take another look at your college list. It’s very likely that you need to reassess. You may have made your list based on the assumption you would get into Columbia, or maybe you weren’t completely sure about Columbia but were positive that an Ivy-caliber school is in your future…but now you’ve been deferred.

Again, being deferred doesn’t mean you’re not able to get into a top-tier school (including Columbia). But you haven’t done it yet, and you only have one more shot — the regular decision round. As a result, you need to reevaluate the distribution of your college list. Make sure that you have at least three “target” schools and three “foundations” or “safeties.” These designations can’t be based on a ‘feeling’ either. This needs to be grounded in statistics, which your school counselor can help you with using probability tools like Naviance.

Reassess Your Common App Essay

Next, you need to give your Common App essay another read. Your essay isn’t bad. You weren’t rejected. But it probably could be better. We highly recommend reassessing what your Common App essay emphasizes about you, and whether it does as much as it could to strengthen your application.

Give our Guide to the 2024-2025 Common App Essay a read before digging in, and see how you measure up with our suggestions. One of our greatest skills as a firm is helping students craft gamechanger essays that get them into schools that, statistically, are unlikely for them. We know what we’re doing.

Press Submit

Finally, you need to press submit. This is a scary process, and it’s easy to postpone things till the last minute. We suggest that students submit applications when they are done, instead of waiting till the deadline.

Now that that’s settled, let’s turn back to Columbia.

WHAT COLUMBIA WANTS 

Columbia actually, and annoyingly, doesn’t give a lot of direction as to what they want from you as a deferred applicant. There is one sentence, literally, of guidance on the Columbia admissions website, and they do a pretty good job of hiding it. :

“We encourage deferred candidates to update us in the winter with mid-year grades and any significant new achievements.”

But we know from experience what works. And you know what? It’s following directions. So, you need to do exactly what they ask for. 

Mid-Year Grades

First, the mid-year grades. Your school counselor should send these automatically after your deferral decision, but you should absolutely follow up with them to ensure that it happens. Once it is confirmed, time to move onto the next step.

Update Letter

When they say, “any significant new achievements,” what they are referring to is an update letter, sometimes called a Letter of Continued Interest. This is a way of reminding Columbia of how awesome you are, underlining your special skills and ongoing accomplishments, and reminding them that Columbia is your first choice.

Before we talk about content, let’s talk format — as format influences content. This letter will be in the form of one email (or an uploaded document in the applicant portal if that is specifically requested) that is succinct and short. Ideally, the letter should be less than 300 words. This is simply because you are on borrowed time. The applicant readers don’t actually have a lot of time to review your application again. They have to give tens of thousands of applicants their first read, after all! So, this letter being succinct, direct, and clear is crucial.

And what needs to be in it? The main purpose of this letter is to update Columbia by telling them anything significant, and positive, that has changed since you initially submitted. This could be an award, a recognition, a new leadership position, or a learning opportunity you’re pursuing like an internship or online course. Altogether this should be only about 200 words. Short and sweet is your friend.

Next, you need, in 1-2 sentences, to reinforce that Columbia remains your first choice. You need to say that you will attend if accepted, as the Early Decision agreement you signed no longer applies.

If this sounds boring and you want to do more, don’t. Do not spam the admissions office. Do not send additional recommendations. Do not randomly show up on campus and demand an explanation. They will not give you one, they will just reject you in the regular decision round. Ultimately, the best thing you can do right now for your applications, your sanity, and your future it to follow directions, stay focused, and remember that Columbia isn’t your only perfect fit school.

Applying to college is stressful, and being deferred by your dream school definitely doesn’t help. What you do next, though, makes a big difference. From reminding Columbia that they are your number one to acing the next stage of the college application process, you’ve got this. You just have to get going.

We help outstanding students bounce back from disappointing decisions. Email us to learn more.