Rejection is always hard. Getting rejected from your early decision school can feel like the end of the world, but it's not. It’s the end of the road with that school but not with this process. We work with students every year that come to us after getting rejected from their ED school. We sometimes call it our “everything's going to be ok” package. Because, we promise even if you have gotten a tough rejection, everything is going to be ok.
What is the Difference Between Deferred and Waitlisted?
The college application process is confusing. It’s confusing for parents, it’s confusing for kids, and it’s confusing for Aunt Kathy who asks you intrusive questions at family gatherings like, “So where are you going to college?” We’re here to help lift the fog of confusion and to bring clarity to the whole process, and one of the most frequent questions we’ve been getting lately is:
What Does it Mean to be Deferred from a College?
We want you to get into every college that you apply to, we really do. We want all students to have that low stress, all success, wonderful fuzzy feeling that only a tiny percentage of students applying to college ever get to feel. But that isn’t how it happens for the vast majority of students, so it’s time to plan for how it normally goes, which includes a pinch of frustration, an ounce of rejection, and — ideally — a mighty helping of perseverance. One of the most confusing possibilities in this process isn’t rejection, though, it’s the “eh, maybe later” of deferral.
Rejected for Early Decision
Getting a rejection sucks. There is no way around it. But if you get rejected during early decisions, it's not over, even if it can feel like the end of the world. You might feel like the only one of your friends who didn’t get into their ED school, but not getting into an ED school is really common. And we wanted to give you some tips and tricks if you got rejected during ED.
Early Decision 2021 Statistics
We are kind of numbers nerds. Seriously, we love pouring over data, especially the type of data that helps us prepare for next year’s college application season. By now, colleges have chosen their early decision admissions and many have shared that data online. We love to track this data and look for trends that might help our students make decisions in the future. This year was a bit of a mixed bag. So let’s look at the number for this year’s ED admissions.
Early Decision Pros and Cons
The anticipation of applying to college is a lot. The pressure of getting in where you want to go is even greater. The idea of just doing it once and then being done is appealing to many students. But relief shouldn’t be the motivating factor in applying early decision to a school. While it’s true that acceptance rates for early decision schools trend higher, applying early decision is a huge commitment—it’s one you can’t get out of. In this post, we talk about what that means and the reasons someone might consider early decision as an option.
Can You Apply to the Same College After Being Rejected Early Decision?
In keeping with our miniseries on forging ahead after deferrals and rejections, we’re here to answer a question that we get frequently. In short, no, unfortunately you can’t reapply to the same college during regular decision if you were rejected early decision. This is a harsh reality, and one of the reasons why we always suggest being realistic when it comes to choosing early decision schools. With that being said, the road does not end here.
What To Do If You’re Rejected Early Decision
Getting rejected early decision is undeniably difficult. We suggest that you take a day or two to be upset! It’s not an easy situation to be in, but it does provide true clarity – and you have no choice but to move forward. Setting those wheels in motion, and ASAP, is the best way to figure out more realistic next steps that will result in acceptances at other colleges.
What To Do When You Are Deferred Early Decision: Action Items
Getting deferred Early Decision is a uniquely frustrating experience. You’re not accepted, but you’re also not rejected. You still have a chance, but should you keep your hopes up? You can’t re-do your application, but guidance on what you can do is hard to find. Before we get into what you need to do after being deferred, let’s look at why it happened in the first place.
Should I Apply Early Decision to a Reach School?
What Do I Do If I’m Deferred Early Decision?
Should I apply ED during Coronavirus/COVID-19?
We love lists. We’ve written a lot of itemized lists over the years that help guide you through various overwhelming steps of this big process we call the college admissions cycle. It’s July, which means it’s time to begin finalizing your college lists and deciding on which school(s) you’re going to be applying to during early decision or early action deadlines. Commitment seems super scary, now more than ever. So we understand that the prospect of early decision might seem nearly impossible to consider. Right now there are more questions than answers, and more information gets released every single day that seems to impact students and their admissions chances and college experiences.
Choosing a College for Early Decision or Early Action
Subject: Choosing a College
Message: Hi! I’m going to be applying to college very soon. I have my three top choices, but I have been back and forth on which one I want to apply ED to and cannot figure out how to decide. I know I would be happy at all three of them, but if I apply RD, my chances of getting into any of them goes down. This decision is making me physically and mentally sick! Any advice for how to make it?
Rejected Early Decision with No Backup Plan
Being rejected early decision is not easy. We recommend taking a day to feel however you’re feeling and clear your head. It’s understandable that you’re upset, so try doing something to take your mind off of what just happened before diving back into the process. And we aren’t saying that being rejected isn’t painful! Rejection is hard. But you now need to make a lot of moves in a short amount of time, and getting that process started might be a welcome distraction from focusing on what isn’t going to work out. Before you start, remember this: it’s going to be okay. This happens a lot. And while that doesn’t make it any less upsetting, knowing that many other students are in your boat might offer a sense of comfort.
Why Did I Get Rejected?
We have gotten hundreds—approaching thousands—of emails and calls in the past week. Early decision has come out and people don’t understand why they were deferred or rejected. Our students did phenomenally well, but it seems, as we predicted, that more people than ever are getting turned away. This makes sense. School’s haven’t increased the number of kids they accept while applicant pools have expanded exponentially. It’s incredibly hard to get in. And people don’t like that.
Rejected Early Decision: Advice to Parents
Getting rejected from an early decision school can be gut-wrenching…for parents. Your kid has worked so hard, missed out on social activities in the name of extra-curricular ones, visited scores of colleges, and finally aligned their hopes on that perfect school only to be told that, well, this year isn’t their year, after all. Rejection is bad enough. What makes this time of year worse for kids who get the dreaded thin envelope is parents who are shaken, as well, and not doing a great job of hiding it.
Acceptance: Why Did I Get Rejected and What Do I Do with Myself Now?
Getting that letter can be really tough. You worked your butt off this year. You spent countless hours studying for standardized tests. You came early to school and stayed late for sports practices and club meetings. You spent time and money with the hopes that they would see in your essays what you, yourself, know you are capable of and yet, it didn’t work out. We know. We’ve been there, too.
What to Do If You Get Rejected from Your Early Decision School
Getting rejected from your Early Decision school can be heartbreaking. You’re 17 or 18 years-old. This is probably the first big rejection of your life and even if it’s not, it’s the first time you’ve been rejected by something so recognizable in society. Losing your student government race can be crushing, too, but getting rejected from a place you’ve heard of since you were a little kid can be rougher and you know what? It’s okay to be heartbroken.
Are My Chances of Getting into College Better if I Apply Early Decision?
We get a lot of questions about applying early vs. regular decision and the merits of applying to schools for each round. One point that we always drive home is that applying somewhere early is not a small decision, and it should be intentional. This is not the time to throw all caution to the wind and apply to your dream school despite the fact that your test scores are well below their average and you sat around by the beach this past summer with nothing to show for it. That’s just silly, and that’s not how we operate. You need to know the why behind applying somewhere early, and you should have the profile as well as demonstrated interest to back it up. Sometimes applying early can help your chances of getting in and sometimes it can hurt them. Read on to find out the why and how.