If you applied to Vassar Early Decision, you were probably expecting to get in. That is sort of the point of applying ED to a competitive, but not supremely so, school. The acceptance rate is high enough that strong students approach it with confidence, and since it’s Early Decision the admissions office at the college knows that you are a serious applicant. Every year, though, most students who apply ED don’t get in. That is sort of obvious, we know, but it may not feel that way when you are deciding to ED, or even more so when you are on the receiving end of a deferral.

You applied to Wellesley Early Decision, and this wasn’t the plan. You were going to get in, or you weren’t. Getting in was definitely the plan, but if you didn’t at least you’d know where you stand. A rejection can feel like an ok thing compared to a deferral, at least in the immediate moment of receiving it. Let’s get real, though. A deferral is disappointing, but it’s also much better than a rejection. In this post, we’ll break down what you need to do to increase your chances of turning a deferral into an offer of admission. At the same time, we’ll outline other other important steps you need to be taking to ensure that your entire college experience is a success.

We aren’t going to lie; getting deferred by Rice isn’t ideal. You took all the time and effort to apply to Rice during early decision, and a deferral certainly feels like a massive setback. While no one wants to get deferred, there is a silver lining here. You weren’t rejected, and let us say in no uncertain terms, if you weren’t a Rice-level candidate, you would have been. They are still seriously considering your application and may even accept you in the regular decision round. However, there are a couple of steps you have to take if you want to maximize your chances of that happening.

Over the past decade, Bowdoin has transformed in the American imagination from an exceptional, unique, but very out of the way small liberal arts school to one of the most popular colleges in the country. What Bowdoin is, in truth, hasn’t change at all. It’s the same school is has been for a long time because the college is true to its mission. Public perception, though, has skyrocketed. As a result, the acceptance rate has plummeted, dropping nearly 20% over the past 20 years. The acceptance rate for the Class of 2028 was only , a record low.

BU has become crazy competitive in the last few years – for the 2024 admissions cycle, they had an 11% acceptance rate. They, like many other schools, have kept their test-optional policy, which in turn has increased the number of students applying. Their ED acceptance is a little higher, at 26%, but that still left a little over 5k students with either a deferral or a rejection. And if you’re here, you’re a part of the deferred camp. We have some good news for you: you get another shot.

Amherst receives nearly 14,000 applications for first-year admissions, and about of those are submitted in the Early Decision round. If you’re reading this post, you were part of that 10%, and it didn’t work out as planned. Instead of the acceptance you were hoping for, you’ve been deferred. This can be a frustrating and overwhelming time, but we’re here to help.

We get it – you were dreaming of wearing the ol’ maroon and gold, but you found out you were deferred instead. We wish we could wave a magic college admissions wand and automatically get you in, but that doesn’t exist (yet) (we’re working on it). With the wisdom only hindsight can give us, we want to tell you that it’s okay to be sad about this, you will still go to college, and you’re also not done with your BC application journey. You’ve been given another shot! After you take a beat to have all the feelings you’re having, it’s time to jump into action, because we’ve got some things to add to your to-do list.

If you are reading this post, things haven’t turned out exactly as planned. You applied to Swarthmore Early Decision because you wanted an answer, early. Accepted or rejected, at least you would have an answer. But now you’re here, with a deferral decision, and everything is up in the air. You can walk away from Swarthmore at this point and not push it out of your mind. You can even pull your application if you want. We think that would be a little silly though. You applied to Swarthmore ED because it is your dream school, so the least you can do is to see it through to a final decision. And if there are things you can do to strengthen your application, even better. The good news is that there are. 

Pomona, it’s a hard school to get into. Last cycle, they boasted an acceptance rate of 7% and an ED acceptance rate of 13%. While that might technically be almost double, that’s still around the acceptance rate of schools like Berkeley, Georgetown, and Wellesley. Pomona tells us that they defer around 10-15% of their ED applicants, so if you’ve been deferred, you’re in a rare group! And we have good news: you still have a shot.

If you are reading this post, things have not gone to plan. You applied to Williams Early Decision because you wanted a decision, early. If it was an acceptance, that would be preferred. If it was a rejection, at least you know where you stand. But now you have this deferral, and you don’t really know what to do about it. You’re neither in nor out, and Williams doesn’t give you a ton of guidance for what to do next. First, though, let’s make sense of where you stand.

This wasn’t the situation you had in mind. Applying to Wake Forest Early Decision I or Early Action (for First-Gen Students) may have felt like a safe stretch, or maybe it was a big dream you knew not to bet on — but, either way, this isn’t the way you thought it would go. A yes would have been amazing and a no would have been a massive bummer, but a maybe wasn’t part of the plan. Now you’re here, reading this post, on the receiving end of a deferral, wondering what comes next.

Chances are that you are reading this because things didn’t go as planned. You didn’t know if you would get into Carnegie Mellon Early Decision, but at least if you didn’t get in, you’d know where you stood. Now you are somewhere awkwardly in the middle between being a fit for Carnegie Mellon and not being what they are looking for.

If you’re reading this post, Barnard was your dream school. This wasn’t the plan. You were hoping to get in, and may have had a backup strategy if you didn’t, but it’s likely you were not planning for a maybe. A deferral is just that — a deeply dissatisfying maybe. You might get in, but you can’t count on it. There are things you can do to nearly guarantee you aren’t accepted in the regular decision round, though, and things you can do to greatly improve your chances of admission.