With early action and early decision responses arriving in student mailboxes we thought it would be a good time to update families on how students should deal with being deferred in the admissions process. It is important to understand that while being deferred is effectively a rejection at many schools, at other schools handling the deferral process well can make acceptance a reasonable possibility.
While we are often engaged to help families respond to a deferral and to provide help increasing the odds of acceptance after a deferral there are a few points families should consider.
1 Understand the odds. Getting deferred at different colleges means different things as schools defer and accept varying numbers of students depending on how they run their admissions process. Stony Brook and Indiana Bloomington are both respected public flagship colleges with over 50,000 applicants in the most recent admissions cycle. Both Stony Brook and Indiana had 87-88% acceptance rates off of their respective wait lists. The wait list acceptance rates at both schools would seem to make both schools good bets and worth pursuing if offered a slot on them. However, looking at multiyear data tells a different story, as Indiana’s wait list acceptance rate has been highly unpredictable with a high of 87% and a low of 6% while Stony Brook’s wait list acceptance rate has never been lower than 40% (with a 5 year look back). In brief, there are many years of publicly available information for most colleges which allows families to see what their odds truly are and how realistic it is to think that their student might end up at the school they have been deferred by. It is imperative that families look at this data before they make any decision regarding accepting a spot on a 'wait list' so they can have proper expectations, a coherent strategy and know how to best focus their efforts.
2. Understand a college's policy and practice around deferred students. Different schools have different policies as it relates to communication as well as additional materials and it is important that students know the rules and follow them. As with most parts of the admissions process, failure to follow rules and directions generally ends in rejection.
3. Write an email of continued interest. If a student is interested in continuing the process and taking a spot on the 'wait list' they should email the Dean of Admissions as well as their regional representative expressing their continued interest, intension to attend if accepted and explain why they believe they are a good 'fit' with the school. Students should try to be specific in their explanation, demonstrating a knowledge of the school. It is worth noting that some schools look at the time it takes a student to respond to a wait list invitation. Responding reasonably quickly sends a good message.
4. Consider unconventional approaches to supplemental material. To improve chances of moving off the deferred list at highly competitive colleges, students need new and additional material. Besides submitting updated grades, students should consider recent awards, both new and ongoing extracurricular activities, and additional letters of recommendation (if accepted). Keep in mind that in holistic admissions, grades are just one aspect of the decision process, and updated information about activities and student personality can be significant positives.
5. Stay optimistic, remain active, and seek opportunities to share positive updates with your regional representative. Representatives play a significant role in the admissions process at most schools, and standing out by providing additional positive information can improve a student's chances of acceptance. Highlight small pieces of positive news, such as earning a top grade on a special project, participating in an event, securing a new job, or any other achievements that enhance your resume and show genuine interest in the school. In the competition among deferred students, those who enhance their application the most and communicate these updates to their representative via speaking or emailing have an advantage.
6. Finally, when a student is deferred it is important to make an honest appraisal of the rest of the schools they are applying to. Making sure that the student has a realistic list of target schools and adding a safety school or two is a good idea after a deferral because the possibility that the student has overvalued their resume has increased.
Although many of these activities traditionally involve some outside help the reality is that families with the time can do them as well.
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