What If You Get Deferred By Colleges?

Today, we’re answering the question: What if you’ve been deferred? If you applied early to colleges—whether it’s Early Decision or Early Action—you’re going to hear back from those schools, typically sometime in December, with one of three different responses:

1. You’ve been accepted. Yay!

2. You’ve been rejected. Boo.

3. You’ve been deferred. But what does that mean?

It could mean one of two things:

First, it might mean the college was only willing to accept a certain number of students in their early round, and you didn’t make the particular cut.

Maybe they had certain categories they were trying to fill with students in different baskets, and there wasn’t a basket for students like you. Or, perhaps you were number 201 out of the 200 they were willing to fill for that particular basket.

Either way, you’ve got a gold star on your application for applying early, and they’ll continue considering you for the regular round.

The second reason a college might defer you from an early round is that they want to get to know more about you.

They might want to see your mid-year grades or assess whether you’re really, truly interested in their college.

Demonstrate Interest:

You have an opportunity between now and whenever regular decisions come out—typically by April 1st—to continue demonstrating your interest in that college.

You can do this by taking an extra visit, attending an admissions event they’re offering in your area or online, or meeting a rep at a college fair or if they’re visiting your school.

You could also write a letter of continued interest (if they accept such things), or send an additional letter of recommendation (if they accept such things).

Improve Your Stats:

You can also demonstrate your commitment by continuing to work hard in school, either by pulling up your grades or by maintaining high grades in your current classes. When they receive your mid-year transcript, they’ll see you’re still out there working hard and excelling.

You might also want to consider retaking the March SAT, or, depending on timing, the February ACT, since those scores will come out before the colleges make their final decisions—again, typically no later than April 1st.

Overall:

Think about the opportunities in front of you to continue showing your best stuff to the colleges you want to get accepted to.