In 2021, Brown announced its lowest acceptance rate on record for the fourth year in a row. While it’s the overall acceptance rate they’re pointing to, the statistics for early applicants were even tougher. Brown rejected more early applicants — 60% of them — and only deferred 25%. That was a 5% drop from the 2020 deferral rate. It’s likely that the 2022 statistics will only continue the trend with even lower early acceptance and deferral rates, and higher rejection rates.
Brown Dean of Admission Logan Powell admitted that the process is hard, but important, when speaking about the rising rejection rate for early applicants:
“We want to be clear with (rejected) students that we’re making the same decision now that we would be making in March. If we don’t see that there’s a path to admission now, as difficult as it may be, we still want to give them some clarity on their college options.”
These shifts are understandably upsetting for students who are rejected, but it’s actually good news if you were deferred. The pool is smaller, and they’re being pickier. Instead of just throwing nearly everyone in the deferral bucket, the Brown admissions team is being careful to only defer students that actually have a chance of getting in eventually. If you want to be one of the lucky few who ends up with a letter of acceptance, there’s some stuff you need to do.
Should You Send an Update Letter?
Brown accepts update letters from deferred students. What is an update letter? Well, it’s what it sounds like. Update letters, or letters of continued interest, are formal letters to a college after you’ve been deferred that update them on major accomplishments, awards, or other relevant changes in your life. This is not the place to share that you adopted a dog or learned how to do a backflip. As exciting as those things were for you, Brown doesn’t care. Update letters are not necessary, so if you haven’t had something major happen, please don’t send one…with one exception.
Brown also states that they’d like you to let them know if they are your first-choice institution. This is called a “Letter of Continued Interest.” It may make sense to bundle together your Update Letter and Letter of Continued Interest, but if you don’t have an update worth of a letter, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t send a Letter of Continued Interest if — and only if — Brown truly is your first-choice institution.
Look at Your College List
After you’ve sent your update letter/letter of continued interest (if sending it makes sense for you), it’s time to reassess your plan. You were hoping to get into Brown early, and that hasn’t happened. It’s not because you aren’t qualified to go to Brown — if you weren’t qualified you would have been rejected — so you don’t need to completely overhaul your college list, but you do need to give it another look.
Since you don’t have the security of an early Ivy League acceptance, it’s really important that you have a balance of realistic targets, safety schools, and reaches on your college list for the regular decision cycle. These colleges should all be places that you’d be happy attending. There is no reason to apply to a school you wouldn’t say “yes” to if it was your only choice.
Work Hard
As you give your college list a final pass, you also need to be leaning into your normal life. Brown will receive your mid-year grade report, so you can’t afford to have any slips. If you’re really hoping to get into Brown, you should try to boost your grades a little to show that you’re a stand-out senior who is serious about your next chapter.
If your grades are as high as they can go, look to your extracurriculars for ways to ensure you stand out. Adding a leadership position that you can highlight in an update letter is a great way to show that you aren’t sitting back and waiting for things to come to you — you’re chasing them.
Breathe
Applying to college is enormously stressful. It asks you to put all of yourself out for a committee of strangers to judge, and then often answers that openness with rejection. It’s crucial that during this stressful time, you set aside opportunities to relax, reconnect with friends, and have fun. Take a break, watch a movie, read a book (that isn’t homework), or get outside. It’s good for you, and will have a positive impact on all that supplement writing you have left to do.
If you’re nervous that your college list isn’t cutting it, send us an email. We help students like you bounce back from deferrals by crafting compelling applications.