If you’ve been deferred by Brown you’re not alone — but you’re also not out of luck. Brown doesn’t defer applicants on a whim. They only defer students who are “well-qualified for study a Brown.” But if that’s the case, why were you deferred? Well, as annoying as it is you were because there are too many qualified students applying for only a few spots.
Brown assesses each application on its own individual merits, but they also have to build a class that is diverse in every sense of the word. If you’ve been deferred, it’s because they like you as an applicant, but they aren’t sure they have a spot for you — yet. So, you shouldn’t be second-guessing your value as an applicant, but you also shouldn’t be holding your breath.
In 2022, Brown admitted 13% of early decision applicants, or 879 out of 6,770 applicants, which was a record low for the 5th year in a row. That same year, they rejected 68% and deferred 19% — or nearly 1 in 5 applications. If trends continue as they have been going, the 2023 deferral rate will be similar. While Brown hasn’t published the statistics on how many previously deferred students were later accepted, being deferred to the regular decision pool makes your likelihood of admission the same as the acceptance rate, or 5%. Below we’ll go into what you need to do to make the most of that 5% chance and what else you need to be doing to have a successful college application experience.
If you’re bummed about a deferral, drop us a line. We help students get into their perfect fit school.
What Brown Wants
If you have been deferred by Brown, there are a few things that you can do that will improve your chance of admission in the regular decision pool. First and foremost, the top priority is the mid-year report and the mid-year transcript — which will bring them up to date on everything that’s happened for you academically since you submitted your early application. Both of these things will need to be sent by your school college counselor, but you can respectfully remind your college counselor at school to send them Brown’s way.
Once you’ve confirmed with your school counselor that your mid-year report and mid-year transcript will be sent, you are welcome to express your continued interest in Brown by submitting a letter that reinforces that Brown is your first choice and that updates them any notable changes in your life that wouldn’t be shared in your mid-year report.
“Notable Changes,” are not — for the record — trivial alterations to your state Rubik’s Cube ranking. It is worse to include non-notable things in your letter of continued interest than to simply restate how Brown is your first choice. Only include updates in the letter if you are truly a big deal, like winning an award, being elected to a leadership position, or having work selected for publication or exhibition.
Once you’ve reminded your school counselor about the mid-year reports and submitted your letter of continued interest (with updates, if relevant), you need to leave it be. Don’t call. Don’t email. Don’t stand outside the admissions offices holding a poster proclaiming your love for Brown. Don’t do it. It may seem cute and endearing in your head, but in actuality those types of grand gestures or even small pestering nudges can destroy your chances of being ultimately accepted. Brown wants students who are respectful and who can follow basic instructions — so do that. Then, on to the next task.
What Else You Need to Do
Once you’ve handled your business with Brown, there’s more to be done. Since you were deferred, you’ll need to apply regular decision. And, in order to make your regular decision cycle as successful as it can be, there’s some work to do.
Reassess Your College List
Early Decision didn’t work out. That’s a bummer, and we feel for you — but there’s also some stuff that you really need to do to recalibrate now that you’re in the regular decision pool. Most importantly, you need to look at your college list. College acceptance rates have been plummeting for years, and many schools that were considered very accessible just a year or two ago are now extremely selective. It's crucial that your college list be well-balanced, and any school with an acceptance rate under 10% is a reach for nearly any applicant. Aim to have 2-3 likely, or “foundation” schools, 2-3 targets, and 2-3 reaches, including Brown.
If you’re looking at your college list and it doesn’t match the balance we recommend, we can help. Building well-balanced college lists is one of the keys to a successful admissions process.
Give Your Common App Essay an Edit
You spent a lot of time on your college essay, and it’s probably pretty awesome because Brown didn’t reject you outright, but there is undoubtedly room for improvement. Whether it’s a small edit, easy reworking, or a total overhaul, nearly any essay can be improved upon with extra time for editing and assessment. Before you dig into edits, read our guide to writing an acceptance-winning Common App essay. You should also look through a few of the real common app essays that we share (for free, by the way) on our website. These essays have helped students get into many of the best colleges in the world, and they all have one thing in common — authentic and honest storytelling.
If you’re excited to reassess your common app essay, check out our essay ‘bootcamp’. In just a few weeks, we help students craft acceptance-winning essays that truly make a difference in the admissions process.
Get it Done
Finally, you need to simply get to things done. It’s annoying, we know. You weren’t planning on having to do all this work, and now you’re here looking at your college list and essays and a pile of supplements, and aren’t very excited about the whole thing. That’s valid, but you also need to do things quickly, so you don’t get behind. Chip away at an application or two a week, and you’ll be right on track for January deadlines.
We are experts at helping students who received disappointing EA or ED decisions get into their dream schools. Drop us a line. We can help.