If you’ve been deferred by the University of Chicago, you’re probably pretty disappointed. The college application process can feel like it slogs on forever, and it would have been really nice to have an acceptance to a top-tier school under your belt — or even to be done altogether if you’d applied Early Decision. The bad news is that you got bad news. The good news is that you didn’t get the worst news. You weren’t rejected, so you still have a shot.
Deferred by Cornell (2023-24)
By this time, you were probably hoping that you’d be making big plans for cheering on Big Red as a proud Cornellian next fall. Instead, you have no idea what’s going on. You’re not yet deemed worthy of a yes, but also not a hard no. You are somewhere in the middle, and that’s super annoying. But what you do next will determine whether you have a successful college admissions experience.
Deferred by the University of Pennsylvania (UPenn) (2023-24)
If you received a deferral decision from the University of Pennsylvania, or Penn, or UPenn, you have every right to be annoyed. You put in the work, and you crafted a strong enough application to not get a ‘no’ — but something just didn’t click. For some reason, Penn wasn’t sold on making you a Quaker. The good news is that you still have a shot, and we’re here to help. First, though, some stats.
Deferred by Princeton (2023-24)
If you received a notice of deferral from Princeton, you’re probably pretty bummed out — and rightly so! A yes or no is simple. You’re either in or you’re not, but a deferral offers a nebulous possibility of a potential future yes without any of the confidence of a yes nor the finality of a no. You’re fully in your right to take a few moments to wallow in frustration, perhaps aided by ice cream, but it’s important to not stay stuck in that headspace for too long. There’s work to be done, and we’re here to help!
Deferred from New York University (NYU) Early Decision
Deferred from University of Virginia (UVA) Early Decision (2023-2024)
Deferred from University of Southern California (USC) Early Action (2023-2024)
Deferred by Columbia Early Decision (2023-24)
So, you’ve been deferred by Columbia University. That’s a huge bummer. Instead of throwing yourself into action right away, we highly recommend giving yourself a moment to wallow. Eat a pint of ice cream, cry into your pillow, or cuddle with your pup. Allow yourself to feel all the feels, so that you can move on to getting things done.
Deferred from Duke Early Decision (2023-2024)
If you find yourself here, we’re sorry you got deferred from Duke. First things first, that's tough, and we feel for you. Take the time to let those feelings sink in – be it sadness, frustration, or whatever you're experiencing – because it's valid! But once you've had a moment to regroup, we’ve gotta get to work on your regular decision strategy, and that deferral letter too.
Deferred by Dartmouth — Now What? (2023-24)
Deferred by Brown — Now What? (2023-24)
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.
Deferred by Yale — Now What? (2023-24)
You’ve been deferred by Yale, and that’s a major bummer. It’s ok to sink into your couch and eat a pint of ice cream while drowning in self-pity. Once you hit the bottom of the pint, though, it’s time to get to work. There are things to do. Yale doesn’t just defer people for fun, after all, and they didn’t defer you because they don’t want to disappoint you. They made the choice for a reason, and now the ball is in your court.
Deferred by Stanford — Now What? (2023-24)
You got the news, and it isn’t what you wanted. Stanford deferred your early application to the regular decision pool, and now you have to wait to see what happens and submit a bunch of applications you probably weren’t planning to send. It’s frustrating and bruising, we know, but after you take a moment to wallow in your disappointment, there’s work to be done — and we are here to help.
Deferred by Harvard — Now What? (2023-24)
If you’ve been deferred by Harvard, you are not alone. Harvard is notorious at this point for deferring an enormous percentage of early admission applicants. While most elite colleges with early admissions programs, like early decision and early action, only defer students they are seriously considering for the next freshman class, the statistics Harvard has released on early admission suggest that they take a very different approach.
USC Deferral Rate
The University of Southern California’s, or USC, acceptance rate has been dropping steadily for years. In 2022, they only accepted 11.88% of students who applied — the first time under 12% for the university ever. Over 69,000 applications were reviewed by 65 people. That’s over 1,000 applicants per reader, so when you wonder whether your applicant reader remembers your essay…picture that stack of 1,000 applications. Unless you’re really strategic, it’s hard to stand out.
Columbia Deferral Rate
Columbia College, the undergraduate college of Columbia University, is incredibly difficult to get into. In 2021, the overall acceptance rate was a minuscule 3.73%. If you want to get into Columbia, your best chance is to apply Early Decision, which came with a 10.10% acceptance rate in 2021 — but if you were deferred you already know this. You don’t need to know that your best shot was ED; you need to know what’s next.
Cornell Deferral Rate
Dartmouth Deferral Rate
Stanford Deferral Rate
You’re a brave soul — you applied to Stanford. Getting into Stanford is tough regardless of what you’ve accomplished, what your grades look like, or whether you invented a new flavor of ice cream. After the Stanford acceptance rate rose (a tiny amount) in 2020, they did an about-face in 2021 with a record low acceptance rate of only 3.95%. Despite this up and down, we have no reason to believe it will be easier to get into Stanford this year.
Brown Deferral Rate
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.