When you applied to Columbia Early Decision, you knew that there were three potential outcomes. You could be accepted — awesome! You could be rejected — huge bummer! And then there was the third possibility: deferral. Being deferred is a hard outcome because it isn’t an outcome at all. You haven’t gotten in, and you may never get in. You also haven’t been rejected, though. Many students receive a deferral and do the equivalent of throwing their hands in the air and relinquishing all control over what comes next. That is the wrong approach for any college, and especially for Columbia. In this post, we’ll break down what to do after a Columbia deferral and how to increase your odds of eventually getting in.

Columbia University is a world-renowned Ivy League university in the heart of New York City. The traditional undergraduate colleges, Columbia College and Columbia Engineering, are highly-sought after for students passionate about both learning and being in the midst of the action. The overall acceptance rate for the Class of 2030 was 4.2%. 

Columbia University is old (it was originally King’s College back in 1754), it is storied, and it is in the heart of a city that is a global capital for business, finance, art, and innovation. Columbia College is the liberal arts undergraduate college of the university, and it is where the vast majority of undergraduate programs are based. Most students who go to Columbia are in the college, and once you are on campus it’s easy to fit in and embrace the opportunity. Getting in, though, is very difficult. The overall acceptance rate for the Class of 2030 was only 4.23%.