Receiving a rejection in the Early Decision round always hurts. You probably had this vision for your college application experience where you’d do your work early, you’d get in early, and you would be done early. But now Vassar said “no” early decision and you’re facing a pile of applications and looming deadlines, and possibly no strong sense of what needs fixing. Well, that’s why we are here to help. First, though, let’s break down what went wrong with Vassar so we can rebuild on firmer footing.
The overall Vassar acceptance rate is quite competitive at under 18%, but the Early Decision acceptance rate is historically over 30%. So, the college is selective, but it isn’t highly selective in the early round. It’s not an easy school to get into, but Early Decision applicants have a nearly 1-in-3 chance of admission. So, what went wrong? Let’s dig deeper into their decision to find out.
Vassar does defer early applicants that they remain curious about, but they didn’t defer you. What does this mean? Your application had some weak spots.
It’s possible that your grades, or your scores, didn’t hit what they look for. A competitive SAT composite when applying to Vassar is about 1500, and a competitive ACT is a 34. They don’t report GPA data, but an A-heavy report card is expected. If you had the grades, and you had the scores (and submitted them), your story didn’t work.
You don’t have time to change your scores, and you can’t change your grades, but you can change how you tell your story. In this post, we’ll break down what you need to do to strengthen your application, from sharing what has made you who you are to where you see yourself in the future, along with an acceptance-earning process for overhauling your college application strategy. Follow along, and you’ll set yourself up for a successful college application experience despite an early rejection.
We’ve help students bounce back from disappointed to get into a dream school. Contact us to learn more.
Step 1: Slow Down
If you’re rushing to ‘fix’ this situation, the idea of slowing down may seem counter-intuitive, or even downright uncomfortable. You’re a hard-working student, and it’s only natural to see this situation, an Early Decision rejection, and want to jump into action. But we are serious when we say that it’s good, for a moment, to slow things down. A solid college application strategy requires thoughtfulness, patience, and a clear mind. So, taking a moment to chill out and re-center is actually the best course of action right now.
Hang out with friends, binge watch a show you’ve been wanting to see, or anything else that gives you a sense of relaxation and re-centering. Then, it’s time to get back to work.
Step 2: Reevaluate Your College List
When you’re ready to get back into things, it is necessary to start at the beginning: the list. This can be painful, but trust us. Either you have a college list that you thought was set, or you never made one because you didn’t think that you would have to use it. Now you either need to make your first, or need to make your best, because any list that was based on Vassar being a great ED option may not have been precisely calibrated to you as an applicant.
A well-balanced college list is the most important ingredient for a successful admissions strategy, and any solid college list should have three types of schools: safeties, targets, and reaches. We often call “safeties” foundation school because that’s exactly what they are. These schools serve as the foundation of your college application strategy, offering stability as you reach towards higher goals. Don’t put any school on your list just because you think you can get in, though. Each school should be a place that you’d be happy to start your college experience, even if you wouldn’t necessarily end there (remember, transfer is an option).
Once you have 3-4 safeties, you will want 3-4 targets — schools you are likely to get into — and 2-3 reaches. Every school on your list should be an institution that offers what you want study academically, followed by the less-crucial, but still important, things like culture, location, and size. As you’re looking for schools, remember to stay open. You should also seriously consider applying Early Decision II to a school that is somewhere between a target and a reach.
Step 3: Essay Time
Once you have your list, it’s time to write. First, though, take a look at the various supplements you’ll have to complete. Having an idea of what is ahead of you will help you narrow down ideas for the first project on your docket: the main essay, most often the Common App essay.
Yes, you’ve already written an essay. And we can’t tell you that it’s terrible because we haven’t seen it. However, we can tell you that it didn’t work for Vassar, so it’s likely that it will also pose problems with other colleges if you were to continue to use it as is. As a result, we propose a rewrite. This may sound painful, but we know from experience that it will be worth it.
A strong essay has a powerful driving story. “Powerful” doesn’t necessarily mean loud or dramatic, or even traumatic. Rather, by “powerful” we mean a story that is uniquely yours, spotlighting aspects of your personality and character through a personal narrative with a strong story element. Showing is always better than telling, and that’s especially true for the main application essay. Developing the story for your essay to draw the reader in through strong visuals, scene setting, and even dialog can help an application reader feel like they know you such that they’ll be looking for reasons to say ‘yes’ to your application, not excuses to say ‘no.’
Our 2024-2025 Guide to the Common App Essay offers step-by-step guidance to help you do your best work. Once you have a draft, it’s time to move on to the supplements.
The number of supplements you’ll have to tackle will depend on how many colleges you are applying to in the Regular Decision round (including an ED II option), and how many supplements each of those schools offers to applicants. We say “offers,” because there is no such thing as ‘optional’ if you want to get in. All supplements, if applicable to you as an applicant, are mandatory even if they are marked as optional. Each also needs to be treated with thoughtfulness and care. There is no such thing as a “throwaway” supplement, and phoning it in for a supplement is a quick way to be rejected by a school that you’d considered a safety. Treat each supplement like a mini-essay with a story aimed at highlighting a trait that makes you a strong applicant. If you get stumped, we have step-by-step guides to the supplements for dozens of colleges and universities.
Step Four: Ask for Help
We have lots of free resources to help you write strong applications, but there’s nothing like personalized one-on-one help. Asking for help from those who truly understand the college application process, and accepting expert advice, is a secret weapon of successful college applicants. This is why we offer the “It’s Going to be Okay” package to students who receive a disappointing early decision.
If you’re stressed, we can help. Email us to learn more.