The University of Pennsylvania (UPenn) Deferral Rate

If you were deferred from the University of Pennsylvania, or Penn, you’re in luck. Penn is kind enough to give you clear guidance on what to do next, which is a very Penn thing to do. We aren’t surprised that a school that attracts analytical go-getters who like to look before they leap would provide their applicants with the very information they need to do so. Which is to say, good job Penn on being Penn-y.

Yale Deferral Rate

Over the past few years, colleges that offer early paths to admission have gotten into the habit of deferring the vast majority of early applicants — but there are a few exceptions. Yale is one of them. In 2021, Yale deferred 31% of early applicants, while denying 57% and accepting just under 11%. 31% may sound like a lot, but compared to other Ivy League schools, it’s a minuscule percentage. We’re telling you this because this is really good news for you if you were deferred from Yale. You genuinely have a chance, and we don’t say that lightly.

Regular Decision to Stanford

Stanford has one of the lowest acceptance rates out there. Because of this, we get a lot of questions about Stanford from students and parents alike. For the Class of 2025, Stanford had an overall acceptance rate of 3.9%. That is already very low, but there is more to this story. The overall acceptance rate is a combination of early acceptances and regular decision acceptances.

Read this if Rejected Early Decision

Rejection is always hard. Getting rejected from your early decision school can feel like the end of the world, but it's not. It’s the end of the road with that school but not with this process. We work with students every year that come to us after getting rejected from their ED school. We sometimes call it our “everything's going to be ok” package. Because, we promise even if you have gotten a tough rejection, everything is going to be ok.

Deferred by Harvard — What Comes Next? 

If you were deferred by Harvard, you are far, far, far from alone. As fewer and fewer top-tier colleges publish their admissions statistics, Harvard continues to come through for us with fairly comprehensive and transparent statistics. In 2021, Harvard deferred 80 out of every 100 students who applied early. 80% of students who applied early were deferred. Again, 80%. Only 7.4% of students who applied early were accepted. So if you applied early, it is much more likely that you were deferred than any other potential outcome.

What is the Difference Between Deferred and Waitlisted? 

The college application process is confusing. It’s confusing for parents, it’s confusing for kids, and it’s confusing for Aunt Kathy who asks you intrusive questions at family gatherings like, “So where are you going to college?” We’re here to help lift the fog of confusion and to bring clarity to the whole process, and one of the most frequent questions we’ve been getting lately is:

What Does it Mean to be Deferred from a College? 

We want you to get into every college that you apply to, we really do. We want all students to have that low stress, all success, wonderful fuzzy feeling that only a tiny percentage of students applying to college ever get to feel. But that isn’t how it happens for the vast majority of students, so it’s time to plan for how it normally goes, which includes a pinch of frustration, an ounce of rejection, and — ideally — a mighty helping of perseverance. One of the most confusing possibilities in this process isn’t rejection, though, it’s the “eh, maybe later” of deferral.

Rejected for Early Decision

Getting a rejection sucks. There is no way around it. But if you get rejected during early decisions, it's not over, even if it can feel like the end of the world. You might feel like the only one of your friends who didn’t get into their ED school, but not getting into an ED school is really common. And we wanted to give you some tips and tricks if you got rejected during ED.

The Best Colleges for your Astrological Sign: Sagittarius 

Look, it might not be the smartest thing to choose a school based on your astrological sign. In fact, we definitely do not recommend basing your college list on an astrological sign. But it’s really hard to make a college list. There are so many options out there (more than 5,000 by some counts!) that you can feel overwhelmed. So we thought, why not use something fun to illustrate how you might help kickstart your list?

How to Write Your Resume for an Ivy League College Application

Applying to an Ivy League or Ivy-caliber college isn’t an everyday experience. It’s exceptional, and it requires more of you, the applicant, than any other college application. The same can be said for each piece of the application — including the resume. It can’t be the normal, run-of-the-mill resume you used to apply for summer jobs. More is required.

Best Resume for College Applications

A resume is a resume, right? Well, not really. Whether you call it a resume or a curriculum vitae, not all are created the same, and the resume you used to apply for a summer job at the local day camp is not the same resume that’s going to get you into your dream college. In this post, we’ll outline the must-haves — and the must-avoids — for a killer college application resume.

Extracurriculars Activities: Political Science

Okay, so you think you want to study political science but you have no idea where to start. That’s totally fine. However, don’t wait until the last minute to get started on developing this interest. Colleges want to see you become as expert as you can in your interest area before you start studying–they like to see proof that you’re committed to your academic interests.

How to Write the Washington and Lee Supplement 2022-2023

Washington and Lee is a liberal arts university in Lexington, Virginia. The campus sits near some gorgeous nature, namely the Blue Ridge Mountains and the Allegheny Mountains. This school is old and historic. Their name comes from their first major benefactor, George Washington, and former college president Robert E. Lee (ok yikes, but…). It’s also a small school with only around 2k students. Their acceptance rate was 17% for the Class of 2026. Their supplement has only 2 essays and they are both optional, so let’s break them down.