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.
Best Colleges for Urban Planning or Urban Design
Urban Planning is a great field for those interested in all things city planning. While Sociology and History are wonderful and enriching majors, academically, Urban Planning is much more of a career-focused major. So, if you’re destined to work in the field or something involving infrastructure or transit, check out the below programs for Urban Planning and Urban Design:
How to Get into Middlebury
If you are looking at iconic Northeastern small schools, you have probably already checked out Middlebury. This private liberal arts school in Vermont is mainly known for its language, environmental studies, and international studies programs– but it has 45 majors available for its roughly 2,800 undergraduate students. They are also popular for their winter term, a one-month semester where students concentrate on a course or do an internship.
How to Transfer to Colgate University
Located in Hamilton, New York, Colgate University is a small, private liberal arts college that’s considered both a Hidden and a Little Ivy. And yes, it’s named after the toothpaste Colgate. Like a lot of the liberal arts colleges of the Northeast, the most popular majors are econ, poli sci, English, psych, and bio – also known as the most popular majors across the board.
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.
9th Grade Summer Plans: Business Major Edition
Over the years, we’ve noticed that more and more students apply to the business major track when they’re preparing for college, and that’s great! But there are a few factors at play here — first, business is an incredibly broad field of study because it covers all of commerce, or, essentially, the enterprise of making money. As you can imagine, making and managing money applies to… every organization that exists, basically. Even companies that don’t aim to maximize their revenue for revenue’s sake (non-profits, for example) have to strategically finance. Marketing, finance, accounting, investment, micro- and macro-economics, management/administration, organizational psychology, and more all pertain directly to “business.”
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)
How to Transfer to Colorado College
Colorado College is a small, liberal arts college in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Can’t believe we just had to say Colorado three times in one sentence. Anyways, CC (that’s what we’re calling it) is known for their super unique Block Plan, where you take one class at a time for about eight weeks. Pretty neat!
Rejected Early Decision from Columbia 2023
Getting a rejection in the Early Decision round is definitely not easy. But the good news is, it’s really just the start, and that one rejection has no bearing on how you’re going to do with other, similarly competitive schools. The thing about Early Decision is it comes alone and it comes first. It’s sometimes easier to tolerate a rejection when it’s preceded by several acceptance letters. College admissions are extraordinarily competitive these days and the Ivies are just more competitive than any other time or place in history. That’s it. It doesn’t get harder. And Columbia in particular has just a 4% acceptance rate! So, if you’ve been rejected in the Early Decision round, don’t despair. We have some advice about how you might go forward. (And don’t worry, it’s really not that much more work!)
How to Transfer to Claremont McKenna
Claremont McKenna College is a small liberal arts school located in Claremont, California, and it’s a part of the Claremont Colleges – a unique consortium of 5 undergrad colleges that share resources and a campus, but each has its own focus. Claremont McKenna is known for their programs on business, finance, government, econ, public affairs, and international relations, and is also slightly more conservative than their fellow Claremont College associates.
9th Grade Summer Plans: Biology Major Edition
You’ve heard about the birds and the bees, but what about the biomes and the black holes? Sorry if that opener was misleading — we’re not talking about the reproductive cycle of the void today (although hold up while we file this away for future presentations #WelcomeToMyTedTalk). The point is there’s a lot more to ~the study of life~ than you’ve got time to cover in AP Bio. Whether you’re studying abyssery and starlight in astrobiology or learning about infectious diseases in microbiology, you’re falling under the biology umbrella in one way or another.
How to Transfer to Bryn Mawr
Bryn Mawr College is a women’s liberal arts school located in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania. It’s a small school, with only around 1400 undergrads and 350 postgrads. They’re a part of the Seven Sisters, and they share a school paper with Haverford! They’re known for being politically super progressive and hella feminist – they were the first college in the US to offer a PhD in social work (and doctorates to women in general), they were one of the first women’s colleges to accept trans and non-binary applicants, and they renamed May Day as “May Hole” because maypole was too phallic. If this sounds like your jam, you might be considering applying as a transfer.
Rejected Early Decision from Brown 2023
Getting a rejection from your Early Decision school can be crushing. You’ve worked very hard. You’ve not only put in the sweat equity, but you’ve invested emotionally and envisioned yourself at a particular school, otherwise, you wouldn’t have applied to a binding opportunity. We understand it’s a tough blow. But we also want you to keep in mind that college admissions are incredibly competitive. The acceptance rate for Brown is just 5%. So, the fact that you didn’t get into Brown ED does not mean you should rule out all of the other Ivies or other similarly competitive schools. We like to have our students consider it to be a minor setback, as opposed to a failure. Here are some steps you can take to help you get back on the horse after a setback: