Finally, you are finished working overtime to finish your college applications in early November, and you have applied early action to all your top schools! You can now relax about college: you’ll hear back earlier than your peers applying regular decision, and you don’t have to worry about writing supplemental essays over winter break.

And yet, come mid-November to early February, you check your portals, only to find that you were deferred to the regular decision applicant pool. This is the reality for many current high school seniors. 

Many wonder if applying early was worth the added stress, since the decision won’t come out now until March or April. However, although it bears repeating, it is important to remember that a deferral is not a denial. “The good news is that with a deferral, a student is still being considered for admission,” LFHS counselor Ms. Hannon said. “There are many possible reasons for your deferral.”

The most common reason for a deferral is that the school wants to see more of your information. Perhaps you applied test-optional, had shaky grades one particular semester, or your essay wasn’t very strong. Although dependent on the school, usually, deferred applicants have the ability to submit additional information through their student portals. See if submitting mid-year grades, an additional essay, or test scores will help strengthen your application once it is under review in the spring.

Another common reason for a deferral is the school is extremely strict about its yield and wants to keep its acceptance rate low. Many colleges are infamous for only accepting binding early decision applicants, and deferring non-binding applicants to the regular decision pool. For example, Northwestern only defers 1-2% of their early decision applicants, while Georgetown defers all students who aren’t accepted early action. Competitive schools may only want to give spots in their class to applicants who will actually choose to enroll, allowing the school to keep their acceptance rate low and appear more competitive. In tandem with submitting additional academic information, if you believe this situation to be true of your deferral, reaching out to your admissions officer may help. 

Showing demonstrated interest in the school; visiting (if you can), attending online seminars, and reaching out, may show the school that you are interested in attending, allowing them to gravitate towards your application as they review it in the spring.

With more students applying to stretch schools this year due to waived test scores, admissions officers may not have even had time to read your application, or want to compare you to other applicants in the regular decision pool.

Now, what should you do?

“Follow what the school is instructing you to do! If they will take or are requesting additional information, by all means, send it in,” Ms. Hannon said. “But, keep in mind that a school is looking for new information. If they explicitly say NOT to send in anything, then heed that instruction.”

Writing a thoughtful letter via email to your admissions counselor may also help as well. “Be 100% positive in your email so the admission counselor knows your enthusiasm remains unchanged for that school” she said. And if this school is your top choice, “be sure to indicate that the school is your #1 choice and that you will attend if offered admission.”

Whether you believe you were deferred because your school wanted to see more information, didn’t know if you would be a good fit, wanted to compare you among the entire applicant pool, or simply because “they defer everyone”, don’t suddenly assume that you have no opportunity to be admitted. A deferral is not a denial!