This post offers suggestions for next steps after receiving a deferral or denial from an Early Action or Early Decision college, with advice from Admissions Matters: What Students and Parents Need to Know About Getting Into College by Sally S. Springer, Jon Reider & Marion R. Franck.
What to do if you’re deferred? What does deferral mean, anyway? It depends on the school. “Some, like Georgetown University, defer all or most [applicants they do not accept early], denying only those who clearly don’t meet the qualifications for admission…Other colleges prefer to make hard decisions sooner rather than later, denying many qualified candidates they know they would deny in the regular cycle anyway, and deferring just a small percentage who look competitive for the final round…If there is a trend, it is in the direction of denying more students in the early round rather than fewer.” (Springer, p. 215).
Michele Hernandez talks about the varying meanings of deferral in A is for Admission: The Insider’s Guide to Getting into the Ivy League and Other Top Colleges: “…You will not know if you were a polite defer (that is, a valedictorian with low test scores who will probably not be admitted anyway but was deferred to show that he was strong enough not to be rejected outright) or a realistic defer (that is, somebody who looked pretty strong but the college wanted to wait for more scores and/or midyear grades to see how the person performed while carrying a challenging senior year course load.” (Hernandez, p. 38).
Both Springer et al and Hernandez suggest that the student call admissions to get a sense of how to improve his or her chances in the regular cycle, write a letter to reaffirm the school as his or her top choice, add at most one powerful letter of recommendation, and update the college about any new awards or significant accomplishments. And finish out the fall term with strong grades! But both authors caution that the odds of a deferred applicant gaining regular admission are not high (Springer, p. 216, Hernandez, pp. 39-41).
Given the low odds of admission after being deferred, your 12th Grader should continue to apply to meet Regular Decision deadlines. As J.S. Mitchell advises in 8 First Choices: An Expert’s Strategy for Getting Into College, all the schools on the list should be genuine, attractive choices, not halfhearted backups. If the deferral decision was a wake-up call that your student shot too high, reassess. Meet with the guidance counselor and utilize quantitative tools (i.e., Naviance Family Connection) to re-evaluate the realism of the college list. Add slightly less competitive schools, but institutions your teen would be happy attending. Do not make the mistake of applying only to schools that are equally as selective (or more selective) than the institution that has just issued a deferral.
What to do if you’re denied? Most next steps are the same as for deferral. Of course, denial has a more painful sting, especially if the applicant has only applied to one early school. Springer et al point out: “The problem with an early application denial is that it usually occurs in isolation, and also at holiday time…students usually apply early to only one college, and those who receive denials have no simultaneous acceptances to ease the blow.” (Springer, p. 215) One trend that I have seen in my practice is that many applicants apply to several early schools (i.e., one ED and a few EA schools), an approach sometimes coined “Christmas Insurance.”
While it is easier to “save face” with peers when a student is deferred, the finality of denial allows the student to move on. A deferral will most likely not end in eventual acceptance, but because it keeps hope alive it may result in a halfhearted, less effective application effort for the regular cycle. Denial is a blow, but (after blowing off steam) the student is ready to resume the college process. Hopefully, you have kept your student working on Regular Decision essays all along, so he or she will not be totally back at Square One, which can feel overwhelming.
This may be a difficult experience in your family. Some accepted students will not be gracious or supportive. Others who were deferred or denied may ignite a nasty, sour grapes attitude within the senior class. Keep your son or daughter on the high ground. Eventually good news will come, but it is now a long four months away. Try to boost your teen’s self-esteem, with the reminder that this simply means that the admissions committee of this particular college decided not to admit him or her. This may mean your student’s academic credentials were not quite strong enough for this institution, or that the admissions people surmised the match was not there, or even random circumstances over which he or she had no control.
Fast forward to the experience of college graduates trying to land jobs in a still-recovering economy. In my consulting practice, I work with young adults who job hunt for months, weathering disappointment, learning to be patient in between opportunities, keeping their spirits up until they land the job they want, or even accepting a job below their initial expectations to pay off loans or build transferable experience. Learning to postpone gratification is a key life skill. Early admission deferral or denial in Grade 12 may be the first time your child has faced this kind of challenge, but it certainly will not be the last. He or she might as well learn how to survive it resiliently, with self-esteem intact.
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