This time of year, students are eagerly waiting to hear back from early action and early decision schools, which typically release decisions in mid- to late-December. While being admitted and denied are straightforward decisions that are easy to understand, what about deferrals? Is a “defer” just a “deny” in disguise? Is this a college’s way of letting students down easy?
What is a deferral?
When a college defers a student, they are not admitting nor denying them. Deferring means that the student’s application will be moved to the regular decision pool. This means that they want to look at a student’s application again, but this time in the context of a larger pool of students. From there, the student will either be admitted, denied, or put on the waiting list.
What does it mean if a student is deferred?
A deferral is NOT a denial of admission. Plenty of students get admitted to colleges after being deferred. It doesn’t mean that the student is less qualified, or that a college thinks they can’t handle matriculating on their campus. It simply means that the college wants more information about the student in context of the majority of students applying in the regular decision pool. This can be helpful to colleges in the process of shaping and building the incoming class.
How should the student deal with a deferral?
The first step is to not panic. While a deferral is no doubt disappointing, this does not mean the student won’t ultimately be admitted or that they won’t have plenty of wonderful options. College admission offices have a very difficult and time-consuming job to do, and this is a part of their process. While waiting even longer for a decision can be tough, try to focus on other things, like completing any other applications, other extracurricular activities, or spending time with family and friends!
How else can a student proceed after receiving a deferral?
Some schools allow what are called letters of continued interest to be sent by the student to affirm that they are still very much interested in attending the college (also applicable if a student is waitlisted). If the college in question allows LOCIs, students are encouraged to send one! However, some colleges specifically do not want LOCIs, so make sure to read any and all instructions on the deferral letter and respect their wishes! If you’re interested in more information on what makes a good LOCI, the College Essay Guy has a great guide that can be found here.
Again, a deferral is NOT a deny! If you have any questions or want to strategize a course of action, reach out to your Galin college counselor and essay coach. We are here to help!
