Deferral DOs and DONTs - What to do when you're deferred to regular decision
Watch on YouTubeVideo summary
When students receive a deferral from an early decision or action round, it is crucial to understand that this status is not equivalent to a rejection but rather indicates that the admissions committee needs more time to evaluate the applicant within the context of the entire incoming class. Universities often defer applicants because they are managing a higher volume of applications than anticipated or strategically building a diverse cohort with specific geographic and demographic goals. While some institutions may treat deferrals as de facto rejections, many top schools like MIT and Harvard use them to review candidates alongside regular decision applicants, meaning that a deferral does not necessarily mean the applicant is out of contention. It is important for students to conduct their own research using legitimate sources from university publications rather than relying on anecdotal evidence or unverified internet articles, as official deferral rates are rarely published and can vary significantly between schools.
Once a student receives a deferral, the most critical advice is to avoid panicking or engaging in excessive communication with the admissions office, as these actions can inadvertently harm their chances. Admissions officers are extremely busy during the fall and winter months traveling for campus visits and reviewing thousands of applications, so sending constant emails asking for updates or additional letters is counterproductive and can be perceived as annoying. Instead, applicants should limit their direct contact to a single, concise email if absolutely necessary and strictly adhere to any specific instructions provided by the university regarding how to submit supplementary materials. If the school requests a letter of continued interest, extra letters of recommendation, or other updates, students must take advantage of these opportunities while ensuring they follow the designated submission methods, such as using the applicant portal rather than emailing counselors directly.
Demonstrating genuine and sustained interest in the university is another vital component of navigating a deferral successfully, going beyond simply stating that the school is the first choice. Colleges utilize advanced tracking tools to monitor an applicant's engagement with their institution, so participating in webinars, virtual tours, or online orientation sessions can provide tangible evidence of enthusiasm that strengthens a letter of continued interest. When writing this letter, students should clearly reaffirm their intent to enroll if admitted, share recent achievements such as volunteer work or improved grades, and keep the document to approximately one page to respect the reviewers' time. This document serves as a final opportunity to highlight personal growth and specific reasons for choosing that particular university, effectively turning the deferral period into a chance to add value to the original application rather than just waiting passively.
Ultimately, the path from deferral to admission requires patience, persistence, and strategic self-improvement rather than aggressive follow-up tactics. Students who have been deferred are still in the running for admission and will be evaluated alongside regular decision applicants, though they retain a slight advantage due to their early application which can also facilitate financial aid discussions. By accepting the deferral without panic, avoiding annoying behavior toward admissions staff, and submitting high-quality supplementary materials when requested, applicants can maximize their likelihood of receiving an offer in the regular decision round. Even if the outcome is not immediate acceptance, reaching this stage is a significant accomplishment that demonstrates resilience and commitment, placing the student in a stronger position than those who only applied during the regular cycle.
Read the full video transcript
hello my people my name is meum I'm your
college counselor and today we're
talking about deferrals if you've been
deferred then I've got some deferral
dues and don'ts for you today that are
going to help you maximize your chances
of going from deferral to admission
first thing is don't panic a deferral is
not the same thing as a rejection and
it's important to understand why a
university might choose to defer you
sometimes universities get more
applications than they anticipated and
then maybe they didn't hire enough help
to get through all those applications by
the deadline that they themselves put
another reason that colleges often defer
early applicants is because they're
looking to build a certain kind of class
the college might only admit a handful
of people from each state and Country so
that later on they can see what the
whole pool of applicance looks like and
they can start to sort of form that
class that they want so if someone you
know got admitted but you got deferred
that doesn't mean that you're dead in
the water still there are some colleges
that pretty much use deferrals like
rejection so how can you be sure that
your deferral is not a death sentence do
some research and I'm not talking about
scrolling through Tik Tock or you know
just reading any article on the internet
there's a lot of bad information out
there when it comes to deferral rates
because a lot of universities don't
publish those official numbers I just
took a look at this one article that
talked about deferral rates from top
universities this website cited sources
for Georgetown MIT and Harvard in the
case of MIT and Harvard the majority of
the early applicants were deferred to
reg decision but curiously when I went
to that link for Georgetown it didn't
say anything about deferral numbers so
I'm not sure where this article is
getting their actual information from so
again don't panic if you read something
that doesn't sound so good try to figure
it out for yourself by looking for
legitimate sources that come from
publications related to the university
or the actual University admissions
office once you get a deferral Your
Instinct may be to reach out immediately
to the admissions office and that is
where my third piece of advice comes in
don't annoy the admission office
basically from like September to
December these people are traveling
around the world and around the country
visiting schools doing University fairs
and so finally they come back home and
all they've got to do is review tens of
thousands of applications they are
extremely busy right now and so the last
thing they need is for you to be sending
constant emails asking why did I get
deferred do you want me to send you an
llci do you want me to give you any
other letters you need to shut up and
wait and be patient I know it's
difficult but it's important for you to
understand what these people are dealing
with and if you become an annoying
applicant you're going to hurt your
chances of getting admitted in the
regular decision round my rule is to
limit your Communications to exactly one
email and keep it short that's it but
that doesn't mean you just have to sit
there in silence either do send more
material if the university asks for it
or offers you an opportunity to do so
some universities may ask you specific
specifically for a letter of continued
interest and we'll talk about that in a
second others may ask you for extra
letters of recommendation or even just a
simple email to figure out what's been
going on since you applied if your
deferral does ask you for any of those
materials or gives you a way to submit
those materials then you should
definitely do that take advantage of
those opportunities make sure that you
do it the way that they ask you to if
they say that you can submit things for
example through their portal that's
where you send them don't blow up your
admission counselor email if that's not
the way that they want to receive extra
material we don't want to annoy
admissions another thing we don't want
to do is stop demonstrating interest
demonstrating interest is more than just
saying it in a letter of continued
interest colleges today typically use
Advanced tools to track applicants
engagement with the university during
the admissions process so if they have
webinars or online orientation sessions
or even just a virtual tour of the
campus if you go into those things they
may actually know about it when they're
reviewing your application demonstrating
interest will actually give weight to
your letter of continued interest and
you can actually use that letter to talk
about some of those ways that you've
been engaging with the university as
well so with all this in mind the last
thing you should do is write a letter of
continued interest now a letter of
continued interest is going to be a
short letter where you express your
continued interest in the University if
you applied early decision let them know
from the very beginning of your letter
that it is crystal clear that this is
still your first choice likewise if you
apply to early action but you got
deferred if you're still really
interested in the University let them
know one of the things that universities
are looking for when they defer students
is to determine whether or not in the
future they will be a guaranteed
enrollment if they admit you they want
you to enroll so letting them know that
that is your intention as long as it's
true don't lie to your admissions
officers they know each other they talk
the rest of your letter of continued
interest can be used to talk about some
of the things that you've been doing
since you applied if you've got some
volunteer work some competitions that
you won or maybe you've finished up your
grades and you've got really good
results that you want to share with the
university all of those things could be
things that you can include in your
letter of continued interest at most
your letter of continued interest should
be one full page of text and nothing
more they do not have time to read two
or three pages and if you send them an
extremely long letter like that they're
not going to read it all if you want to
look at an example of a letter of
continued interest then I have put one
in the description of this video and you
can check it out it's one that I wrote
just to give you a good example of what
might go into a letter of continued
interest and how long it should be
ultimately the hardest part of deferrals
is just being patient but that is what
you need to do right now persisting and
annoying your admissions as counselors
is not going to change the result in
fact it can have the opposite effect one
email a short letter of continued
interest and go back to waiting most
people who get deferred are going to go
to the regular decision round will be
treated the same as everyone else
although you will still have a small
Boost from the fact that you applied
early and that is something that shows a
little bit of extra interest and also
can make it easier for you to get
financial aid from a college so by
having applied early you already put
yourself in a better position than if
you had just waited for the regular
decision round so even though you may
have a deferral and it's not the result
you want don't panic give yourself a pat
on the back you made it to an early
application and you haven't been
rejected yet it could be worse if you've
got questions for what to include in
your letter of continued interest or you
want some advice about your deferral go
ahead and leave it in the comments below
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