Deferred? What to know and what to do next

If you are the parent of a high school senior, you likely know all too well that this is the season for colleges to release Early Action/Early Decision/Restrictive or Single-Choice Early Action decisions. We know that this is both an exciting and nerve-wracking time. Year over year, the admissions decision we are increasingly seeing is the deferral.

Read on for our guidance about what this means, and what you can do if an application is deferred from the early to regular decision review.

Please know that this year, as the past several have been, is expected to be an incredibly competitive year for admissions, particularly at the most highly selective institutions. Decisions are not always a reflection of the individual applicant, but rather the challenging context of these highly competitive pools.

Here are some next steps to know after receiving a deferral decision:

What is a Deferred Decision?

Being deferred still means you are in the running. It is a time to be realistic about your other college options, but to continue to pursue the next steps.

Deferral decisions can be made for a number of reasons. Historically, a deferral meant that colleges want to see good grades and extracurricular involvement come in from this past fall semester to then consider you as part of the Regular Decision pool. Increasingly, we find that this is a strategy to keep many applicants in the mix in the regular round and give the colleges the most latitude and flexibility in shaping their class. Unfortunately, it is almost impossible to determine how likely you are to gain admission in the regular round, as colleges do not publish this data.

So, if you have been deferred, be sure to submit strong applications to all of your regular decision colleges, continue to demonstrate interest at those schools, and keep your grades strong.

When admissions officers read your application in the Early Action/Early Decision/Restrictive Early Action round, they only see your grades through junior year or early senior year. Deferral does provide the opportunity for them to see more of your senior year performance before making a final decision on your application.

While either your school counselor will send your first semester grades or the college will ask you to provide them directly once the mid-year transcript is formalized, your strategy is to use this as an opportunity to add to and deepen their understanding of both you and your interests.

What should I do next?

STEP #1: Some schools require students to fill out a form to stay in the Regular Decision pool, which is important to do. If the college does not provide a specific form or opportunity to share updated information, we suggest that you send a separate email, in the next few weeks, to your regional college admissions counselor or the general admissions email that shares the following information. This emailed letter is often referred to as a Letter of Continued Intent (LOCI). Your LOCI should include:

1. A thank you for considering your application and taking the time to get to know you in the EA/ED/REA round
2. Sharing again why that school is your top choice (you applied early so it is probably your top choice) and that you would be excited to attend, and anything else you have learned about the school that makes you eager to be a part of their community to show a depth of knowledge about the school
3. And finally, an update on all accomplishments since your application so they learn what you have been up to since the deadline. That includes good grades this fall, new activities, or continued activities that took up your time, new awards/positions, new endeavors, anything of consequence that can add to their understanding of you. Anything you did this fall that was important and visible. This is a chance to add to your application with even more compelling material that has occurred in the senior year.

STEP #2: Confirm, if they asked you to, that you will stay in the pool for RD. At most schools this is automatic, so you may not have to do anything. The decision notification you received will tell you the next steps in this regard.

Your final decision will arrive in March or early April.

To visit more blogs, please click here.