You didn’t expect it, but after applying early action to colleges, you were not admitted or rejected outright, but deferred instead. Now, you are wondering what you can do.
In this blog, I will explain what being deferred really means, and what you can do to give yourself the best chances of shining through the regular decision applicant pool.
What Should I do Once I Find out I’m Deferred After Applying Early Action?
First, take a deep breath. Next, read on. 😊
What Does Being Deferred Actually Mean?
Once you apply to a college early action, typically three things can happen: (1) you are accepted; (2) you are rejected; or, (3) you are deferred. In very rare occasions, some colleges have waitlisted early action applicants, but this is quite rare. The three options I listed above are most common.
If you are deferred after applying early action, it means that admissions will take another look at your application. AND there might be some things you can do to improve your chances of rising to the top of regular decision applications, and get that desired “yes”.
Remember, being deferred is NOT a “no”. Rather, it’s a “you appear to be the type of student we are looking for, but we want to compare you to the regular decision applicants”. It varies by schools, and it varies by years – some schools will not reject any early action applicants, but some will. Some colleges have listed reasons why you may have been deferred after applying early action, including:
– “We are interested in seeing grades from senior year”, or
-“We want to learn more about the full context of our larger applicant population”.
It’s important to keep in mind that a college cannot completely fill its class with the early action students; admissions want to make sure they get a look at regular decision applications too.
You should not lose faith if you are deferred. You can still be accepted.
Steps to Take if Deferred After Applying Early Action
After taking a deep breath, make sure you carefully read the email you received from the college that has deferred you. It will contain very specific information about what your next steps need or can be. In addition to carefully reading the email (you should be reading ALL emails from schools to which you have applied), be sure to also check your applicant portal.
Submit the Early Action Deferral Form
Make sure you let the school know you are happy to be considered again in the regular decision pool. This is usually done by filling out their Early Action Deferral form. I’ve seen it called a few different names, including “Expression of Continued Interest”. Just make sure you locate this form and submit it. You will likely be able to access this form via a live link in the email informing you of deferral. It may take you directly to your portal, or to another form within the college’s website.
Sometimes, in addition to communicating your willingness to be deferred, this form may allow you to provide additional information. Or, the college may indicate that additional information can be submitted in other ways. Be sure to look for the school’s “Early Action Deferral FAQs”.
The type of information that you may be able to provide includes:
(1) Midyear Report
A midyear report is simply an updated high school transcript that will include your first semester senior year grades. For Common App schools, you would simply ask your high school counselor to upload it into your Common App account.
Note that some portals will allow you to self-report your senior year first semester grades, or upload an unofficial transcript.
(2) Additional Information/updates
These can vary from very specific requests like this one from Wake Forest this year: “we encourage deferred students to send us any grades from their senior year as well as any additional academic recognitions or awards“. This is a very specific request, and should be respected. This does not include additional projects or leadership activities. Colleges want to see if you can follow instructions. It’s not a good idea to try to “sneak in” additional information. Respond to what is requested, and nothing more.
Also, whenever a school allows for you to provide “updates” – that is exactly what they want, updates. This means you are “updating your application”, therefore, do not include things that took place before you submitted your application. Updates from the time you submitted to “now” is what they are after.
This year, University of Michigan has expressly instructed “postponed applicants”, what they call deferred students, that their Expression of Continued Interest form is the deferred student’s “singular expression of continued interest in the University of Michigan.” UMichigan Postponed Applicants FAQs
Michigan further instructs that the form “can be used to share additional information about yourself with us. It is voluntary and is not required for us to consider your application in our Regular Decision process.” Michigan then cautions: “Please note: Given the high volume of applicants to the University of Michigan, this form is the only source of additional application information that will be considered. Therefore, additional information/communications sent outside this form will not be added to your application.”
The University of Michigan Expression of Continued Interest form must be submitted by March 1, and has a limit of 250 words. Be certain to check for deadlines, and word limits.
(3) Letter of Continued Interest (“LOCI”)
You may have heard the term “LOCI”, letter of continued interest. LOCIs have become common. I suspect that colleges received too many. They have since chosen to identify more clearly what a deferred student can provide to supplement the application. So the most important thing you can do is to understand exactly what you can provide as “additional information”.
If you do have the opportunity to submit a letter of continued interest, or a statement of updates/additional information, I propose you do the following, word limit permitting.
(a) Know what you have already provided in your Early Action application
First, review your entire application, including your activities list, your personal statement and all supplemental essays. You need to know exactly what the school knows, so that you can properly update them.
(b) Thank admissions and remind them that this school remains your first choice
Simply thank them for their review of your application and that you appreciate the fact that you are still in the running. Then make sure it’s clear that this college remains your first choice. If you have room, you can add a few sentences about why this school is still your first choice. Point to a few things that the school offers that you love. Make sure these are different than anything you already wrote about in response to a “why us” or “why this major” supplemental essay.
(c) What is new since you applied
Now move on to what you would like to update them on such as new activities, new leadership positions, new classes not listed in the application, a new job, new project, new volunteer activity, new awards, etc. Keep it succinct, but informative.
(d) Why you would be a great addition to campus
If you have room, you can remind them about how you see yourself taking advantage of what this college has to offer (clubs, activities, opportunities). I love to tell my students to make admissions “see” you on campus, partaking in what the college has to offer, like participating in a particular research opportunity or starting a new club. Just make sure you provide new details that are not in your application.
Final Thoughts
After carefully reading your deferral email, checking your portal, and making sure you submit all that you can by the deadline, know you have done all you can.
Enjoy your senior year, keep working hard in all of your classes, and use some of your time to look for scholarships to apply for! 🎉
And, once you have heard back from all of the schools you have applied to, be sure and check out my blog – How to decide which college to attend… What do now?
I hope this article was helpful. Please don’t hesitate to comment, ask questions or just let me know this helped. And come visit my website! Grays Hall College Counseling