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Many colleges that offer Early Decision and Early Action plans promise to issue a decision on an application within a specified date range, often by mid-December of senior year. After weeks or months of anxious waiting, many students eagerly check their application portals to discover that the college’s decision is neither the hoped-for admit offer nor the dreaded denial. It’s a deferral, which means the college will revisit the application later in the admissions cycle, typically with the Regular Decision pool. Essentially, the college has pressed “pause” on the student’s application. It hasn’t deemed the student unqualified, but it is also not ready to invite the student to join its incoming class.
Deferrals can happen for any number of reasons. Sometimes, a college is unsure of the student’s level of interest in the school, and the deferral serves as a yield protection device. Yield refers to the number of admitted students who accept admissions offers and is a metric that can reflect a college’s desirability. Deferrals may also be issued when a college would like to see a student’s academic performance during the first semester of senior year. Or, perhaps the admissions office wants to evaluate the application in the context of the entire application pool. Maybe the student falls on the admit/deny borderline, or the college wants to see how other applicants may align with its institutional priorities. Sometimes, a “courtesy deferral” represents a soft landing for a student with legacy or donor ties to the university. The college is not ready to admit the student (and may or may not ultimately do so), but it is also not prepared to sever ties with the student.
Deferrals are understandably disappointing, yet a deferral does not necessarily mean that a student will never be admitted, though the odds vary from school to school and year to year. Dartmouth College, for example, ultimately admits approximately 5-10% of the students it defers in Early Decision. On the other hand, some colleges, like the University of Southern California, do not deny admission to any students who apply in the Early Action round. A deferral at USC is therefore not a referendum on a student’s application beyond the fact that the student was not admitted in January. USC anticipates admitting 20-25 percent of its class in Early Action, leaving the vast majority of spots for students who were deferred and those who applied Regular Decision.
With the explosion in applications in recent years, colleges are increasingly using deferrals as an enrollment management tool. Admissions officers know that students are applying to more colleges than ever, which lessens the odds that students will ultimately choose any given school (unless the student has applied via a binding decision plan). Deferrals can be an excellent way to gauge a student’s interest in a school, and many colleges expressly ask deferred students to indicate whether they would still like to be considered for admission. While many colleges ask deferred applicants not to send additional information, some colleges even allow or encourage students to submit a letter of continued interest (LOCI). A LOCI is an opportunity for the student to provide updates and reiterate interest. If a student has expressed continued interest in a school, the college may reasonably expect that it has a higher chance of yielding that student upon offering admission.
While there are many admissions factors beyond a student’s control, students do have agency over how they respond to a deferral. Upon reflection, their enthusiasm for a college may have waned, especially if they were admitted to other, equally desirable colleges. They can choose to bow out from further consideration, relieving pressure on the college’s resources and clearing the deck for other applicants. If, however, students remain excited about a school where they have been deferred, they should reiterate their interest by taking appropriate steps in accordance with the institution’s guidelines.
Although deferrals are not nearly as exciting as admit offers, they also do not foreclose the possibility of admission. While it may feel like colleges have all of the power, the admissions process is ultimately about mutual fit, and deferrals are an opportunity for students to reflect on their true interest in a particular school. At the end of the day, the goal is for every student to end up at one college that is a great fit.
