Dealing with Deferrals

One of the realities of the college admission process is that not every student will be accepted to every college. The waiting game is often one of the more frustrating aspects. With family members and friends consistently asking, "Where are you going to college?" the uncertainty present with each "I don't know" response can quickly become overwhelming.

Sometimes, even when you hear back from the college, the answer still leaves you wondering where you stand. That is the case with a deferral. A deferral is not a "yes" and it is not a "no." It is what a college will do when they need more time to make a decision on your application.

So, what should you do if you are deferred?One of the first steps should be to stop in and see me so that we can talk about the college decision and develop a game-plan for your next steps.  Your first step would be to read carefully the information that they sent to you along with the deferral decision.  What steps do they indicate they want you to follow?  Do exactly what they ask!

If there isn't information about what they want you to do then you still have options of next steps.  You can consider calling the admissions office to talk directly with the admissions officer who is in charge of our region. Talk to him/ her about where you stand and what they would like for you to do to be a more "ideal" candidate.

Draft a letter with any updates and information that you can share with the admissions staff. In particular, let them know that of any new experiences that you have had or recent accomplishments that they weren't previously aware of when you first applied. Updating them on your new activities and accomplishments is important because it is your effort to help give the college a reason to select you and add your application to the "accepted" pile. 

Send them an updated copy of your transcript. (If you applied through Common App I have already done this for you, but if your school is not one that used Common App then you would need to fill out the online transcript request form to request an updated transcript be mailed.)

If you re-took your ACT or SAT exams and haven't forwarded your most recent scores to the college, request for the scores to be sent directly to the college of your choice.

Consider other outreach efforts to communicate your strengths with the admissions office such as an additional teacher recommendation letter.

Although no one likes to be deferred, remember that this is not the end of the world and there is still plenty of time to communicate your strengths to the admissions committee so that you will hopefully be accepted to their school.