Is it better to get deferred or waitlisted?

[Anonymous]

What do you think?

[Anonymous]

Waitlist

[Anonymous]

Neither

[Anonymous]

Pretty much the same thing, but deferral slightly more promising at schools that limit it to 20 percent of the pool or less.

[Anonymous]

To me, waitlist slightly "better" - means to me that you fit the kind of student they want, but for the lack of space in the class.
Deferral to me means either a soft no, or they truly want to evaluate you in the RD round with that bunch of kids, with the benefit of the additional info about you like your first semester grades.
Net effect might be negligible as you don't know the real story in your case. Some schools do pull from the waitlist even in this climate, some not so much.
Admittance in RD from ED/EA deferral does happen but it's more unusual.
Deferral in ED or EA round, leading to full out denial in RD round, is common.
Deferral in ED or EA round, leading to waitlist in RD round, also common.
Always good to try to line up as many other options as you can.

[Anonymous]

To put it simply, your chances of getting off the waitlist are not always great, but they can vary from year to year, and school to school. More importantly, you won’t find out if a school has invited you off of the waitlist until after many deadlines to accept in May. Being deferred from a college or university means that your application will be assessed again during the ED1/2 or Regular Decision (RD) review process. They may want to see your semester grades or another letter of recommendation. If deferred, it likely means your application wasn’t quite strong enough to be a clear early admit but had promise. While waitlist offers are only contingent upon space remaining in the incoming class, deferred admission still allows you to be in the running before the admissions cycle is near its conclusion.

[Anonymous]

At one school DC was deferred from EA, then WL in RD, and did not get off the list. At three other schools, DC was WL and got offers, one before the regular deadline, two shortly after.

[Anonymous]

I had a 2022 kid and none of her friends who were "deferred" ever received acceptances to those schools. I do know plenty of kids (including my own) who were offered spots from the waitlist.

[Anonymous]

They are equal. My DC was deferred ED and WL at 4 schools and didn't get in to any of those (had other options of course). All it did was extend the process.

[Anonymous]

Waitlist is the school going back to the waitlist to fulfill their need. Deferred is better. Waitlist is for “oh do we have anyone from Idaho?” “We are lacking a diversity in this area. Let’s go to the waitlist and find someone.”

So I guess it depends on who you are. If you are on the waitlist…write or call admissions to let them know you are still interested.

[Anonymous]

Some universities only have one or the other. DS was deferred; waitlist is not an option.

[Anonymous]

It’s better to get in. My DS got deferred ED and then WL at all but 3 schools last year. WLs didn’t move at all, even the “preferred WL” although I think that’s just semantics. Focus on where they get in.

[Anonymous]

Neither. Either way, you are placed on hold until a miracle happens.

[Anonymous]

I thought deferred was for ED/EA and WL was for RD. Does anyone get waitlisted from ED/EA?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I thought deferred was for ED/EA and WL was for RD. Does anyone get waitlisted from ED/EA?

Yes from EA