Is it better to get deferred or waitlisted?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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

Yes from EA

What did that mean? You were moved to the RD pool the same as being deferred or you were waitlisted from the early round and could get accepted if they got fewer than expected admits early.

[Anonymous]

Deferred is a fake term created for top universities to make qualified applicant that they have no intention of making an offer to feel good.

It means your grades make you qualified but no.

Waitlisted means we want you but don’t have room, if room opens up you will get an offer.

[Anonymous]

There’s stats out there that tell exact school and their percent admit from waitlist. FWIW my kid was deferred and rejected from Fordham, and deferred, then waitlisted, then admitted at Pitt. Admitted at Pitt on May 2.

[Anonymous]

Has anyone encountered "preferred waitlist" at a school which also "waitlists" some applicants ?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Has anyone encountered "preferred waitlist" at a school which also "waitlists" some applicants ?

Boston College does this.

[Anonymous]

College admissions is a wicked game.

If your highly qualified kid gets deferred during EA, and the school is their first choice, then apply ED2. There’s a good chance your kid will get admitted.

The colleges think you’ll have a better offer and reject them— oftentimes they are protecting yield.

Think of the Cheap Trick song… I want you to want me.

[Anonymous]

They are different things. Deferrals are automatically reconsidered in the RD round, which may result in an admit. Waitlists are not reconsidered during RD, but may get an admit if accepted students from all rounds are insufficient to fill the class. If you want to attend the school, a deferral is better.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There’s stats out there that tell exact school and their percent admit from waitlist. FWIW my kid was deferred and rejected from Fordham, and deferred, then waitlisted, then admitted at Pitt. Admitted at Pitt on May 2.

But the stats are not accurate because they protect yield from the WL too. Our kid got emails from the waitlisted schools saying, we are taking a select few student from the WL soon, do you want to be considered? They basically want you to accept before giving you the offer, like a very last round of ED without the contract. So the stats they publish do not include the kids who got that email and said no (my DC said no to those emails from two schools, yes to a third and was accepted at that one the next day with a large merit award, surprisingly). Some of these happened before the deposit deadline too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:College admissions is a wicked game.

If your highly qualified kid gets deferred during EA, and the school is their first choice, then apply ED2. There’s a good chance your kid will get admitted.

The colleges think you’ll have a better offer and reject them— oftentimes they are protecting yield.

Think of the Cheap Trick song… I want you to want me.

No every school has ED2.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There’s stats out there that tell exact school and their percent admit from waitlist. FWIW my kid was deferred and rejected from Fordham, and deferred, then waitlisted, then admitted at Pitt. Admitted at Pitt on May 2.

Yes. Some schools definitely pulled from their waitlist. BU, Tufts, and UPenn all pulled from their waitlists for 2022.

[Anonymous]

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

yea, I'm confused about this, too. What would be the difference between WL and Deferred for EA?

[Anonymous]

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

+1

Exactly this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Deferred is a fake term created for top universities to make qualified applicant that they have no intention of making an offer to feel good.

It means your grades make you qualified but no.

Waitlisted means we want you but don’t have room, if room opens up you will get an offer.

This depends on the school. Some schools limit the number of acceptances in ED and there may be very qualified students they want to still consider in RD that they didn't have room for in ED after meeting their institutional priorities (sports, diversity etc.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:They are different things. Deferrals are automatically reconsidered in the RD round, which may result in an admit. Waitlists are not reconsidered during RD, but may get an admit if accepted students from all rounds are insufficient to fill the class. If you want to attend the school, a deferral is better.

This was my DC in 2021. Deferred in EA in January, placed in RD pool. Submitted LOCI form. Admitted 4 weeks later in RD.

If "deferral" has this meaning at the school involved, then "deferral" is a better situation than "waltlist".

[Anonymous]

Presume either is a no and plan accordingly.