Some colleges, particularly where an alumni family is involved, will use deferral as a soft rejection. In other words, the applicant likely will be rejected in the spring, but it doesn't appear that she or he has been dismissed summarily in ED.

The other possibility, for schools that are more "need-aware" than "need-blind" is that deferred ED candidates are re-considered in a new light if they don't need financial aid, as the school's committed aid budget fills in the spring.

I know someone who applied early decision, got deferred, then come regular decision, got waitlisted and actually got offered a spot off the waitlist.

Anonymous wrote:Some schools, Michigan comes to mind, send out different versions of the deferred letter. One version goes to those who will likely be admitted RD, another version goes to those whose chances, are in fact, slim.

Is that true or urban legend? I know the CC crowd seems to think that's true but not sure. My DC was accepted so no dog in this fight, really just curious. DC did get a pretty negative deferral from an ED school -sort of a don't get your hopes up message.

Some schools, Michigan comes to mind, send out different versions of the deferred letter. One version goes to those who will likely be admitted RD, another version goes to those whose chances, are in fact, slim.

It really depends. If there are any concerns regarding grades or how rigorous a schedule is, the fall senior year semester grades could make a difference. I know a few kids that seemed to be in this situation, one was deferred ED from Columbia and got in RD, and another the same from Bowdoin. But agree that overall being deferred is if anything going to lower accept rate below what the RD rate already is. I think legacies may be more likely to be deferred ED, perhaps not to upset the alums too much, somehow perhaps less upsetting to then be rejected RD since at that point the kid is likely going to be into some other schools.

I think the odds getting accepted are slim. Many selective schools have a higher admittance rate during early decision compared to regular decision. I would not bank on it and start applying to other schools.

Anonymous wrote:I knew someone who was deferred from Princeton and got in...but they were a legacy.

12:17 again. I almost mentioned, but didn't, that I've read that some schools often defer legacies and then let them in RD. I have no idea how widespread this is.

Depends. My DC was deferred and the school website says that 5-10% of deferred students are admitted in RD. That's not much different than the overall admission rate. You also have to look at whether the additional info the school will get (1st semester grades, any accomplishments in the first semester, etc.) will add to the file or detract from it. If grades drop it's probably a no.

I knew someone who was deferred from Princeton and got in...but they were a legacy.

It really depends on the college or university. That said, deferral generally means that the kid is put in the regular decision pool and faces the same odds of admission as everyone else in that pool. The ED advantage no longer applies.

This is for friends of my child, several got deferred. Any observations from the veterans among us? TIA!