The Zinch Report

Around what month in spring

Raquel -

Every school is different but April 1 is a pretty standard mail date for selective schools.

Hey Sarah, I love your column, you've helped me alot! But i was wondering, and i know you can explain it to the T, what and how does the applicant send reccomendation letters to their schools?

Hi I just finished reading your comments and advice. So can you tell me some reasons why you can possibly get deferred.

I have yet to call the admissions office.

What kind of questions should I discuss with them (even if I know the answer to it)? If I do so, they just might remember my name. This would really help, thank you Sarah, great advice.

Jerron -

If you're going to send in recommendation letters, the best way to go about it is to provide your teacher/counselor with a stamped, addressed envelope to the admissions office. You can find this address on the college website. By providing your teacher/counselor with the envelope ready to go you save him or her the step of having to find it which is especially helpful if s/he is writing multiple letters for multiple students.
These letters should arrive in advance of the deadline just like the rest of your application. Recommendation letters need not accompany the other parts of the application - your teacher/counselor should go ahead and send them separately.

Hope this helps.

Sergio -

Every schools reads and makes decisions differently. In general, however, there are as many reasons why someone would get deferred as there are reasons to be admitted - good grades, interesting essays, compelling personal story, good test scores, extracurricular accomplishment and commitment, good recommendations, good interview.
The difference is, for students who are deferred their qualifications were perceived to be almost competitive enough to be admitted. Sometimes also, students are deferred because their grades showed an upwards trend and the admissions officers want to see first term senior grades. Or, a student may have taken a heavy courseload but with early decision, first semester grades do not always make it in in time. A deferral gives the student a little more time to prove him or herself.

That said, these are my experiences. I'm sure there are plenty of other reasons why a student is deferred.

Catalina -

Couple thoughts. If you call the admissions office - not so much to obtain information but to remind them who you are - keep it brief. One way to ask questions you may know the answers to is to confirm things you've heard, as in "my counselor told me that x% of students who are deferred eventually are admitted, is this correct?" This will get conversation going and will allow the admissions officer to clear up any misinformation you may have heard.
Only ask questions you think are relevant, personal and interesting. Don't ask questions just to ask questions because a) it will be transparent and b) it will waste both your and the admissions officer's time. Then they may know your name, but it won't help your case. You can also, if you're feeling bold, inquire as to some of the reasons you were deferred. This may help focus your energy and manage your expectations for spring.
When I worked in admissions, I'd make a note that a student had called and jot down anything that I thought would aid the decision making process down the road when I reviewed the file.
Feel free to emphasize that the college continues to be your top choice and stay positive. Students who call, are optimistic, see the deferral as a way to stay motivated to work hard and keep grades up do themselves a service (especially over those who call while upset, disenchanted or angry).

How do you know if you've been deferred or not?

I received my deferral letter in Mid December, when should I contact the admissions office reminding them that it is still my first choice and updating etc...?

Some people have advised me to wait until March...

Sarah,
Thanks for that great post. I just got deferred from my first choice and have a lot of questions. You mentioned that schools may want to see if your grades are on an upward trend, what do I do if my grades in several classes dropped slightly in a few classes because of a rough semester combined with a lot of time spent at the hospital? I have an interview in a few weeks, should I mention that or will it sound like I am trying to excuse myself? Also, I was already accepted into one school that I like okay, would you recommend I apply other places?? Thank you so much!

Statistically, do you have as good of a chance to be accepted once you are deferred, or does it decrease?

Hi Sarah i was wondering you said to keep your grades up when your deferred well im from haiti and i didnt get the grades i wanted to get to be accepted once my application is reviewed again. What do you think?

Rachael and Luciana -

Deferral letters come in the mail or via email depending on the school. Once you receive this letter, there's no formula for the best time to respond.
Consider a few things.
First, if you wish to send in first semester final grades, or midterm grades for second semester, you would contact the admissions office based on the receipt of those marks.
Second, if you write to the school to update them and indicate your continued interest, it will end up in your file, so the date stamped on that letter isn't terribly important. It will be read and reviewed when your file is opened up again.
Third, if you plan to call, it might be better to wait until February or March. Admissions officers will not be looking at the deferred students until they've made their way through the regular decision applicants to a sufficient degree. So, give them a couple months to read those students, then, come March, when they're more likely to be reviewing the deferred students, you can ring them and remind them who you are. Be aware, though, that many admissions officers are not in the office answering phones during the time they're reading applications. You may not be able to talk to the person who read your file, or has your school in his or her region. In my opinion, because of this, a letter is best (and let your counselor call the school).
Careful, though, to be sure that they don't have a mailing date in March or February. Most highly selective schools will mail somewhere around April 1, so just be sure to call a few weeks before they're going to send letters.

Karen -

You raise an important issue. If your grades dip, admissions officers will see it. Better that they know the reason especially when there is one. Otherwise, they will have no idea and your chances for acceptance may suffer. Of course there are ways to do this that are better than others. My only advice is to be honest and sincere - if a hospital stay is the cause for lowered grades and this stands out as an anomoly, then of course you should share this.

As far as advising you on whether to apply to other schools, that's not something I can do without knowing you well, your preferences, your goals, your options etc. Your guidance counselor should be able to help you with this. Personally, I find it nice to have options, but if you're content with the school where you've been admitted, don't have the time to apply or interest in attending other schools, or don't have the resources to send in more applications, then maybe it's best to stick with what you've got. Again, though, that's too nuanced a decision for me to give advice on.

Good luck!

Rick -

Every school is different but when I worked in admissions, the acceptance rate for deferred students was about 5% - a number much lower than the acceptance rate for early decision.
Another way to think of it, though, is that you are given another chance to be admitted (having not be admitted in the first round).
Your chances aren't exactly going to go up once you've been deferred. If that were the case, admissions officers would be playing a very tricky game of delaying the inevitable.

Bottom line - it's hard to get in early. It's also hard to get in if you've been deferred. But the college wouldn't have deferred you unless it thought you were close to getting in in the first place.