If you just received a rejection from Michigan in the Early Action or Early Decision round, or if you are pondering what to do after a postponement, we can help. This moment is understandably frustrating and overwhelming, but there are things that you can do to turn your application experience around and get into a seriously impressive school. First, though, let’s dig into Mich a little.

Receiving an Early Action rejection from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is understandably early-shaking. This is not the way things were supposed to go. You knew MIT is exceptionally hard to get into — but you expected a deferral, at least. The big question in this moment is: what comes next? 

Getting deferred from Rice isn’t what you hoped to see – especially after months of work, polish, and pressing submit with fingers crossed. You imagined yourself on that Houston campus, but now you feel... stuck. Not in, not out. Just waiting. It’s frustrating, confusing, and yes, disheartening.

Getting deferred from Notre Dame stings – no sugarcoating it. You spent months building an application that told a story you were proud of; you hit “submit” with fingers crossed, and instead of a yes, you got a maybe. It’s a frustrating middle ground that leaves a lot of students wondering what went wrong.

If you recently learned that you were rejected Restrictive Early Action by Harvard, you aren’t alone in your frustration. We are widening the scope for this post, though. Harvard defers most REA applicants, yet very few deferred applicants get in. This guidance, then, applies for both rejected and deferred REA applicants. First, though, some statistics.

This probably wasn’t the outcome you envisioned. You submitted your USC Early Action app with optimism, maybe even confidence, and hoped for a yes. Instead, you’re sitting in limbo. Not an acceptance, not a denial. Just... deferred.

If you recently received a rejection from Cornell in the Early Decision round, you are not alone in that outcome, nor in the massive disappoint you are probably feeling. Cornell has had an overall acceptance rate just under 9% for the past two admissions cycles, with the acceptance rate staying somewhere under 10% for 5 years. The Early Decision acceptance rate, by comparison, has been about double the overall acceptance rate for that period of time.

If you recently received a rejection letter from Columbia College or the Fu School of Engineering and Applied Science (SEAS) in the Early Decision round, you are in your right to be quite upset. You worked hard, you did the ‘right’ things, and you took a big swing — and it didn’t pay off. An ED rejection can be deeply upsetting because it also used up your most powerful tool in the college admissions process. Early Decision offered your best chance of getting into a top school, and you can’t get that back. In this post, we’re going to dig into what may have gone awry with your Columbia application and what you can do now to improve your chances of getting into a dream school. First, let’s break down what may have happened with Columbia. 

Let’s face it: this isn’t what you wanted. You poured yourself into that Northeastern ED/EA application, imagined co-ops and toughing out Boston winters with your fellow Huskies, and instead of the quick yes you were hoping for, you’ve landed in that awkward middle place. Not rejected, but not accepted either. It feels anticlimactic and, honestly, kind of crushing. That’s okay. It’s normal to be frustrated. Give yourself a moment to be upset. Then remind yourself: a deferral isn’t the end of the line. Your application is still alive in the pool, and you’ve got chances to strengthen it.

If you were recently rejected by Duke, you aren’t alone. Duke receives well over 50,000 applications annually, and the overall acceptance rate for the Class of 2029 was only 4.8%. The Early Decision acceptance rate has plummeted, too, in recent years, and was only 12.8% for the Class of 2029 — that is lower than a number of Ivy League schools!