You got the news, and it isn’t what you wanted. Stanford deferred your early application to the regular decision pool, and now you have to wait to see what happens and submit a bunch of applications you probably weren’t planning to send. It’s frustrating and bruising, we know, but after you take a moment to wallow in your disappointment, there’s work to be done — and we are here to help.
Deferral happens. Stanford is an extremely selective school. Last year’s acceptance rate was a measly 3.68%. As you know, Stanford only offers Restrictive Early Action as an earlier application option, and while applying early does give applicants a small advantage statistically, that advantage is tiny. However, there is some good news — you weren’t rejected! Stanford tries not to drag out the admissions process, so they only defer a “small percentage” of applicants. If you’re part of that small percentage, they are genuinely interested in you, but they want to see a bit more before making a final decision. Below, we go into what you need to do to make the most of your Stanford deferral and what else you need to be doing to ensure a successful college application experience.
We help students navigate the disappointment of deferral to find their perfect fit school. Email us to learn more.
What Stanford Wants
First, you need to address what Stanford wants from you now that you’ve been deferred. They will send you a form to share updates on what has happened in your life since your original application. It’s only been a few weeks, so they don’t expect everything to have changed, but this is an opportunity to share a recognition, a leadership opportunity, a development in a club or on a sports team, or some other meaningful change. This form must be filled out carefully, as it is the most important document in the re-evaluation of your application. It can make the difference between you getting into Stanford or not getting in. Do not skip it, do not phone it in, and do not treat it like a throw-away that won’t make a difference.
Once you receive the form, which may be sent as a link via email or made available in the applicant portal, fill it out to the best of your ability and be sure to emphasize points of growth. Even a small positive shift is meaningful. You can’t coast on who you were in your original application; you need to show them more.
What Else You Need to Do
Now that you’ve been deferred, though, this isn’t just about Stanford — you need to make a plan that broadens your option pool. Since you’ll be applying regular decision to colleges, you need to make sure your applications are as strong as they can be. Below are the three steps you need to take for your strongest application.
Look at Your List
Just because you didn’t get into Stanford doesn’t mean you can’t get into an extremely selective school. In fact, your deferral is actually encouraging evidence of you as a strong candidate for one of the best schools in the country. So, there isn’t a need to overhaul your list — but you do need to find balance. Students tend to take big swings in the early application cycle, but for the regular decision cycle you need to take a more measured approach with a realistic balance of schools spread between reaches, like Stanford is for literally anyone, targets, and schools you are very likely to get into. So, reassess your college list and make sure that you have a range of college options that you would be happy to attend, including two or three colleges that you are almost sure to get into statistically — not simply emotionally. Luckily, we can help you with this.
Consider a Common App Essay Edit (or even an Overhaul)
Your main Common App essay was strong enough for Stanford to defer you instead of rejecting you, but we’ve found that often when all the other pieces of an application are in order, such as grades, scores, and recommendations, it’s the written parts of the application that make the difference.
Stanford won’t get to read a refreshed Common App essay, but other highly selective schools you apply to will, so this is an amazing opportunity to make your essay the game-changer that it needs to be to tip the scale in your favor in the regular decision pool. We offer an amazing free guide for brainstorming a unique essay. Yes, we know you already have an essay and feel way past brainstorming, but give this post a read and assess whether your essay measures up. If it doesn’t, you have time to rework or, even, to rewrite.
Get your Ducks in a Row
Even though you knew getting into Stanford wasn’t a shoo-in, chances are that you were really hoping that you wouldn’t have to submit applications in the regular decision cycle. Chances are that your supplements for your regular application cycle schools are rough drafts (you may not have even started!), and you’re struggling to find the motivation to turn out polished writing in the mere weeks between receiving your deferral decision and regular decision deadlines. But you need to get on a schedule and start chipping away.
It may be unpleasant, but you should also consider whether there is an EDII option that would be right for you. Early Decision II is a powerful tool, and your deferral from Stanford proves that you’re a powerful candidate for a top school.
If you are struggling to find your footing post-deferral, we offer a special package for students who received disappointing EA or ED decisions. This package is only available after early decisions come out, and is an intensive two-week sprint that leads to spectacular essays and supplements for your best possible regular decision outcomes.
We want you to have choices, and we believe in you as a student. Sometimes, it takes some help to get to the finish line in your best possible form.