By this time, you were probably hoping that you’d be making big plans for cheering on Big Red as a proud Cornellian next fall. Instead, you have no idea what’s going on. You’re not yet deemed worthy of a yes, but also not a hard no. You are somewhere in the middle, and that’s super annoying. But what you do next will determine whether you have a successful college admissions experience.
First, let’s dig into the details regarding a deferral decision from Cornell.
Cornell does not publish admissions statistics quickly, if at all, as of the 2019-2020 college admissions season. The reason given for this decision was stress reduction, and a desire to shift the focus of the admissions process away from acceptance rates. As of 2021, the last time the Cornell Daily Sun published anything on acceptance rates, there were over 67,000 applicants to the undergraduate programs in total, and the acceptance rate was 8.7%.
So, we don’t have recent acceptance statistics and we surely don’t have deferral-specific statistics either. This means you’re sort of flying blind statistically, as anyone writing about Cornell admissions statistics is pulling their numbers from as many as four years ago — and we all know a lot has changed in the last four years. Acceptance rates have plummeted across the board, so to use the 2019 numbers to determine a 2023-24 strategy is ill-advised. Instead, we encourage students to focus on what they can actually control in order to increase their chance of admission to Cornell in the regular decision round when they reconsider their application.
In this post, we break down what you need to do for Cornell, as well as what else you need to tackle to get into a dream school.
If you’re feeling underwater and don’t know what to do, we’re here to help! We work with top-performing students to craft exceptional applications.
What Cornell Wants
Cornell does not specifically ask for anything from deferred applicants beyond updated grades, which your school counselor should send automatically. It’s worth respectfully reminding your counselor, though, just to make sure that when they reassess your application at Cornell, they have your most up-to-date grade set to go on.
Beyond this, Cornell doesn’t give you much guidance. However, they do allow applicants to submit supplemental material through the online application portal that you gained access to after you submitted your application. This could include information on coursework changes, updates on recent honors or awards, or an additional letter of recommendation from a non-academic individual who can speak to your successes and future potential. Even though you can submit all of these things, though, we recommend wrapping your updates into one short Letter of Continued Interest.
Letter of Continued Interest
Since Cornell does not specific request an update, we recommend keeping a Letter of Continued Interest short and sweet. It should be less than one page and include no more than three updates. It is equally important that you reassert that Cornell is your first choice, even though the Early Decision agreement no longer applies to your deferred application.
Additional Recommendations
We don’t encourage students to submit an additional recommendation unless you have a real ringer of a recommender who can speak to an aspect of who you are that is not otherwise highlighted in your application. It should not be a teacher, a tutor, or another academic figure. It should not be a family member, but it could be a coach, mentor, religious leader, or supervisor at work.
It's important to keep in mind, though, that doing all of this work does not necessarily mean that the admissions committee will review any of it. They may not even glance at it. This is because, while Cornell does allow you to submit additional information, they do not say anything about actually wanting updates from deferred students. The College of Arts and Sciences even goes so far as to say that they will not review supplemental materials submitted through the application portal (although they say this as a blanket statement, not specific to deferred students).
Because they do not specifically request more information, it is crucially important that you only submit updates through the applicant portal. Do not send the Office of Admissions your letter of continued interest directly. Do not email them asking if they have seen that you submitted things through the portal. Reaching out to the admissions team directly will only hurt your application.
So, what’s the final takeaway? You don’t need to do anything beyond sending your updated grades — but you can send limited and well-edited updates if you’re okay with the idea that it may not even be looked at by the admissions committee. And once you’re done, it’s time to get to (or resume) work on your regular decision college essays.
What Else You Need to Do
You may not have been planning on sending out applications in the regular decision round, but if you don’t have a few early admissions acceptances under your belt, you have some work to do!
1. Review Your College List
A strong college list serves as the foundation for a successful college admissions process. If you haven’t looked at your list in a while, and especially if you were really betting on an early acceptance from Cornell, you need to take another look at it. All college lists should have a balance of safety or “foundation” schools and target schools, with a few reaches. Don’t take a deferral from Cornell as proof you can’t get into a top-tier school, but do move forward with caution.
Making your college list too reach-heavy could go horribly wrong, so it’s important to get the balance right. If you’re realizing your college list needs an overhaul to set you up for success, we can help. We are experts at creating a perfect college list.
2. Edit your Common App Essay
Even if you think your main Common App essay is perfect, there is undoubtedly room for improvement. Check out our blog post “Tips for Editing Your Common App Essay” for expert guidance on how to improve your current essay. If you’re way off the mark, send us an email. We work with deferred students to turn lack-luster essays into outstanding pieces of writing that earn enthusiastic acceptances. Explore our essay ‘bootcamp’ to learn how we work magic on college essays.
3. Get to the Finish Line
This one should be obvious, but it is worth repeating. The regular decision deadlines are rushing up super quickly, and you need to work methodically to reach them in the best possible position to earn a flood of acceptances. Take your time, but not too much. Doing a little every day really is the best way to get things done carefully, precisely, and in good order. It’s also the best way to make sure you have time for fun, friends, and plenty of sleep — because your applications will be stronger if you’re feeling good while you’re working on them.
Getting deferred is a bummer, but it isn’t the end of the world. This is something you can preserve through, and now you have the tools you need to bounce back and chart an exceptional future.
We are really good at helping driven and passionate students craft acceptance-winning essays and supplements. If you want to get into a dream college, send us an email.