Pomona, it’s a hard school to get into. Last cycle, they boasted an acceptance rate of 7% and an ED acceptance rate of 13%. While that might technically be almost double, that’s still around the acceptance rate of schools like Berkeley, Georgetown, and Wellesley. Pomona tells us that they defer around 10-15% of their ED applicants, so if you’ve been deferred, you’re in a rare group! And we have good news: you still have a shot.
We know you’re probably pretty down about your deferral. Take some time to have whatever feelings you need to have, although don’t take too much time, you have a lot to do. The next few weeks might be pretty stressful for some of you, but we guarantee this—you will go to college, and we’re here to help. We’ve had great success with deferred students, whether it’s getting into their ED school during RD or finding an even better fit through ED2 or RD applications. You’re not alone in this, and we’ve got your back. Let’s get into it.
Step One: Check Your College List
If you’re a true TKG stan, you probably followed all of our advice and crafted a well-balanced college list with a good mix of safeties, targets, and reaches, submitted all your applications by December 1st, and have an ED2 school lined up, go ahead and skip to step four. For everyone else, we need to have a conversation.
Some of you might have put all your eggs in the Pomona basket, or you only applied to a few other schools. You need to regroup and come up with a new strategy: take a moment to
reassess your college list—if it’s balanced with a good mix of around 8-12 reach, target, and safety schools, you’re in pretty good shape. But if your list leans too heavily on reaches or targets, or you only have a few other schools, now’s the time to adjust and add more realistic options. Figuring out what schools are reaches, targets, or safeties can be challenging, but looking at middle 50% data on test scores and GPA, acceptance rates, and how challenging your extracurriculars were can help.
Your college list should be full of schools you can genuinely picture yourself attending, because if one of those schools is your only option, you’ll end up there. The most important thing to focus on as you build your list is academics. It’s college, academics are obviously the most important. After sorting by academics, you can narrow down through factors like size, culture, location, and even weather, though keep in mind it’s unlikely all 8-12 schools will meet every single preference you have. There aren’t 50 Pomonas out there!
After finalizing your college list, your next big task is diving into those supplemental essays. This is where your focus should be! But don’t worry—we’ve got plenty of resources, including specific guides on how to write standout supplements for a wide range of schools. If the sheer number of essays feels overwhelming, we’re here to help. Just reach out, and we can guide you through the process to make it less stressful.
Revisit Your Common App
Hot take: you probably need to rewrite, or at least majorly revise, your Common App essay. “But TKG, I do not want to do that.” Tough!!!! You should, at the very least, give it another look. We’ve helped countless students revisit and refine their essays in those final two weeks, and the result is almost always a stronger, more compelling, and attention-grabbing piece. It’s worth considering if you want to put your best foot forward.
Still on the fence? Take a gander at our Common App essay advice and see how your current essay measures up. We’re not saying we’re the one and only way, but we know our approach works. Yes, tons of kids get into college with cliche essays about their grandma or a big lesson learned, but that’s not what our students write. Our long-term clients craft unique, creative essays—and they end up getting into one of their top three schools. On top of that, we’ve seen fantastic success with ED2 and RD applications with our deferral clients who rewrite their essays, so taking a fresh look at your essay could really pay off.
We’re big Prompt 7 heads (love writing an essay of our own design!!), but the reality is that you can write an amazing Common App essay for nearly any prompt or topic. The common mistakes we see in essays? They often overemphasize something already covered in your activities section, lack a clear and cohesive narrative, don’t fully reflect who you are as a person, or miss the mark on making you memorable or likeable.
Whether you’re starting over on your Common App or just really changing it up, we have some advice for you.
Submit Those Apps
You’re probably in that stressful two weeks between ED results and the fast-approaching RD deadlines, so every moment counts! No dilly-dallying!! After fine-tuning your Common App essay (and maybe even updating your activities section if necessary), submit everything as soon as possible. Don’t wait until minutes before midnight on December 31st, like you should be celebrating New Years. Also, the more last minute you submit, the higher probability of the website crashing which means you might not even get the application in, which would suck.
Now it’s time to tackle your Pomona deferral head on.
Updates
Pomona briefly discusses deferrals on their admissions website (but we had to click a lot to get there):
“We typically defer 10-15 percent of our early applicants’ candidacies. If you were deferred, it means that the Admissions Committee found strong potential in your early application and would like to consider your application again among those in the regular decision round. We will notify you of our final decision before April 1. Deferred students are either admitted or denied. Meanwhile, you should send us your most recent grades and are invited to update us by February 10 with any new activities or endeavors. Feel welcome to contact us at admissions@pomona.edu or use the self-service tool in your applicant portal (just above the application checklist).”
Pomona lays out what you need, and we will repeat it since it’s important:
Mid-year grades
Your counselor should automatically send these, but follow up with them
Update letter
We will get to that in a second
Any other general updates
This might include new awards, better test scores, etc.
Additonal recommendation letter (optional)
Only do this if the recommender knows you crazy well and can speak to something new about you
Deferral Letter for Pomona
Your deferral letter, often referred to as a letter of continued interest, is your second opportunity to impress the admissions team at Pomona. The aim? Make it crystal clear that Pomona is where you truly want to be if given the chance, while also providing them with updates on any recent achievements or experiences that strengthen your application. This is your moment to remind them not only why you’re an excellent fit for Pomona but also why Pomona is the perfect match for you.
This letter will either be emailed directly to admissions or uploaded to Pomona’s admissions portal, so it should be written with the professionalism of a formal business email. Keep it short and sweet—this isn’t the place for a long-winded story. Aim for around 300 words (400 max if you’ve had some major accomplishments, like winning an Oscar or inventing a life-saving medical device). And yes, we know it doesn’t seem like a lot of space, but trust us—it’s plenty. The goal is to be direct and concise, and your tone should be clear, polite, and confident. We don’t want you coming across as clingy!!!
Address your email to your regional counselor by name if you can, especially if you've met them during a college tour, school visit, or at a college fair. If you don’t have that, any professional address should work, like “Dear Pomona Admissions,” etc. Start your with a clear and direct statement reaffirming that Pomona remains your top choice, and if offered admission, you will 100% attend. You are no longer bound by ED, but you should write like you want to be back in those golden shackles.
Now it’s time for the actual updates. You want to highlight any significant updates since you applied. Significant doesn’t mean “I got an A+ in this class I had an A- in,” or “We won the championship!” This needs to be academic/passion oriented. Have you received an award, stepped into a new leadership position, secured a job or internship, or completed a research project? Maybe you’ve finished an online or college course that aligns with your future goals. These updates should prove how you’ve continued to further your academic passions and extracurriculars, they want to see that you didn’t just give up after sending in your apps.
End your letter by once again strongly reaffirming your commitment to Pomona. Sign off professionally, using a formal closing like sincerely, best, or thank you. If you're emailing the letter, send it to the admissions office (or your regional counselor’s email if you have it) and CC the main admissions address. If you upload to the portal, you’re good to go.
Final Step: Wait
We’re sorry!! This really is the worst part. Please, please try to resist the urge to send more updates, make calls, or drop by campus. At this point, you’ve taken the steps you needed to take and you’ve done all you can. You’ve created a strong college list, applied to a healthy mix of schools, refined your application, and submitted your letter of continued interest (LOCI) to Pomona. Now, it’s all about waiting for those RD decisions to arrive in April, and you should hear back from Pomona by April 1st (according to their website! If we’re wrong take it up with them!). Best of luck!
We can help you bounce back from a deferral or rejection. Reach out to us today to learn more.