Once upon a time, Yale deferred a massive number of early applicants. As a result, being deferred didn’t really tell the applicant anything about the status of their application. But now you’ve been deferred, and you’re probably wondering what this means. Luckily, things have changed in recent years. As the number of first-year undergraduate applications to Yale soared, they had to change their strategy. Instead of deferring upwards of 50% of early applicants, they began only deferring applicants who truly have a chance of getting in through the regular decision round.

This is good news for you, because it means that a much smaller group of applicants is being pushed along into the regular decision pool. For the Class of 2027, for example, only 21% of applicants were deferred, down from 56% for the Class of 2024.

In this post, we’ll focus on what you do next, now that you know you’ve been deferred. There are a few key things that could increase your chances of admission to Yale, and another crucial list you need to tackle to ensure you have a successful college application experience overall. We’re here to help, every step of the way.

It is possible to bounce back from a deferral, but it doesn’t happen by chance. Contact us for your best strategy.

After a deferral from Yale, many students want to know why. What was it that Yale didn’t see in their application that would have led to a yes? What can they do now to tip the scale in their favor?

The reality is that it is very unlikely that there is one thing that would have led to an offer of admission. Your grades are strong, as are your scores — otherwise you would have been rejected. But Yale also looks for clarity in how you’ll use the resources they offer alongside confidence in how you’ll contribute back to the Yale community. Most likely, one or both of those pictures weren’t super clear. Searching for a precise reason for your deferral, though, is a really futile task that won’t move you forward. Instead, let’s look first at what else you need to do to ensure your college application experience is successful, at what comes next with Yale to increase your chances of admission.

There are three things you need to do to prepare for the regular decision admissions cycle.

Review your College List

First, you need to go back to your college list and reassess each and every school you have on it. It’s likely, since you applied to Yale early, that you didn’t really think you’d have to use it. Yale would work out, and you’d be done. But now you’re not at — uh, oh — you need that college list. So, what comes next? Well, it’s time to rebuild.

Your college list needs to have at least 3 target schools, meaning schools you are likely to get into and which have a higher than 15% acceptance rate, and 3 foundation schools, schools you are very likely to get into and which have a higher than 20% acceptance rate. This may mean putting a few schools on your list that you are not super enthusiastic about. That’s ok. It’s called ‘hedging your bets.’ And if you’re hitting a wall, reach out. We help students build aspirational college lists that are also grounded in reality.

Reassess your Common App Essay

Once you have your new and improved college list, it’s time to go back to your Common App essay. Hopefully you don’t have too many new supplements to write because you got your college list right the first time and already drafted the essays for each one, but you need to reassess your Common App essay even if you have a whole pile of supplements to write.

The Common App essay is the most important piece of writing in your college applications. This isn’t because it tells the school all about you. Rather, it’s because a strong Common App essay hooks the reader and pulls them deeper into your application. At highly competitive schools, the average application is only looked at once, for less than 10 minutes. If you get past that first filter, more people will see your work…but first you need to get past your initial reader. This means giving them reasons to want to advocate for you, and connecting with them on a human level. Trying to be impressive may make them impressed, but impressing the reader and influencing them are different. Instead of just impressing them, you want to nudge them towards saying yes by speaking to their heart alongside their head.

Check out our official guide to the 2024-2025 Common App essay here to see how yours measures up. Then, get editing.

Stay Focused

The most important thing you can do in this moment, though, is to stay focused on the prize at the end of this wild ride: a fabulous college education and experience. It’s really easy to become distracted by a deferral. Give yourself a couple days to wallow in self-pity, and then get going. There is work to be done!

WHAT YALE WANTS

Yale doesn’t provide deferred students with much guidance on what to do next. In 2016, though, they did write a blog post that offers some information. In the post, they reinforce that a deferral is not a soft rejection. It’s them saying that they need more time. Not more information — more time.

Yale does not ask for updated essays, or a letter, or supplementary recommendations. In fact, they really don’t want you to spam them with additions to your application and sending a ton of ‘evidence’ of your strength as an applicant their way may tank your possibilities of eventual admission.

They do want to see your mid-year grades, which your school counselor should send.
You can also send them a short update letter if there have been notable changes to your application, like a new award, accomplishment, or undertaking.

While Yale doesn’t give you parameters for the update letter, like length, they are very clear that more is not more. Being succinct will improve your chances of admission, while ignoring the “short” directive just tells them you aren’t set on following directions. We advise students to keep their update letter to less than 300 words, and to focus on only 1-3 notable updates. You should also integrate a short mention of how the update(s) connect to your hopeful future at Yale, and how you’d contribute to the community. Remember how those are key pieces of how they evaluate your application? Mentioning both things here remind them that you are thinking critically about Yale and how it is your best fit, not simply sending an update off without much thought.

There is one more key part of this update. Do not try to come up with an update just to send one. An update with no clarity of purpose can work against you. If you have nothing to add to your application, sending an update that doesn’t feel impactful to the readers may reaffirm their hunch that you aren’t a great fit. So, if you have nothing good to say it may be better to say nothing at all.

The Yale acceptance rate is less than 4%. This means Yale is a reach for literally everyone. There is no person for whom Yale is a foundation school, or even a target really, unless you’re a top-tier athletic recruit or your parents helped pay for the library. That means 99.9% of applicants are trying to beat out 96 other applicants to be one of the 4 who get in. No matter how impressive you are, these are daunting odds. You need a back-up plan, and a comprehensive college application strategy, to find success.

Every year, we help students turn deferrals from top-tier universities into Ivy League acceptances. Email us to learn more.