If you received a notice of deferral from Princeton, you aren’t alone. The renowned Ivy League university has historically deferred a large number of single-choice early action applicants, even the majority. This is frustrating, because you still don’t know where you stand and don’t even really have a hint towards how they feel about your application.
A no is a no, that’s sad but clear. A yes, well, a yes would be awesome. But a deferral from Princeton is such a soft maybe that you aren’t wrong in feeling left in the lurch. At the same time, you can also choose to be empowered by this development. It’s not a no, and you really are still in the running for admission in the regular decision pool.
Princeton is tight-lipped about their admissions stats, but we know that, every year, students are admitted after a deferral. In this post, we’ll break down what you need to do next to:
Ensure your college application experience is successful regardless of what happens with Princeton
Increase your chances of acceptance by Princeton come spring
So, take a day or two to be sad. Then, it’s time to get to work.
We help students recover from disappointing decisions to gain admission to exceptional universities. Contact us to learn how.
Before you do anything more for Princeton, you need to get the rest of your ducks in a row. Since you didn’t get into Princeton early, you’re going to need to send out a slew of college applications. Hopefully, you have been planning for this possibility and already have some supplements drafted. If not, you need to buckle down. There are only a few weeks between receiving early application news and regular decision deadlines, so you’ll need to move quickly, and with clarity.
Review Your College List
The first thing you need to confirm is that your college list is realistic. Princeton defers so many students that, unfortunately, it doesn’t actually give us much intel into the merit of your application or how it will measure up at other top-tier universities. With this in mind, it is doubly important that you recalibrate your college list to set you up for success.
We suggest that students apply to at least 8-10 schools regular decision. This can include 2-3 reaches (including Princeton), 3-4 “targets”, and then at least a few “foundation” or “safety” schools. Remember that plummeting acceptance rates at colleges across the board means that a school that would have been a foundation school for you only a few years ago may be a target, or even a reach now. We share in your frustration over this, but the stats don’t lie. Just because you think a school should be an easy acceptance doesn’t mean it will be unless the admissions statistics say the same.
Reassess Your Common App Essay
Once you’ve finalized your college list, you need to reevaluate your Common App essay — the main essay of the application. Give it a re-read, then bounce over to our 2024-2025 Guide to the Common App Essay. In the guide, we outline what we expect to see in a strong common app essay. If yours doesn’t measure up, you need to address that immediately.
At this point in the college application process, you can’t change your grades. You can’t change how you spent your time outside of the classroom, and you can’t ‘fix’ that SAT score you wished had been just a few points higher. The only thing that is really still in your control is how you represent yourself to the application readers through your own words, in both the main essay and the individual college supplements. We’ve found that the Common App essay is a gamechanger for ‘on the cusp’ applications — ones where the student could get in, but isn’t an obvious ‘yes!’ Every year, we help students write just these sorts of essays, ones that move their application out of the deferral pile and into an acceptance.
Press Submit
Once you have your colleges and essays squared away, you need to press submit. There is no tactile benefit to submitting applications early, but there is a psychological one. You have a lot of weight on you right now, and anything you can get off your back is a big win. We suggest that students submit applications as they are ready, rather than waiting and wondering if there is ‘more’ they could do.
Parallel to pressing submit on your applications, you need to turn your attention back to Princeton and strengthening your chances of acceptance in the regular decision round.
WHAT PRINCETON WANTS
It’s natural to want an explanation for why you were deferred. How are you supposed to improve your application, after all, if you don’t know what was ‘wrong’ with it in the first place? Unfortunately, you don’t have the benefit of that insight directly from Princeton. Don’t try calling them to ask for it, either, as they really do not respond well even to ‘well-meaning’ requests for insight.
Getting an expert, like us, to look at your application can help, though. And Princeton insists that the purpose of a deferral is to be able to reconsider your application “in context of the regular decision pool, with the additional information provided by mid-year grades.” When they look back at your application, you want to make sure they have even more reasons to say yes. To accomplish that, this is what you need to do.
Mid-Year Grades
Your top priority for Princeton right now needs to be getting the best grades you can before your school counselor sends your mid-year grade report to Princeton. This should include acing any finals, and you can even ask your teachers if there are opportunities to boost your grades by completing additional assignments. Any point counts here, because your grades should have improved since you first applied or, at minimum, stayed steady.
Supporting Recommendation
Princeton doesn’t ask for deferred applicants to submit any additional documents beyond their mid-year grades, but Dean of Admission Karen Richardson has said that deferred students are welcome to upload an additional letter of recommendation if “there is someone who you think provides a different perspective,” on your candidacy for admission. When a door like this is opened, you need to walk through it. We recommend asking for a letter from someone who knows you outside of classroom, but who can speak to your ability to work collaboratively and contribute to a community. This may be a team leader, a mentor, or a coach. Ask for this letter immediately so that they have time to write it carefully. You will then submit the letter by uploading it yourself to your student portal.
Letter of Continued Interest
Princeton also allows students to notify them of a “significant update” through the applicant portal, or via an email to uaoffice@princeton.edu. This should take the form of a letter that is less than 300 words, and written in a professional voice. You need to keep it clear and short, providing them with information about any new leadership positions, awards, or significant accomplishments, while also underlining that Princeton remains your first choice school. Do not beg to get in, and do not try to make excuses for what you may have identified as “weak” points in your application. Excuses don’t lead to acceptances. Instead, focus on recent successes, edit, and submit.
But what about talking to a human?
We’re often asked by students whether they should call or email admissions direction and try to speak to a real person. Please don’t do that. Princeton does not take well to pushy applicants, and making yourself an annoyance is a really easy way to guarantee an eventual rejection.
A deferral decision always feels like a rejection, but it is important to remember that it’s not. You’re still in the running for Princeton, but what you do next will make the difference between possibly getting in and definitely getting a ‘no’ in the end.
Deferrals are always disappointing. Email us to learn how we can help.