College admissions is stressful, and a deferral from a dream school doesn’t help. When Northeastern deferred you, it probably felt pretty icky. It’s not a no — which is awesome! But it’s also far from a yes and now you’re in this uncomfortable middle-ground where you can’t count on anything, but you also can’t count yourself out.
To be fair, though, even a deferral from Northeastern is a big success. The university has massively increased in popularity, experiencing a 53% increase in applicants over the previous 5 years. Seriously. In the 2023-2024 application cycle, Northeastern received nearly 100,000 applications. This spike is partially because it’s a great school, but it’s also because, as Ivy League admissions have plummeted, more and more top-tier applicants are looking at schools like Northeastern as a ‘fall back’. The problem is that it isn’t a fall back anymore. It’s just as hard as getting into the most famous colleges in the country, with the acceptance rate at an all-time low of 5.2%. This has created a cascading effect, with schools that were once targets for top students becoming reaches, and Northeastern is just one casualty (although they surely won’t categorize it that way — they’re making out quite well from the situation!). But where does this leave you? Well, you have options, and you can take action to increase your chances of getting into Northeastern in the regular application cycle whether you were deferred from Early Decision I, Early Action, or Early Decision II.
In this post, we’ll break down what you need to do to increase your chances of admission to Northeastern when they re-evaluate your application, along with what must happen now to ensure a successful college application experience regardless of the outcome with Northeastern.
First, let’s start big picture.
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Before you make big moves to improve your chances with Northeastern, it’s important to go back to the building blocks of your college application strategy. This isn’t about one school anymore, so you need to think bigger. It’s possible that you applied to Northeastern hopeful, but not confident, and have already put work into other applications. If that isn’t the case, you have some catching up to do.
Review Your College List
Your college list is the foundation of your college application process. Without a strong college list, everything falls apart with one tiny jostle — like a deferral. So, we need to reinforce it by reassessing it. A strong college list must be balanced and realistic, with some room for aspirational dreaming. Maybe Northeastern was part of this dream, and a big stretch. If so, that’s awesome you were deferred! You’re still in this! But if you thought Northeastern was an easy yes, it’s likely that there is some work to be done to improve your college list.
Make sure you have three foundation schools with acceptance rates over 20% (well over, if you aren’t in the top 10% of your class), and three targets that are statistically likely to get into based on your grades and scores, but which are more competitive. Then, you can refine your reaches. A reach and a moonshot are not the same thing. A reasonable reach should be a school you are qualified for based on your grades and scores, but for which you are in the bottom range of accepted applicants. This means that a school that is way beyond your scores and grades isn’t a good reach, it’s a waste of everyone’s time. If this sounds harsh that is because it is, but our goal is to help you get into the best possible college for you. That requires matching your reality with what the schools you love are looking for, and finding a strong fit.
Once you have a rebuilt college list, it’s time to turn your attention back to the writing part of the application. Namely, the Common App Essay.
Reassess Your Common App Essay
It’s past the early decision cycle and it’s too late to change your scores or to markedly improve your grades. What you have on your transcript is what you have to work with. There is something, though, that can move the needle and that is still in your control: the main essay.
The main essay in the Common Application gets a lot of hype for good reason. While many colleges have their own supplements, others don’t. This essay may be the only piece of writing they see from you, and it’s a powerful opportunity to connect with the application reader on a human level. When a school like Northeastern is reading through nearly 100,000 applications, they are looking for reasons to say no. They have to be. They have to say no to so many applicants, that they get into a groove rejecting people like a miner sifting through dirt. The essay is a chance to get them to pause at the glint of a sparkle.
If this sounds like a forced metaphor, it sort of is — but we stand by it. If you have good enough grades and scores to have your application even be considered, you need to capture the application reader’s attention and hold onto it. The goal isn’t to ‘be impressive’, it’s to be interesting.
So, you need to re-read your essay with this in mind. You should also read our 2024-2025 guide to the #7 prompt, our favorite prompt by far and the only one we recommend to our client. Finally, take a look at some past super successful essays — these are real essays that led to really impressive offers of admission. If your essay doesn’t measure up, there’s work to be done.
Press Submit
Once you have a refreshed (or rewritten) essay and updated college list, and once all your supplements are done, you need to start submitting. Yes, you can wait until the last minute, but it doesn’t confer any advantage at all and actually can come with some risks. We find that students (and their parents) have a tendency of messing with applications if they sit around too long before submitting, and by “messing with” we mean “messing up.” You can, in fact, edit an application too much, contorting it into a sloppy mess. Don’t do this. Just submit.
Now let’s get back to Northeastern.
WHAT NORTHEASTERN WANTS
Northeastern doesn’t defer students for fun. It makes more work for them in the regular decision round, so they only want to defer students if they actually want to review the application again, but “in the context of the broader applicant pool.” There are some things you can do between receiving your deferral notice and the EDII or regular decision deadline to improve your application and increase your chances of measuring up positively against the applicants they’ll be seeing for the first time.
Opt-In
Some schools require deferred applicants to let them know if they don’t want to remain in consideration. With so many applicants, Northeastern does the opposite. They require you to opt-in. If you do not fill out the requested form when you are notified of your deferral, your application will be set aside to collect dust. Obviously, that would be bad if you still want to get into Northeastern, so you need to stay on top of what Northeastern asks for and select that you’d still like to be in the running.
If you were deferred Early Decision I or Early Action, you may be able to opt-in to the Early Decision II pool. This increases your chances of acceptance significantly, as Northeastern takes student interest into consideration when re-evaluating deferred applications. If you were deferred EDII, you will be put into the regular decision pool.
Keep An Eye Out
Next, you need to keep tabs on the Application Status Check to see if they ask you for anything in particular. They don’t usually specifically ask a deferred application for a particular update, but we recommend checking every week just in case.
There are two things, though, that every deferred student does need to send, even if they aren’t technically required.
Mid-Year Report
Northeastern expects to receive an updated set of grades, or “Mid-Year Report,” from your high school. You school counselor should send this automatically, but it’s worth respectfully reminding them to make sure it happens. This can also be a good time to request an “advocacy call” from your counselor. Deferred applicants can also send updated scores if they have received improved SAT or ACT scores since initially submitting by self-reporting them in the Application Status Check.
Letter of Continued Interest
If you want to get into Northeastern, you also absolutely must submit a Letter of Continued Interest. When looking back at your application, Northeastern will “take into consideration your high level of interest.” If you don’t send a Letter of Continued Interest (LOCI), it’s like shrugging your shoulders at them and it makes it really easy for them to ultimately reject your application.
A strong LOCI should be no more than 400 words, and written in a professional voice. It will be uploaded as a PDF through the Application Status Check, and must be written as a one-page letter with normal margins (1”) and a standard font size. Saying more doesn’t do more, here, but saying the right things can do a lot. Every LOCI should include:
An opening stating that Northeastern remains your first choice and that you will attend if offered a spot.
A short update about any changes to your application. This could include new awards or recognitions, new leadership positions, or changes in your extracurriculars. The update should only include things that you would have included in your application if they had happened before you submitted.
A closing once again reiterating your commitment to Northeastern.
The LOCI needs to be short, simple, and strong. That’s it.
Getting into Northeastern after a deferral isn’t easy, but it can be done. Every year, we help students who received deferral decisions stand out in the regular round, ultimately leading to an acceptance. Putting in the extra work for something like a LOCI truly is worth it, and is required if you still want to get in to Northeastern.
At TKG, we help strong students get into their dream schools. Email us to learn more.