If you’ve landed here, it probably means you didn’t get the news you wanted from Swarthmore. We’re really sorry to hear that—rejection is tough, and it’s even harder when it’s from a school you were genuinely excited about. But try not to let this discourage you. This one decision doesn’t capture who you are or what you’re capable of. You’ll find a great school that’s the perfect fit (yes, you will go to college, we promise), and you will be successful! We promise!
Rejected Early Decision from Tufts 2024-2025
Applying to college is stressful even if everything goes right. When you hit a roadblock, especially when dreams are involved, it can be downright painful. And if you’ve been rejected from Tufts in the Early Decision I round, you’re probably somewhere between stressed and heartbroken. No matter how you feel, you are completely valid in those emotions. But there are also actions you need to take to turn things around for your best possible outcomes in the next application round.
Rejected Early Decision from UPenn (University of Pennsylvania) 2024-2025
Rejected Early Decision from Vanderbilt 2024-2025
First off, sorry. If you are reading this blog, you have just received some bad news. Vanderbilt was likely your dream school or at least a school you loved enough to apply ED to, and getting a “no” stinks. However, application season isn’t over, and there is still time to get into great schools. All you have to do is put the work in, and you can turn it around for regular decision.
Rejected Early Decision from New York University (NYU) 2024-2025
If you’ve been rejected by NYU Early Decision, that’s a major downer. You picked New York University for your Early Decision school because it was a top choice that you knew you wanted to attend, and believed you had a strong chance at. But it didn’t work out, and now you need to know what to do next. First, let’s do a bit of a post-mortem on NYU.
Rejected Early Decision from Cornell 2024-2025
No one hopes for a rejection letter, but for many hopeful Ivy League applicants, it happens. First off, sorry that you didn’t get into Cornell. However, it isn’t the time to mope. There is still a lot of work to do, and the next two weeks will be super important to maximize your chances for a successful Regular Decision round.
Rejected Early Decision from Dartmouth 2024-2025
If you’re here, we are assuming you’ve just been rejected ED from Dartmouth and don’t know what to do next. You’re probably reeling and need something to do to keep you occupied. First, we want to say that Dartmouth is an incredibly hard school to get into – a 6% overall acceptance rate and a 20% ED acceptance rate put it solidly in that “far reach” category. You not getting in doesn’t mean you won’t get into another amazing school, and we can say with decades of wisdom that you will go to college and you will be successful!
Rejected Early Decision from Northwestern 2024-2025
Rejected Early Decision from Duke University 2024-2025
So, you’ve been rejected ED from Duke. First of all, we’re sorry, and we’re sure you’re having a lot of feelings about this right now. And, since you’re here, you probably want to know what you can do in this moment to take control of this situation. We want to say that Duke is a crazy hard school to get into – they haven’t released precise data since 2021, but we know their acceptance rate hovers around 5%, and their ED acceptance rate is about 15%. That doesn’t mean it’s 3x more likely to get into Duke ED. It means you have about the same chance you would if you applied to Georgetown, Berkeley, or UVA – aka, hard. That also means this is not a reflection of you or your talents or smarts or overall coolness, but rather that these schools have very limited spots and have to leave lots and lots of deserving students out of the mix.
Rejected Early Decision from Columbia University 2024-2025
If you’re here, we know you probably just got rejected from Columbia, and you don’t know what to do next – we’re sorry that happened, and we know it feels awful. First of all, this admissions decision is not a reflection of who you are as a person or of your hard work and talent. It’s important to remember that, especially in the Ivy League, there are countless students who are more than qualified to get in, and there’s simply not enough space for all of you. You will go to an amazing school, even if it doesn't feel like it right now.
Rejected Early Action or Early Decision from U Chicago 2024-2025
No one wants to be rejected, but if you are reading this blog, it happened. First off, sorry! Whether you applied ED or EA, the University of Chicago was important enough for you to apply early. Especially if you applied ED, this might feel like a major setback, but application season is far from over, and it's time to pivot! We want to help by telling you how.
Deferred Early Decision by Wesleyan University 2024-2025
Getting deferred is a bummer. Applying to Wesleyan early took time and effort, and this can feel like a major setback. However, try to see the silver lining here: you weren’t rejected. Make no mistake, Wesleyan’s admissions office is still seriously considering your application. And you still have time to get in. It might just take a little work.
Rejected Early Decision from Barnard College 2024-2025
Rejection is never easy, and getting turned down by your ED school can really sting. While it may not help much at the moment, keep in mind that Barnard has an 8% acceptance rate. Single digits!! That’s crazy competitive, so you shouldn’t take this rejection personally. Not getting into Barnard ED doesn’t mean you won’t get into other great schools. In fact, we can confidently say that you will end up at a college, even if you don’t know where just yet.
Rejected Early Decision from Bowdoin 2024-2025
If you’re here, we’re guessing you got rejected from Bowdoin. First of all, we want to say we’re sorry, we know rejection sucks, and it’s probably suckier when it’s from a school you were so excited about. We hope you don’t get too down on yourself because this rejection is not a reflection of who you are as a person, and you will go to a great school and go on to do great things!
Deferred by Vassar Early Decision 2024-2025
If you applied to Vassar Early Decision, you were probably expecting to get in. That is sort of the point of applying ED to a competitive, but not supremely so, school. The acceptance rate is high enough that strong students approach it with confidence, and since it’s Early Decision the admissions office at the college knows that you are a serious applicant. Every year, though, most students who apply ED don’t get in. That is sort of obvious, we know, but it may not feel that way when you are deciding to ED, or even more so when you are on the receiving end of a deferral.
Rejected Early Decision from Carnegie Mellon 2024-2025
We know getting rejected is the worst, and getting rejected from your early decision school can be especially rough. Carnegie Mellon is a very hard school to get into, the early decision acceptance rate is 14%, compared to an 11% overall acceptance rate. We tell you this so you know that you’re not alone in this — there are a lot of other students in the same boat as you, and we know for a fact that even if you’re not going to Carnegie Mellon, you are going to go to an awesome school and find success in your life.
Rejected Early Decision from Amherst 2024-2025
Getting rejected hurts. It kinda hurts more when you get rejected from your ED school, especially if it was your dream school. We know nerd stuff like facts and figures might not make you feel way better, but Amherst is a very competitive school. They boast a 10% acceptance rate, and just because you didn’t get into Amherst ED doesn’t mean you’re not going to get in anywhere else. We can say with 100% certainty that you will go to college, you just might not know exactly where right now. If you’ve been rejected ED from Amherst, don’t give up hope! We have some advice on what you can do next.
Rejected from Brown Early Decision 2024-2025
Receiving a rejection from Brown can be a gut punch. Students who apply Early Decision to Brown tend to pick the university for very specific reasons, and there may not be another school of Brown’s caliber that fully fits the bill. But Brown isn’t the only strong school with a completely open curriculum, so there are options and we’re going to help you see them, pursue them, and receive an acceptance letter. First, let’s do a bit of an autopsy of your Brown rejection.
Deferred by Wellesley Early Decision 2024-2025
You applied to Wellesley Early Decision, and this wasn’t the plan. You were going to get in, or you weren’t. Getting in was definitely the plan, but if you didn’t at least you’d know where you stand. A rejection can feel like an ok thing compared to a deferral, at least in the immediate moment of receiving it. Let’s get real, though. A deferral is disappointing, but it’s also much better than a rejection. In this post, we’ll break down what you need to do to increase your chances of turning a deferral into an offer of admission. At the same time, we’ll outline other other important steps you need to be taking to ensure that your entire college experience is a success.
Deferred Early Decision by Rice 2024-2025
We aren’t going to lie; getting deferred by Rice isn’t ideal. You took all the time and effort to apply to Rice during early decision, and a deferral certainly feels like a massive setback. While no one wants to get deferred, there is a silver lining here. You weren’t rejected, and let us say in no uncertain terms, if you weren’t a Rice-level candidate, you would have been. They are still seriously considering your application and may even accept you in the regular decision round. However, there are a couple of steps you have to take if you want to maximize your chances of that happening.