College Advice on EA/ED/REA and What to do if Deferred

College Advice on EA/ED/REA and What to do if Deferred

SENIOR FAMILIES: Admissions results for students who have applied EA/ED/REA have been or will soon be released.   Please remember to keep your college counselor informed regarding the decisions that you receive...whether that means sharing awesome news (admitted), bad news (denied), or, something in between (deferred). The College Office is here to guide and support you throughout this process, but, can only do so when you are in communication with us.  

Please enter your admissions results in Naviance.  Studnets may enter these results by:

  • clicking on the “EDIT” icon next to the college in your “colleges I’m applying to” list
  • if you were accepted or denied, select the appropriate response from the drop -down menu under “Result”
  • if you were deferred, select the appropriate response from the drop -down menu under “Waitlisted/Deferred”
  • click on “Save College Application”
  • do this for each college for whom you have received an admissions decision

Students are also encouraged to share this info with the College Office in person, if you have the time!

Students admitted to any college via Early Decision must remember that this is a binding agreement; and must withdraw any remaining applications and submit any required deposit by the deadline specified by the institution in question.  Financial aid applicants who receive a financial aid offer that makes attendance impossible should contact the college (and your college counselor) right away. 

Students admitted to any college via EA or REA are still free to pursue other post-secondary options should they need to do so.  These students are not required to submit a deposit prior to any deadline earlier than May 1st.  

 

SENIORS: What to do when DEFERRED

A great many students who apply early to colleges are neither admitted nor denied but deferred to the regular decision pool.  Different institutions will use the deferral option differently; some simply deny most of the early applicants who aren't admitted outright, rather than defer them, while others defer most or all early applicants who aren't admitted…even if their chances for admissions are remote.  And while some deferred students may end up being admitted in the regular decision round, one must approach a deferral as if it were a denial and focus on remaining college choices.

However, if you are intent on pursuing a college to which you have been deferred, here are the steps you should take:

1-Reaffirm your interest.   Admissions officers know that getting deferred can be very disappointing and may turn some applicants away from what was once their top choice. Upload a statement to your application portal or send an email to the college's admissions representative or undergrad admissions office reaffirming your interest in the institution and why it remains among your top choices.  This need not be lengthy...and very often, being concise is best. But, this is an important step to take.  Rest assured this should wait until after you have taken care of your regular decision applications (late January or early February).

2-Maintain your grades.  We will automatically send out your final fall term transcript in February; a strong senior year performance can help your cause.  Keep in mind that colleges may even request your second term report cards in March or April...so stay focused throughout the rest of the year.

3-Notify the admissions office about new & noteworthy accomplishments.  If you have any important new information to add to your file...doing well in some extracurricular competition, completing a great project or writing a significant article for the Spec, winning a scholarship, etc... inform the admissions office or use the institution's web portal to enter this information.  You certainly don't want to pester them with minutiae; that could be counterproductive. But you definitely want to share with them any noteworthy achievements that are not already included in your application.

4-Relax...you are going to college!  It's easy to get mired down by disappointment when you are deferred or denied by a school you love; it is not unlike getting dumped by a girlfriend or boyfriend :( But remember that you are going to get good news this year, too!  Highly selective colleges regularly deny applicants who are perfectly qualified and would do very well at their institution...there just isn't enough room to admit them all.  You are here at Stuyvesant because you have a phenomenal skill set, and if you work with your college counselor to develop a healthy list of colleges, you are going to have some excellent choices this spring.