If you were deferred in the Early Action or Early Decision round to a highly selective college, you might still be holding out hope that you’ll gain admission to your dream school in the Regular Decision round. And for the vast majority of deferred applicants, this hope is false hope. At highly selective colleges, about 10% of students who are deferred during the Early round end up getting in during the Regular round. The odds are categorically against deferred students. And by doing nothing, by simply waiting for the dream school to determine your final fate, you are all but assuring the fact that you will ultimately be denied admission. Doing nothing in college admissions — and in life — is not the answer. Being proactive is the answer. But not just any kind of proactivity. You’ve got to be proactive the right way.

That means you’ve got to unpack that tent you’ve packed to camp outside the admissions office at your dream school. It means you’ve got to stop sending an email a day to your regional admissions officer. You’ve got to end your letter writing campaign to your state’s two senators. And you’ve got to stop your mom and dad from donating $100,000. Because that $100,000 not only isn’t going to help get you in, it’s going to hurt your chances. But they’ll certainly take mom and dad’s money. All of these things may seem ridiculous and yet students and parents do these kinds of things all the time. They don’t seem to think it’s unwise when it comes out of their mouths…and wallets. But indeed it is.

So now that you know some of the things not to do, what should you do? You should absolutely write a powerful and compelling letter of enthusiasm to the college that deferred you. Many students and parents write us that they’ve already written this letter. That’s nice. But any old letter won’t do. This letter has got to be extraordinary if you hope to sway admissions officers to turn your deferral into an offer of admission. And, just about every time out of ten, when students and parents show us these letters they’ve crafted, they’re certainly not extraordinary. They’re extraordinary’s opposite. Ordinary. And ordinary won’t do. So if you’re interested in Ivy Coach’s assistance with a letter of enthusiasm, fill out our consult form today and we can get started. These letters should be going in promptly. You want to be reconsidered by your dream school as soon as possible.

And there are a couple of other things deferred students can do. But always remember this expression in highly selective college admissions: “The thicker the file, the thicker the student.” Don’t inundate admissions offices with a bunch of superfluous paperwork. One amazing letter of enthusiasm beats letters from eighteen senators. Eighteen senators…really? And hold off on sending your sixth grade artwork while you’re at it too. It’s not going to do the trick. Sorry.