An unfortunate reality of the college admissions process can be deferral, even for the student with perfect straight As. That’s no longer enough in the elite college admissions game. 

Students who were deferred from Bucknell will hear back about their application no later than  April 1st, along with all the other Regular Decision applicants. In the meantime, though, there is plenty students can be doing to put themselves in a good spot for the rest of the college admissions process. 

What Percentage of Early Decision I and Early Decision II Applicants Does Bucknell University Typically Defer?

Bucknell University does not release detailed information about the exact number of students deferred each year. Note that the university only offers Early Decision I and II, both of which are binding options, rather than Early Action, which is non-binding. However, once a student is deferred, they are released from their Early Decision contract with the school.

Bucknell University Acceptance Rate

Bucknell University hasn’t published the acceptance rate for the Class of 2029. However, they did see a total of 11,561 applicants who applied.

Admissions Cycle	Bucknell University Class Year	Early Decision I and II Admission Rate	Regular Decision Admission Rate
2025-2026	Class of 2030	Not Reported	Not Reported
2024-2025	Class of 2029	Not Reported	Not Reported
2023-2024	Class of 2028	55.5%	28.9%
2022-2023	Class of 2027	55.0%	31.5%
2021-2022	Class of 2026	54.2%	32.6%
2020-2021	Class of 2025	54.9%	34.5%
2019-2020	Class of 2024	55.2%	37.5%
2018-2019	Class of 2023	63.6%	34.2%
2017-2018	Class of 2022	55.6%	33.0%
2016-2017	Class of 2021	55.1%	31.1%
2015-2016	Class of 2020	59.7%	29.9%
2014-2015	Class of 2019	52.7%	24.8%
2013-2014	Class of 2018	60.2%	30.7%
2012-2013	Class of 2017	51.0%	29.5%
2011-2012	Class of 2016	60.9%	27.0%
2010-2011	Class of 2015	Not Reported	27.6%

What Percentage of Early Decision I and Early Decision II Applicants Does Bucknell University Typically Accept?

Across both their Early Decision I and Early Decision II applicants, Bucknell University confirms that, typically, less than 25% of ED candidates who are deferred are later offered admission in the Regular Decision application cycle.

The Class of 2028 had 1,201 total applicants apply Early Decision I and II, and 666 students were admitted. That’s a 55.5% acceptance rate.

What Should Applicants Do After Being Deferred by Bucknell University?

PostMortem Application Review

After being deferred from Bucknell University, we recommend setting up Ivy Coach’s PostMortem application review. 

During the PostMortem session, we will:

• Provide in-depth feedback on up to three college applications. Ivy Coach’s counselor, a former elite college admissions officer, will review both essay and non-essay portions of the applications.
• Brainstorm a compelling extracurricular hook to put a student in the best possible spot for admission. That hook is integral to differentiating your child from everyone else they’re competing against in the admissions process. This includes both your nextdoor neighbor and the student from halfway across the world. 
• Correct mistakes throughout the application. No application is perfect. Our counselors are experts on what to do and what not to do when it comes to the elite college admissions process. 
• Complete your child’s school list. We usually spot missing schools from a student’s list that they would be a strong competitive fit for, so we make sure those get added for the Regular Decision round.

Common Mistakes Caught During Ivy Coach’s PostMortem

Students frequently make the same mistakes as one another on their applications. Of course, the below is by no means a comprehensive list (that would take up too many pages). But, it’s a great place to start when reviewing your child’s application to ensure they don’t have any of these admissions red flags. 

• A Personal Statement about sports, music, community service, grandparents, or travel. These topics are off limits for our students. 
• A Why College essay that is more or less the same from school to school, with just a little bit of Mad Libbing the names of professors and classes. 
• Your child listed the dollar amount that they fundraised for a charitable cause. Admissions officers see dollar signs and it makes students come across as unlikable.
• Your child included every single activity, honor, and community service hour under the sun all into one essay. That comes across as bragging. It also looks like a student is trying to impress admissions officers. Our students don’t have to try to impress admissions officers, they just do. 
• A well-rounded application. When we say singular hook, we mean it. That hook needs to be one cohesive thread throughout the entire application. 
• Sending off an application to a school that they weren’t competitive enough for in the Early round. At Ivy Coach, we tell it like it is. If a student’s Early choice wasn’t the right one, we’ll be candid.

Write a Letter of Continued Interest

A student’s Letter of Continued Interest is the key to turning that deferral into an offer of admission rather than a rejection. That’s why it’s especially important to make sure your child is filling that letter only with what will help their case, not hinder them.

The Letter of Continued Interest must be a love letter to the university. We’re not talking Shakespearean sonnet here, but rather, a letter that waxes poetic about how the student will utilize their singular hook to contribute to a school’s atmosphere and be a positive addition to the campus. 

From the first sentence, a student needs to grip the admissions officer who is reading and make clear what they can bring to the table and how their unique hook puts them in a position to benefit the school unlike any of the other deferred students. 

What a Letter of Continued Interest Should Not Do

Just as well as there are dos in the Letter of Continued Interest, there is a long list of don’ts. We’ll run through the most common errors we’ve seen in Letters of Continued Interest in the past that ultimately only detract from a student’s chance of admission, rather than help. 

The Letter of Continued Interest should not contain a list of academic updates; that’s not a wise way to utilize the limited space on the page at all. Plus, it generally renders a student less likable. That’s the opposite of what you want in this approximate 650-word love letter!

The best way to keep an admissions officer engaged in your letter is definitely not to start with, “My name is…” Yawn! Students need to craft a clear picture of their singular narrative and display how they’ll contribute their hook to the specific aspects of the school, including programs, institutes, culture, traditions, and activities.

Saying, “If admitted, I’ll certainly attend…” doesn’t mean a thing since admissions officers know you can reuse such a line for many other universities. The trick is showing rather than telling.

This may be contradictory to some of the other advice you’ve heard about the Letter of Continued Interest. If it is, we’re sorry to hear you got some bad advice! Hopefully, there’s still time for your child to course correct and draft a much stronger, more compelling letter.

When Applicants Should Submit Letters of Continued Interest

We have students submit their Letter of Continued Interest as soon as possible. This would ideally happen within a few days of receiving a deferral. For example, if a student learns they are deferred on December 15th, we like them to send in the Letter of Continued Interest before December 20th. We don’t want the school to think that deferral hurt a student’s feelings or made them less inclined to go there. No sour grapes allowed!

That’s why time is of the essence, unless, of course, it’s already the holidays. If it’s immediately before Christmas or between Christmas and New Year’s, we absolutely do not recommend submitting. Such students need to wait until a few days into the New Year.

That doesn’t mean students should be waiting to write the letter, though. That Letter of Continued Interest is exactly how we’d encourage them to pivot the rest of their applications before they start to submit to schools for Regular Decision. It’s indeed the foundation of the Regular Decision reapproach!

Chances of Getting into Bucknell University After Being Deferred

As we noted above, Bucknell University typically accepts around 25% of Early Decision I and II candidates who are initially deferred. That means a student has about a 1 in 4 chance of being accepted in the Regular Decision pool of applicants. 

That rate jumps up to about 40% on average for students who first come to Ivy Coach after being deferred. We work with a student to craft a powerful Letter of Interest and greatly boost their chances of admission after a deferral. 

A Deferred Student’s Chances Improve Dramatically with Ivy Coach

For students who come directly to Ivy Coach for help after being deferred, they still have a chance. It might not be the greatest chance, especially depending on the school, but it’s there. 

However, we’re also very realistic at Ivy Coach; we can only take on students after a deferral if they fully understand that their chances simply aren’t as strong as when they first applied. All we can do is give them the best shot possible at gaining admission. If that’s not enough, we wish them all the very best!

What To Do After Being Rejected By Bucknell University

Students who are rejected rather than deferred from Bucknell University are not in the minority. As the Class of 2028 had an acceptance rate of only 28.9%, over 70% of students who applied to Bucknell University were ultimately not admitted.  

It’s crucial not to let that one rejection cast a shadow over the rest of your child’s admissions process. As long as a student is willing to fix their initial mistakes and reframe their application narrative the way that we suggest, a rejection from one school isn’t an indicator of how a student will fare in the rest of the elite college admissions process.

If you and your child are ready to move forward, sign up for Ivy Coach’s PostMortem. One of our former elite university admissions officers will work with you to develop a competitive strategy for Regular Decision admission.

The reason students come to Ivy Coach after a rejection is because we’ll guide them throughout their Regular Decision process, ensuring they don’t make the same mistakes over and over again. We optimize a student’s case for Regular Decision admission by crafting a concrete plan to move forward and achieve success.

Getting Started with Ivy Coach After a Bucknell University Deferral or Rejection

If you’re interested in Ivy Coach’s plan to optimize your child’s Regular Decision case for admission to the Class of 2030 at Bucknell University (in the event of a deferral) or if you need help planning for Regular Decision applications (in the event of a deferral or rejection), fill out our complimentary consultation form. We’ll then be in touch to outline our go-forward services.