Were you deferred or rejected by Davidson College to the Class of 2030 in Early Decision I? If so, it’s certainly not the news you had hoped for over the weeks since you submitted your Early Decision application. 

If you were deferred, you’ve still got a shot of earning admission to the North Carolina institution. Yet the odds of every deferred candidate are not created equal, and there are specific steps you can take to improve your chances of admission dramatically. 

Now, if you were rejected, it’s time to pivot, and pivot fast. So, what should be your Davidson post-deferral or post-rejection game plan? Let’s dive in and map it out!

Davidson College Early Decision I and Early Decision II Admission Rates

For the Class of 2028, we can report that a combined total of 29.9% of Davidson applicants in the ED I and ED II round were admitted to their top choice school. The acceptance rate overall was only about 13%, which means those who applied Early had more than double the chance of getting accepted. And that’s all she wrote as far as the historical data go, as Davidson unfortunately does not publish a robust archive of Common Data Sets, where we would normally source ED admissions data.

Admissions Cycle	Davidson College Class Year	Early Decision I and II Admission Rate
2025-2026	Class of 2030	Not Reported
2024-2025	Class of 2029	Not Reported
2023-2024	Class of 2028	29.90%

6 Steps to Take After Being Deferred by Davidson College

1. Go for a run, a swim, a walk. Anything to clear your mind. It’s time to regain your peace before you tackle your next steps in the admission process.
2. Fill out Ivy Coach’s complimentary consultation form and set up a time for a call to learn about our services for deferred applicants.
3. Complete a PostMortem application review with Ivy Coach. We’ll go through every section of your Common Application and up to three supplements, letting you know what went wrong, what went right, and what needs to change for your applications due in just a few weeks.
4. Submit a powerful Letter of Continued Interest to Davidson within a few days of your deferral, void of brags or updates. The letter should be a love letter to Davidson. You must show rather than tell why Davidson remains the school you most wish to attend. In a word, Ivy Coach’s post-deferral letters are weird. It’s a big reason why they have such a statistically high rate of success. 
5. Use the Letter of Continued Interest to Davidson as a framework for how you’ll reposition your narrative in your Regular Decision applications (you can’t change your Davidson application but you can change any RD applications you haven’t yet submitted).
6. In the New Year, after it’s been submitted, bring your Letter of Continued Interest to your school counselor so they can make an advocacy call to your regional representative at Davidson on your behalf. Lazy school counselors won’t make advocacy calls, but the good ones will.

What Not to Do After Being Deferred by Davidson College

1. Flood Davidson’s admissions committee with communications. Less is more. Really, none is more. Don’t drown out the power of their Letter of Continued Interest with frivolous additional communications. Do not annoy the admissions committee!
2. Camp outside Davidson’s admissions office. Can you spell nuts? This is one tactic that will lead to a swift rejection rather than acceptance.
3. Write a letter to Davidson’s Dean of Admissions. No one likes a Karen. Need we say more?
4. Update Davidson on other admission offers you receive. The Davidson admissions office doesn’t care. Besides, they’ll only think to themselves: “You think that impresses us? We’ll show you. Reject!”
5. Do nothing. It’s crucial to submit a powerful Letter of Continued Interest to Davidson post-deferral, otherwise you convey that you’re not all that interested in attending. Davidson admissions officers will move on faster than you can say “Rejected.”

What To Do After Being Rejected By Davidson

So, you’ve faced rejection. Know that it’s okay! This happens sometimes in the admissions process. But you still have a shot at earning acceptance to a school you might even like more than Davidson in the long run. 

Where should you begin? Well, before submitting those Regular Decision applications, we recommend Ivy Coach’s PostMortem session designed for students like you. This is your opportunity to strategize and refresh your applications. Our team of former elite college admissions officers will help you develop a new strategy that showcases your potential and sets you apart with the power of a singular hook. Your singular hook is the game plan outlined in your application that will instill the confidence admissions officers need in you to take the leap of faith and send you acceptance letters in the Regular Decision round. It’s time to seize the day and take control of your admissions destiny!

Next Steps After a Davidson Rejection: PostMortem Application Review

If you’ve just found out you were rejected from Davidson College, first, take a few deep breaths. Then, the next step is to reach out to Ivy Coach for a PostMortem application review, and fast. 

During Ivy Coach’s PostMortem, we:

• Rework your current applications. We’ll go through each and every section of your application, including both the essays and the non-essay portions. We’ll recalibrate which schools you should be prioritizing now that you won’t be attending your first choice. And we’ll make sure those applications aren’t going in chock full of information that will paint you in a bad light. 
• Present a narrative that showcases you as a uniquely talented individual rather than a well-rounded one. The well-rounded strategy hasn’t worked in about 30 years. We’ll point you in the right direction and help you pivot to a strategy that actually works: the singular hook.
• Correct little-know missteps and mistakes that are part of the admissions process, even if they’re really, really tiny. There are lots of things students don’t consider which can actually hurt them in the admissions process. Did you write about how you raised $35,000 for a charity? That’s bragging, and students who brag only put themselves at a competitive disadvantage in the admissions process.
• Reassess your admissions prospects through a realistic lens. You should consider taking advantage of the Early Decision II round. But note that not all students are the right type of candidates for ED II, and not all schools provide an ED II round. Each student will find an admissions pathway that works best for them. 

Application Assistance

Following your PostMortem session with Ivy Coach, the key first step to understand where your application narrative went wrong and how to reposition it, we will:

• Correct your Regular Decision applications. You learned the hard way what doesn’t fly in the admissions process. Now it’s time to make necessary changes to your other applications before submitting. While Ivy Coach can’t fix every mistake you made throughout high school, there’s a whole lot we can do to course correct even at this late date, particularly in terms of how you position your narrative and how you’re going to get admissions officers to root for you. Getting AOs on your side is key to success in the college admissions process!

What Not to Do After Being Rejected by Davidson College

We’ve told you what to do, and now, we’ll tell you what not to do. Just in case you need to hear it.

1. Do not submit your remaining applications as is. In a way, there’s a silver lining to being rejected in the Early round. The window is still open (though it’s closing fast) to make changes. Clearly, there was some part of your application that simply didn’t jive. Why would you double down on those mistakes?
2. Do not reach out to the Davidson College admissions office to ask them why you were rejected. You reaching out will only confirm that they made the right choice in not accepting you. Don’t make yourself look bad. Don’t be desperate. 
3. Do not be picky with Regular Decision schools and/or omit safety schools from your Regular Decision list. You’re going to need options. We don’t tolerate pickiness at this point in the admissions process, like students who turn their nose up at attending a school simply because it’s on the West Coast. That’s a bad attitude.
4. Do not blame your school counselor for an admissions decision that is ultimately your responsibility. Although some high school counselors are not always perfect at their jobs (for example, they refuse to make advocacy calls on behalf of their students), they still are your top ally in the fight for your college future. Don’t even think about burning that bridge!

Davidson Deferral and Rejection FAQ

Should I send more information to Davidson along with my Letter of Continued Interest post-deferral? 

Oh no. No, no, no. Anything other than the LOCI and your midyear grades is extraneous, and, quite frankly, annoying. The more you send, the more ammunition you give them to ultimately reject you.

When should I get to work on the rest of my Regular Decision applications?

Immediately! If you’ve been rejected from Davidson, take a deep breath and move forward. The best thing you can do is to turn your attention towards your other applications toot suite. Plus, if you’ve taken Ivy Coach’s advice during your PostMortem, you should be equipped to reframe your narrative around your singular hook and put your best foot forward ahead of the Regular Decision application deadlines!

Ivy Coach’s Assistance with a Davidson College Deferral or Rejection

If you would like to optimize your chances of admission after your Davidson deferral, or if your application needs triaging after a Davidson rejection, fill out Ivy Coach’s complimentary consultation form, and we’ll promptly be in touch to outline our college counseling services for deferred and rejected candidates.