An unfortunate reality of the admissions process is that deferrals happen. Waiting even longer to hear back from your dream school after applying Early can be super disheartening. 

Luckily, in the face of a deferral, students are still able to take steps forward in the admissions process, whether at the school they were deferred from or the schools still on their Regular Decision list. 

What Percentage of Early Action and Early Decision Applicants Does Pepperdine University Typically Defer?

Pepperdine University does not release information about the number of students they defer from either of their Early pools. The school offers both Early Action and Early Decision.

Pepperdine University Acceptance Rate

Pepperdine University’s Class of 2028 had an acceptance rate of 62.9%, although they have not yet confirmed the Class of 2029 acceptance rate. 

Admissions Cycle	Pepperdine University Class Year	Early Action Admission Rate	Early Decision Admission Rate	Regular Decision Admission Rate
2025-2026	Class of 2030	Not Reported	Not Reported	Not Reported
2024-2025	Class of 2029	Not Reported	Not Reported	Not Reported
2023-2024	Class of 2028	Not Reported	Not Reported	62.9%
2022-2023	Class of 2027	Not Reported	Not Reported	49.9%
2021-2022	Class of 2026	Not Reported	Not Reported	48.7%
2020-2021	Class of 2025	Not Reported	Not Reported	52.7%
2019-2020	Class of 2024	Not Reported	Not Reported	42.3%

What Percentage of Early Action and Early Decision Applicants Does Pepperdine University Typically Accept?

Pepperdine University does not report the statistics of students who applied Early Action or Early Decision, so there’s no confirmation of the number of students admitted who sent in their applications for those Early deadlines.

However, we at Ivy Coach always recommend applying Early; it gives students a better shot at admission. Historically, colleges display higher acceptance rates for students who applied in the Early round, whether that’s Early Action or Early Decision. 

What Should Applicants Do After Being Deferred by Pepperdine University?

PostMortem Application Review

After a Pepperdine University deferral, we advise setting up Ivy Coach’s PostMortem application review. 

During the PostMortem session, we will:

• Offer detailed feedback on up to three college applications. Ivy Coach’s counselor, a former elite college admissions officer, will review both essay and non-essay sections of the applications.
• Brainstorm a compelling extracurricular hook to put the student in the best possible spot for admission. That hook is integral to differentiating your child from everyone else they’re competing against: both their frenemies at school and students on the other side of the world. 
• Correct any mistakes that we notice in an application. Unfortunately, they’re never perfect. It’s impossible for students to know exactly what admissions officers are (and are not!) looking for; that’s where Ivy Coach’s team of former elite college admissions officers comes into the picture. 
• Flesh out their school list. If our counselor notices any missing schools that should be on your child’s Regular Decision list, we’ll add them. We’re good matchmakers. 

Common Mistakes Caught During Ivy Coach’s PostMortem

We frequently see the same mistakes repeated across students’ applications. Even something seemingly insignificant can be a problem for the admissions officer reviewing your child’s file. Of course, this list isn’t anywhere close to an exhaustive list, but these are the ones we see quite frequently. 

• A Personal Statement about sports, music, community service, grandparents, or travel. All five of these topics are way too overdone. There’s nothing innovative your child has to say about playing a sport or recovering from an injury. We promise.
• Why College essays that basically reiterate the same information for every school. Admissions officers can tell when students do that. It’s a giant no no!
• Listing the dollar amount that was fundraised for a charitable cause. Admissions officers see dollar signs and it makes students seem most unlikable to them.
• Mentioning every activity, every honor, and every community service hour in their essays. Admissions officers can see that other places in the application; there’s no need to try to jam it all in. 
• Speaking of every activity, students who come across as well-rounded struggle in the admissions process. Just think: if you’re an admissions officer reading thousands of applications, are you going to remember the ones that all looked similar? 
• Applying to a school they weren’t a strong competitive match for. At Ivy Coach, we tell it like it is. If a student’s Early choice was a bad one, we’ll be honest. Students should always apply to reach schools in the Early round (just not impossible reaches).

Write a Letter of Continued Interest

Writing a Letter of Continued Interest is more than just writing any old letter. It needs to be a love letter. The goal of this letter is to describe with clarity and certainty why a student would be an asset to that college’s community, utilizing that crucial eye-catching hook throughout.

A successful Letter of Continued Interest will tell admissions officers exactly how a student would use their hook to contribute to the school, whether outside of the classroom, in the lab, in various programs/institutes, or elsewhere. 

This needs to happen from the very first sentence, otherwise, admissions officers lose interest. The last thing we want a student to do is to come across as boring and uninteresting!

What a Letter of Continued Interest Should Not Do

We’ve talked about what that Letter of Continued Interest should do. But there are definitely some big red flags that students can accidentally add to their letters without even noticing. Let’s go over the “what not to do” in a student’s Letter of Continued Interest.

We advise against including academic updates. That’s a huge waste of precious space that could be spent delving deeper into a student’s specific hook, and it sounds like bragging. 

We also don’t want to see a boring, traditional, run-of-the-mill letter. Successful Letters of Continued Interest are engaging, specific, and enjoyable to read. They don’t come off as tone deaf or braggadocious. What they do is demonstrate that singular narrative and showcase how a student will contribute their hook to the specific aspects of the school, including the programs, institutes, culture, traditions, and activities.

That’s just some of the bad advice we’ve heard about the Letter of Continued Interest, but there’s plenty more out there. And if your child started drafting anything like what we just mentioned, it’s not too late to hit delete!

When Applicants Should Submit Their Letters of Continued Interest

We have students submit their Letter of Continued Interest as soon as possible, ideally within a few days of receiving news of a deferral. For example, if a student learns they are deferred on December 15th, we like students to send in their Letters of Continued Interest before December 20th.

We always have students submit their letters as soon as possible, except for one time period: immediately before Christmas or in between Christmas and New Year’s. Students may think it’s best to just send the letter whenever, but if it’s immediately Christmas (as in a day or two before) or between Christmas and New Year’s, we recommend they wait until a few days into the New Year. 

However, it’s very silly to procrastinate writing the letter! The content of that Letter of Continued Interest will be how we encourage them to pivot the rest of their applications as they submit to schools for Regular Decision.

Chances of Getting into Pepperdine University After Being Deferred

Pepperdine University does not share the number of deferred students they ultimately end up accepting. 

However, Ivy Coach has been operating in the space of elite college admissions long enough to understand that a fairly universal statistic is that about 10% of deferred candidates ultimately earn admission to the school that kicked the can on their acceptance. Although the percentage can vary between years and schools, it tends to serve as a fairly consistent general threshold. 

That rate jumps from 10% up to about 40% 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 turning a deferral into an acceptance. 

A Deferred Student’s Chances Improve Dramatically with Ivy Coach

Students who come to Ivy Coach right after being deferred still have a chance, no matter what it feels like. Unfortunately, it’s not a very strong chance, especially depending on the school, but it exists. 

You can likely tell that we’re very realistic at Ivy Coach. We won’t sugarcoat those odds. That’s why we can only take on students after a deferral if they fully understand that their chances just aren’t as strong as when they first applied. All we can do is provide them the best chance possible. And, frankly, if quadrupling a student’s odds of admission aren’t enough for a family, then they’re not a good fit to work with us. Good luck to them!

What To Do After Being Rejected By Pepperdine University

If your student was rejected from Pepperdine University, they’re not the only one. Although Pepperdine University had an acceptance rate of 62.9% for the Class of 2028, that still means almost 40% of students who applied were ultimately rejected. 

It’s important not to let that rejection cast a shadow over the rest of the admissions process. Just because a student was rejected from one school doesn’t mean they’ll never get that rush of relief and excitement when they finally open up an acceptance decision. It just means they need to be willing to work with us to make the necessary changes to their application that will enable that good news to come flooding in.

For students and parents who are ready to move forward in the admissions journey, whether after a deferral or a rejection, it’s time to sign up for Ivy Coach’s PostMortem. One of our former elite university admissions officers will work together with you and your child to craft a competitive strategy for Regular Decision admission.

The reason students come to Ivy Coach after facing disappointment in the elite college admissions process is not only because of our track record post-deferral, but because we’ll also guide them through the rest of the Regular Decision process. Ivy Coach optimizes a student’s case for Regular Decision admission, creating a concrete plan to move forward and achieve success in the next round.

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

If you’re interested in Ivy Coach’s plan to optimize your child’s Pepperdine University Regular Decision case for admission to the Class of 2030 after receiving a deferral (along with to other Regular Decision schools), or with planning for Regular Decision applications after receiving a rejection, fill out our complimentary consultation form. We’ll be in touch with more information.