Deferred from American University? It’s challenging to feel hope in the admissions game after a deferral. 

We have good news: there’s still time to take control of the admissions process and get a positive result. Although you now won’t hear from American University until the rest of the Regular Decision applicants on April 1st, there are other schools out there that may be an even better fit. 

What Percentage of Early Action, EDI and EDII Applicants Does American University Typically Defer?

Like many schools, American University does not release their admissions data differentiated by the type of student application beyond just Early Decision (both I and II) and Regular Decision. Although they also offer Early Action, they do not break down the number of applicants who apply in that Early round. They also do not specify how many of these students they defer versus flat-out reject. 

American University Acceptance Rate

For the Class of 2028, the acceptance rate to American University was 61.9%. But what’s the difference between the Early Decision and Regular Decision applicants?

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

American University offers Early Decision I and Early Decision II. For their Early Decision applicants in both rounds in the Class of 2028, they received 726 applications. 579 of those applicants were accepted for a 79.8% acceptance rate. That’s 3 out of 4 ED I and ED II students who were admitted, and almost a 20% higher chance of acceptance than in the Regular Decision round. 

What Should Applicants Do After Being Deferred by American University?

PostMortem Application Review

After receiving a deferral from American University, we would recommend signing up for Ivy Coach’s PostMortem application review. 

During the PostMortem session, our counselor will:

• Provide 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 give your student that spike in their case for admissions. The spike, or, as we like to call it, “the hook”, is the most important part of a successful admissions process. Elite colleges want to admit singularly talented students, not well-rounded students. Together, these singularly talented students form a well-rounded incoming class.
• Correct mistakes that we find in their applications. We’ve never seen a student who was deferred with an application that had zero mistakes. If we see an error like a lack of key course requirements or additional information that’s completely superfluous, we’ll let your child know how to fix it (whether you want to hear it or not).
• Create a list of schools for your child to apply to in the Regular Decision round. Our counselors are experts at spotting gaps in student college lists, so if we spot one, we’ll add it to your child’s list. So often, that school we add to the list is the school they ultimately attend.

Common Mistakes Caught During Ivy Coach’s PostMortem

Ivy Coach has been in this business a long time (over 30 years). We’ve seen a lot of mistakes. And we’ve seen some more often than others. Below are some of the most frequent errors we see on student applications submitted during the Early round that earned them a deferral. 

• Their Personal Statement contained an essay about sports, music, community service, their grandparents, or travel, the six most overused essay topics, which are on our banned list.
• Their Why College essay was a copy/paste version of the same answer for multiple schools. If all they did was swap out certain names of professors they’re “dying to work with” or classes “they want to enroll in” like a game of Mad Libs, college admissions officers will know. After all, it doesn’t exactly demonstrate strong interest in a college. Plus, who likes a name-dropper?
• A student listed the amount that they fundraised for a charitable cause. Admissions officers see dollar signs and it makes students appear unlikable.
• A student tried to include every activity, honor, and community service hour they’ve done for the past four years all in one essay. That’s another unlikable quality. Admissions officers can see a student’s activity list. They don’t need it reiterated word for word in their essays.
• A student comes off as well-rounded. If their activities list spans too many seemingly random things, admissions officers will lose interest. Remember, we said singularly talented. 
• Another common mistake is when a student applies to a school they weren’t actually a strong competitor for. We tell it like it is at Ivy Coach, whether or not parents and students want to hear it, and we’ll be upfront in the PostMortem about whether or not your student had a shot in the first place.

Write a Letter of Continued Interest

The Letter of Continued Interest that a student writes can make or break their candidacy. It can be the difference between good news and bad news on April 1st. 

But it only works if it’s written well. The Letter of Continued Interest must be a love letter to the school; every university needs their ego stroked, and they need to know why a student wants to attend. It’s the student’s job to make clear in that letter exactly how they would be a huge contributor to the school’s culture, curriculum, campus, and more.

If this isn’t clear from the first sentence of that Letter of Continued Interest and reiterated throughout the entire rest of the letter, a student is not going to succeed in standing out and gaining admission over the other thousands of Regular Decision Applicants. A student simply writing that if admitted they will attend goes in one ear of admissions officers and out the other. Students must show, not tell.

What a Letter of Continued Interest Should Not Do

There is definitely lots of bad advice out there about the Letter of Continued Interest. We’ve seen it. We want to steer you away from it.

We never want to see students include academic updates or school accolades in that Letter of Continued Interest. It’s a waste of space. All the students applying for these top schools have good grades. That point is moot to admissions officers. Students need to set themselves apart outside of their grades and test scores.

Also, no listing other schools that they’ve gotten admitted to. That will not make an admissions officer want to admit them more; it doesn’t work that way. Quite the opposite!

Another thing students need to do is avoid writing a plain old boring letter! This is not the time to be cookie-cutter; this is the time to stand out. Stand out doesn’t mean get a megaphone and literally stand outside the admissions office, begging them to let you in. Certainly not! It does, however, mean reframing that singular narrative to showcase how they’ll contribute their hook to the specific aspects of the school, like their programs, institutes, culture, traditions, and activities.

This information is probably contradictory to other things you’ve heard about the Letter of Continued Interest. We love when people take that bad advice, because that’s who our students are competing against. It makes it easier for our students to beat them by turning their deferral into an acceptance. 

When Applicants Should Submit Their Letters of Continued Interest

At Ivy Coach, we encourage students to submit their Letter of Continued Interest as soon as possible. This would ideally be within a few days of receiving their deferral. For example, if a student finds out they are deferred on December 15th, we like students to send in their Letters of Continued Interest before December 20th.

However, there is one case where we make an exception: if a student already missed the window right after receiving their deferral. They might think it’s best to just submit the letter as soon as possible. But, if they’d be submitting right before Christmas or between Christmas and New Year’s, we caution them to wait until a few days into the New Year. 

That doesn’t mean they should procrastinate writing the letter! That Letter of Continued Interest will be the defining point for how they reframe their profile for the rest of their Regular Decision applications. That’s how we’d encourage them to pivot as they begin the Regular Decision application process. 

Chances of Getting into American University After Being Deferred

American University does not publish the number of students who are deferred and then ultimately accepted. However, based on data we have collected for over 30 years of being in business, Ivy Coach has found that the fairly universal statistic is about 10% of deferred candidates ultimately earning admission to the school they were deferred by. While this percentage can vary yearly and from school to school, it does serve as a pretty consistent general threshold.

That being said, the 10% acceptance rate jumps up to about 40% for students who come to Ivy Coach after being deferred. We work with a student to craft a powerful Letter of Interest and greatly boost (in fact, quadruple) their chances of acceptance after that initial deferral. 

A Deferred Student’s Chances Improve Dramatically with Ivy Coach

For students who come to Ivy Coach right after a deferral, they still have a chance at gaining admission. It may not be a very big chance, but it’s certainly higher odds than if they were doing it alone. 

At Ivy Coach, we’re very realistic. We only take on students after a deferral if they fully understand that their chances aren’t as strong as when they applied. All we can do is give them the best chance possible for admission. And if quadrupling the chances of a student is not enough for a family, we’d rather they seek help elsewhere. Best of luck! Or shall we say good riddance?

What To Do After Being Rejected By AmericanU

Rejected by American University? So were a lot of other students. Over 6,000 in the Class of 2028, in fact. See, you’re not alone. 

Just because you faced one rejection doesn’t mean you’re down for the rest of the admissions process. We’ll be the first to tell you that, and we know college admissions. A rejection from one top school doesn’t mean a rejection from every top school, as long as students are willing to reframe their application narrative that failed them in the first place. 

If you and your child are ready to take the next step in the admissions journey, 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.

After rejection, students come to us because they know we’re the admissions experts. We optimize their case for Regular Decision admissions in ways they didn’t even know possible before they sat down with one of our counselors. We work with students to develop a plan to catch the eye of the admissions officers reviewing their application at what will become their future university.

Getting Started with Ivy Coach After an American University Deferral or Rejection

If you’re interested in Ivy Coach’s game plan to optimize your student’s Regular Decision case for admission to American University’s Class of 2030 after receiving a deferral, or with planning for other Regular Decision applications after a deferral or rejection, fill out our complimentary consultation form. We’ll then reach out with next steps. There’s still time to take control of your college admissions journey!