If you received a deferral or rejection from George Washington University for admission to the Class of 2030, we get that you’re likely not jumping up and down. It’s not great news, but both of these results can help you as you move forward in the admissions process in different ways. Below, we’ll talk about making the most of your GW deferral, and how to pivot after a GW rejection. Let’s dive in!

George Washington University Early Decision Admissions Statistics Over 7+ Years

While GW has yet to publish the Early Decision data for the Classes of 2030 or 2029, below is a breakdown of the combined Early Decision I and Early Decision II admissions statistics over the seven prior years.

George Washington University Class Year	Number of Early Decision I & II Applications	Number of Early Decision I & II Acceptances	Early Decision I & II Acceptance Rate
Class of 2030	Not Yet Published	Not Yet Published	Not Yet Published
Class of 2029	Not Yet Published	Not Yet Published	Not Yet Published
Class of 2028	1,139	755	66.29%
Class of 2027	1,196	765	63.96%
Class of 2026	1,132	748	66.08%
Class of 2025	986	646	65.52%
Class of 2024	1,051	681	64.8%
Class of 2023	1,192	846	70.97%
Class of 2022	1,292	908	70.28%

GW Early Decision Deferral Rate

GW does not publish the percentage of students who are deferred admission or the percentage of deferred students who ultimately earn admission.

5 Steps to Take After GWU Deferral

1. Take a breath. It would help if you had a moment to process the decision. If you applied Early Decision to GW, it means you loved GW. Take a few hours to recenter yourself.
2. Set up a complimentary consultation with Ivy Coach to learn your best path forward at GW and elsewhere.
3. Complete a PostMortem with Ivy Coach so you can fix mistakes you made on your GW application for your Regular Decision schools and so we can zero in on what story we tell in the letter you should submit to GW.
4. Submit a wow Letter of Continued Interest to GW. An ordinary letter won’t do. The letter must be compelling. It should contain no brags and no updates. What should it include? Well, that’s an Ivy Coach secret family recipe — and it’s rather delicious.
5. After submitting your Letter of Continued Interest, ask your school counselor to make an advocacy call on your behalf to GW. But don’t just ask them to call. Hand them your submitted letter. This way, they’ll know how to best position your case for admission.

What Not To Do If You’ve Been Deferred by George Washington University

1. Don’t send a knee-jerk email to GW’s admissions office with the intention of sending a longer letter later. You should only be sending in a single such note post-deferral.
2. Don’t reach out to GW’s admissions office regularly. More contact is not better. Less is more.
3. Don’t call the GW admissions office. They don’t wish to speak with you. Don’t annoy them!
4. Don’t pitch a tent outside GW’s admissions office. No one on a college campus wants to see a tent anytime soon!
5. Don’t do that other thing you were thinking of doing. It’s a bad idea!

A Deferred Student’s Chances Improve Dramatically with Ivy Coach

For students who first come to Ivy Coach first after being deferred at a highly selective university, our success rate for working with them is around a 40% acceptance rate, in contrast to the fairly universal statistic we’ve become familiar with over the past 30+ years of being in business: that only around 10% of students who get deferred are ultimately offered admission. 

What to Do After George Washington University Rejection

High schoolers getting ready to ask someone out for senior prom know it better than anyone: rejection hurts, no matter who is doing it! It might be easy to wallow after receiving a George Washington University rejection, but you should instead take advantage of your frustration and channel it into making the most out of Regular Decision. There’s very little by way of statistics published by GW out there regarding the school’s deferral versus rejection rate, so going down a rabbit hole of considering “what ifs?” will waste time during these crucial days when springing into action could turn this situation around. With the Regular Decision deadline looming, now is the time to act. So what’s your next move?

Consider Ivy Coach’s PostMortem, which is a comprehensive review of your application’s shortcomings guided by a member of our team of former elite college admissions officers. With our expert guidance, you’ll develop a highly competitive strategy that centers on a singular hook, crafted with the help of our team. Not only will you uncover what went wrong in your GW application, but you’ll optimize your odds of admission to your remaining Regular Decision schools, perhaps even ending the process with a Regular Decision acceptance letter from an even better school!

George Washington University Early Action Rejection Rate

First, let’s unpack where you stand as a rejected George Washington University applicant. There’s no data publicly available to tell us how many students get deferred versus rejected in the Early Decision I and Early Decision II rounds. After all, GW doesn’t publish this data.

That being said, there’s no use dwelling on the past! You received a rejection. It’s not the end of the world, although it sure may feel like it. Lots of other students have been rejected from GW over the years; for those who applied to the Class of 2028, it was more than half of the applicants! The Class of 2028 Early Decision I and Early Decision II acceptance rate was a bit higher, but it was still nowhere near 100%. So, you’re not alone. Now it’s about figuring out how to learn from this experience and move forward!

Next Steps After George Washington University Rejection

PostMortem Application Review

If you’ve just heard you were rejected from George Washington University, the next step is to contact Ivy Coach for a PostMortem application review. You can take a few minutes to process the bad news, but we don’t recommend hesitating for longer than that. With Regular Decision deadlines looming, every second counts towards correcting your application. 

During Ivy Coach’s PostMortem, we will:

• Reevaluate your current applications. We methodically review each and every section of each application, including both the essay and non-essay portions. We’ll readjust which schools you’re prioritizing now that you’ve been rejected from your top choice. We’re sure you’re thinking, “Whaaat? But I’m already finished with my applications!” Wrong. After a George Washington University rejection, why do you want to double down on the same mistakes?
• Work together to craft a narrative presenting you as a uniquely talented individual rather than as a well-rounded one. Coming across as well-rounded is a rookie mistake in the college admissions game, and now you might have had to learn that the hard way. You want to be an expert in one singular thing, not a master of none. So, we’ll correct this mistake and help you pivot to a strategy that actually works: the one, the only, the singular hook.
• Correct the tiny mistakes and missteps that you wouldn’t even think could have been the reason an admissions officer turned you down, like something as small as a thought or idea that was miscommunicated and did not gel with that campus culture. For example, students who brag do themselves no favor in the George Washington University admissions process. You only hurt yourself if you wrote about how you raised $25,000 for a charity or were selected out of a huge pool of applicants for a seemingly exclusive but actually totally unimpressive summer enrichment program at a highly selective university. 
• Reassess your admissions prospects with the rose colored glasses removed and consider taking advantage of the Early Decision II round for a school that hits the sweet spot between prestige and admissions feasibility. Take note: not all students are the right type of candidates for ED II, and not all schools provide an ED II round. So, do your research and pick an admissions pathway that works for you.

Application Assistance

Following your PostMortem with Ivy Coach, which is a necessary first step for us to understand what went wrong and how you need to reposition your narrative, we will:

• Overhaul your applications. This is the most important thing to do after receiving a rejection. We’ve formulated a game plan, and now it’s time to put everything you’ve learned from your PostMortem into practice. Although we can’t fix every single mistake you’ve ever made, there’s a whole lot we can do to course correct 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.

What Not to Do After Being Rejected by George Washington University

Just as well as there are next steps that we advise taking, there are next steps that we would never, ever want you to take after receiving the unfortunate news of a George Washington University rejection:

1. Do not send in your remaining applications as is. You need to take the feedback. Something didn’t jive in your GW application. Don’t keep trying to jam a square peg into a round hole by submitting an application that’s all wrong. There is no second opportunity after Regular Decision deadlines (unless you intend to transfer!), so don’t risk it.
2. Do not ever reach out to the George Washington University admissions office with questions about why you were rejected. They likely don’t even remember you from the pile of other applicants they rejected, so don’t waste their time making them pretend. You won’t get a straightforward answer or any helpful information, and your enthusiasm will only serve to assure them that they made the right decision. George Washington University does not conduct appeals. Don’t waste your time (or theirs) by trying fruitlessly to change that. Your decision is final!
3. Do not be super picky with your choice of Regular Decision schools and/or omit safety schools from your Regular Decision list. If you’re not positive about what makes a school a “safety,” that’s where our team of former elite college admissions officers comes in. For example, we’d tell you not to omit a school in the Northeast simply because you’d prefer not to go to school there. That’s a silly reason. Rejected applicants have to open their minds because oh so often, they’ll end up attending a school that Ivy Coach adds to their list at the end of December. We don’t tolerate pickiness because it’s truly not in the best interest of an applicant.
4. Do not blame your school counselor for an admissions decision that is ultimately your responsibility. Don’t storm their office yelling at them for not getting you accepted. Although high school counselors are not always perfect at their jobs (i.e., they sometimes refuse to make advocacy calls on behalf of their students), they still are your #1 ally in the fight for your college future. So don’t even think about being rude to them on the heels of rejection, just because your pride may be stinging. 

Frequently Asked Questions about George Washington University Deferrals and Rejections

What role should my high school counselor play in the deferral process?

After you’ve submitted it to George Washington University, you can send your Letter of Continued Interest to your school counselor and politely request that they make an advocacy call on your behalf in the New Year. This is their chance to fight for your case for admission by highlighting the singular hook you’ve crafted to optimize your case.

Should my child have realistic expectations and focus their attention on the Regular Decision schools if they were deferred?

This is not a black and white question. They should both focus on presenting a compelling Letter of Continued Interest to GW admissions officers, and also focus on submitting the best applications possible to their Regular Decision schools. If you want them to have the most options when it comes time for Decision Day, it’s best that they do both of these things.

Can my child appeal their George Washington University rejection?

No, George Washington University’s admissions decision is final. A rejection is a rejection. There is no appeal process at GW just like there is no appeal process at most highly selective universities in America. Move on.

If my child was rejected from George Washington University, is all hope lost?

No, that’s a terrible attitude to take! We’re not giving up on your child after one rejection, and you shouldn’t either. They absolutely have a shot, quite frankly potentially at an even better school than GW, if they take our advice and turn their application around by crafting that singular narrative with a compelling, powerful hook.

Ivy Coach’s Assistance with George Washington University Deferral or Rejection

If you’re interested in optimizing your case for admission to George Washington University or another elite college in the Regular Decision round after receiving notice of your deferral or rejection, fill out Ivy Coach’s complimentary consultation form. We’ll then be in touch to outline our go-forward service for deferred and rejected candidates.