Was your child deferred in the Early Decision round by Brown University to the Class of 2030? If so, it’s undoubtedly not the outcome you and your child had hoped for when submitting an ED application back at the beginning of November. But your child’s deferral is also not the worst case scenario. After all, they could have been denied admission outright. Indeed, your child still has a chance of turning their Brown deferral into an offer of admission — but only if they play their cards right. So, how can your child optimize their odds of admission to Brown post-deferral, and what are your next moves should you have been rejected? Let’s dive in! Let’s dive in!

Brown Early Decision Admission Rates Over 20+ Years

First, it’s important to understand your child’s deferral in context. So, what percentage of Brown’s Early Decision applicants earn admission? Brown’s ED acceptance rate through the years is as follows:

Admissions Cycle	Brown Graduating Class	Brown’s Early Decision Admission Rate
2025-2026	Class of 2030	Not Yet Published
2024-2025	Class of 2029	17.95%
2023-2024	Class of 2028	14.38%
2022-2023	Class of 2027	12.98%
2021-2022	Class of 2026	14.6%
2020-2021	Class of 2025	15.9%
2019-2020	Class of 2024	17.5%
2018-2019	Class of 2023	18.2%
2017-2018	Class of 2022	21%
2016-2017	Class of 2021	21.9%
2015-2016	Class of 2020	22.1%
2014-2015	Class of 2019	20%
2013-2014	Class of 2018	18.9%
2012-2013	Class of 2017	18.5%
2011-2012	Class of 2016	19%
2010-2011	Class of 2015	20.6%
2009-2010	Class of 2014	19.9%
2008-2009	Class of 2013	23.7%
2007-2008	Class of 2012	22.7%
2006-2007	Class of 2011	22.7%
2005-2006	Class of 2010	22.8%
2004-2005	Class of 2009	28%
2003-2004	Class of 2008	28.3%
2002-2003	Class of 2007	25.8%

Brown Early Decision Deferral Rates

Over the last five years, Brown has released its Early Decision deferral statistics. And while that number has generally been shrinking (it rose slightly for the Class of 2029), it remains considerable. While we don’t yet have data for the Class of 2030, for the Classes of 2029, 2028, 2027, 2026, and 2025, those figures are as follows:

Admissions Cycle	Brown Graduating Class	Brown’s Early Decision Deferral Rate
2025-2026	Class of 2030	Not Yet Published
2024-2025	Class of 2029	17.8%
2023-2024	Class of 2028	16.8%
2022-2023	Class of 2027	19%
2021-2022	Class of 2026	25%
2020-2021	Class of 2025	30%

5 Steps to Take After a Brown Deferral

After receiving the unwelcome news of the Brown deferral, below is your five-step game plan:

1. Encourage your child to go do yoga or meditate. Before they do anything, they need to take a breath (but only for a day as they’ve got work to do!). If they want to optimize their case for admission to Brown in Regular Decision and not have this same kind of result at other schools in the Regular Decision round, they’re going to have to hear what we have to say and, for that, they need first to let out their emotions.
2. Have a free consultation with Ivy Coach in which we walk you through our deferral package, which includes a PostMortem application review plus assistance with brainstorming and crafting your child’s compelling Letter of Continued Interest.
3. Complete Ivy Coach’s PostMortem application review (both you and your child should be present for the session). Keep in mind, this session should be completed within only a couple of days of your child’s deferral for two reasons: (1) they need to fix the mistakes and ill-advised positioning that we identify over the remaining two weeks or so before Regular Decision deadlines and (2) they ideally want to get their Letter of Continued Interest submitted expediently to Brown so that Brown’s admissions committee doesn’t get the feeling they’ve got sour grapes.
4. Submit a powerful Letter of Continued Interest that we at Ivy Coach brainstormed — by giving paragraph-by-paragraph direction — and revised so that it would be as powerful as possible. After a deferral, most students are inclined to brag and update a school on all they’ve achieved in the six or so weeks since they applied. But, of course, that’s an unlikely strategy to inspire an admissions officer to root for a student. It’s why Ivy Coach’s Letters of Continued Interest contain no brags or updates, and they’re always — you guessed it — weird.
5. In the New Year, encourage your child to bring that Letter of Continued Interest to their school counselor so they can make an advocacy call on their behalf — armed with the fighting words included in the letter. What your child’s school counselor says on this call matters big time and the Letter of Continued Interest can be great inspiration for them. Keep in mind, some school counselors — often at fancy schmancy schools — won’t make advocacy calls. But good school counselors will always make such calls. It’s literally their job.

Brown University Early Decision Rejection Rates

And while a deferral might seem like doom and gloom, sometimes it’ll cheer a student up to learn of a school’s Early Decision denial rate — and that’s especially the case for Brown, a school that denies many more students than it defers.

In fact, the school’s denial rate in the Early Decision round has been markedly increasing over the last few admissions cycles until leveling out for the Class of 2028 and slightly decreasing for the Class of 2029. We’re still awaiting data on the Class of 2030. Those figures are as follows:

Admissions Cycle	Brown Graduating Class	Brown’s Early Decision Deferral Rate
2025-2026	Class of 2030	Not Yet Published
2024-2025	Class of 2029	61.8%
2023-2024	Class of 2028	67.6%
2022-2023	Class of 2027	68%
2021-2022	Class of 2026	60.25%
2020-2021	Class of 2025	54.1%

What Should Applicants Do After Being Rejected by Brown?

Are you facing a rejection letter from Brown? Brown is not one of those elite schools that defers more than they reject (we’re looking at you, Harvard!), which highlights just how many other students are in the same boat as you. Indeed, Brown rejects many more applicants than it defers. Luckily, Ivy Coach has a plan for you to turn these lemons into some lemonade. First, take a second to de-stress. And then, spring into action!

After receiving word of a rejection from Brown, we don’t recommend delaying before contacting Ivy Coach for a PostMortem application review. Our team of former elite college admissions officers will equip you with a competitive strategy for your remaining Regular Decision schools. 

When it comes to Ivy League admission, every accepted slot is a massive gamble on the admissions officers’ part. After all, with a school with as many resources, facilities, and funding opportunities as Brown, they can’t risk that any given student won’t make the most out of their time there. We proceed from this standpoint and bring this understanding to your Regular Decision schools. But the sooner you wait to reach out to us, the less of an impact we’ll be able to make on your admissions destiny.

PostMortem

During our PostMortem, we:

• Assist you in reworking the current applications you’re working on. We go through every section of each application, including the essays and non-essay portions, and help you to retool the schools you’re prioritizing now that you’ve been rejected from Brown. Revising your applications is crucial, even if they seem to you to be near-done. Course correcting is essential, so don’t double down on your mistakes.
• Work with you to ensure you do not present as well-rounded, which is a huge admissions red flag. Somewhere in your admissions journey, you may have received the misguided advice to present as well-rounded. We’ll correct this mistake and help you pivot to the only tried and true strategy for elite college admission: the singular hook.
• Correct the little-known errors that may have played a role in your rejection. Sometimes, a slight misstep in phrasing or emphasis can spell disaster (think: unnecessary bragging and boasting). Other times, Brown may have overlooked the rigorous academic standards of your application (assuming you’ve met them) and focused more on your shortcomings in your singular hook. You need to give them a roadmap for engagement, or they won’t have faith that you’ll use your time on campus wisely.
• Take a second to evaluate your admissions prospects and consider taking advantage of the Early Decision II round for a school that, less selective than Brown (or equally selective), is a happy medium between prestige and admissions feasibility. But note that not all schools offer an ED II round, so do your research and make sure the level of commitment for ED II is right for you.

Application Assistance

Following your PostMortem, a necessary first step for us to understand what went wrong and how you need to reposition your narrative, we:

• Revamp your applications with Ivy Coach’s assistance. Now that you have a game plan and understand what you did wrong and where you could improve, it’s time to put what you learned from your PostMortem into action. While we can’t fix every high school mistake, we can still significantly improve how you present your hook to win over admissions officers at the best school within reach.

What Not to Do After Being Rejected by Brown

Here are key strategies to avoid after receiving a rejection from Brown to improve your chances for Regular Decision admission:

1. Revise your remaining applications. A rejection signals that something went wrong, so adjust your strategy for your remaining schools rather than sticking to your initial plan.
2. Avoid contacting the Brown admissions office. They won’t provide clear answers about your rejection, and your enthusiasm will only reinforce their decision. No one likes their authority to be challenged, least of all admissions officers! Besides, your rejection is final.
3. Do not omit safety schools from your Regular Decision list. And if you’re unsure what constitutes a safety school, turn to Ivy Coach!
4. Don’t be too picky by leaving off schools from your college list that are not in the geographic area you want or may be a little colder than you envisioned. You blew your Early Decision card. When picking up the pieces, it’s critical to give yourself options.
5. Don’t blame your school counselor for an admissions decision that is ultimately your responsibility. While high school counselors may not do everything right (for instance, they might sometimes hesitate to advocate for their students in calls with college admissions officers), they are your most important ally in pursuing your college future. Alienating them is the worst thing you can do at this moment.

Brown University Deferral and Rejection FAQ

Is a Brown University deferral meaningful?

Yes, unlike many of its peer institutions, Brown denies many more students than it defers in the Early Decision round. This past year, for the Class of 2028, the school denied over three-times as many students as it deferred. Is your child’s deferral not looking so shabby now?

Does Brown defer more candidates than it accepts?

Yes, Brown historically defers significantly more students than it accepts. This past Early Decision cycle, for the Class of 2028, Brown’s admission rate was 14.38% and the deferral rate was 16.8%. The year before, for the Class of 2027, the ED admission rate was 12.98% and the deferral rate was 19%. For the Class of 2026, the difference was more pronounced. The school accepted 14.6% of ED applicants and deferred 25%.

Does Brown defer more candidates than it rejects?

No, Brown rejects significantly more applicants than it defers: more than triple, in fact! For the Class of 2029, 61.9% of Brown applicants were rejected, whereas 17.8% were deferred, and 17.95% were accepted. Many elite universities defer the majority of candidates, rejecting only a slim percentage. Brown is not like these other institutions. We commend them for cutting the cord with applicants they don’t believe have a genuine shot of admission in Regular Decision. As such, a deferral from Brown is more meaningful.

Should my child call their regional representative in Brown’s admissions office?

No, with the exception of your child’s Letter of Continued Interest, your child should not be making contact with Brown’s admissions office since such a move will only serve to annoy them. They do not wish to talk to deferred students. No one wants to speak to someone who didn’t get what they wanted. No one wants to chat with Augustus Gloop (that’s a Charlie and the Chocolate Factory reference, FYI).

If my child’s high school counselor spoke to Brown after the deferral, do you think the reason they gave for the deferral is accurate?

No, we always want school counselors to make advocacy calls on a student’s behalf to Brown’s admissions committee. But if the admissions officer volunteers a rationale for why your child was deferred, it should be taken with six grains of salt. Why? Because they’ll never tell you the true reason why a student was deferred. It simply wouldn’t serve them to do so. Thus, the purpose of the call should not be to find out what went wrong but for the counselor instead to focus on what makes your child tick.

Ivy Coach’s Assistance with Brown Deferral or Rejection

If Brown deferred or rejected your child’s case for admission to its Class of 2030, fill out Ivy Coach’s complimentary consultation form, and we’ll be in touch to outline our post-deferral and post-rejection services, services which optimize your child’s chances of Regular Decision admission to Brown or the other schools to which they apply.