So you arrived at the airport with plenty of time to spare. Got through security and hustled to the gate with your carry-on. And then you saw the sign – in bright shining yellow – saying DELAYED. And you waited. Rumors ran around the gate area: the plane was here. No, they called maintenance. I heard we are waiting on the flight crew. No, it was a weather delay inbound. There you sat, head in hands, not knowing what would happen next, nor when…
I know that a deferral was not want you wanted to hear. But think about it this way: you now have another chance to razzle-dazzle admissions. Your application is still very much alive. Believe in yourself. Use this short window of time to communicate to admissions your continued interest and your awesomeness.
What do you do now?
Be strategic and thoughtful about what to send them.
First, do some reflecting. Ask yourself:
- Was the application you sent months ago the strongest it could be?
- Did you make an effort to go visit the campus or meet with one of the reps at a college fair or your high school?
- Did you make it clear in your supplemental essays WHY their college was a great match for you?
Colleges defer students for lots of reasons:
- College wants to make sure you can be successful academically so they want to see your mid-year grades
- You never demonstrated interest to them so you are an unknown. Should they give you a spot if you haven’t shown them any love?
- College is waiting to see the entire applicant pool because maybe during the early round there were just too many students just like you (same high school, same home town, same passions, etc.)
While it is no fun to sit and wait, you should also be taking action.
If you are still interested attending this college, I recommend sending an email to the Admission Rep. The best time to send an email is mid January or February timeframe.
Who do you send the email to?
Hopefully you have established a relationship with someone in Admissions. Maybe you met them at a college fair or they came to your high school. If you saved the business card they gave you, you are good to go. If not, you might have to do an Internet search.
If you don’t have an established contact and need to find out the right person to send your email: go to the College website, look up admissions and navigate to Contact Admissions. Most schools have a list by region. If you can’t find a list, send the email to the Dean of Admissions.
What should the email say?
Here is a sample email followed by a handy template you can follow.
Dear Mr/Ms Name of person,
When I received my deferral decision last month, I was disappointed about the deferral but happy to know that my application is still being considered .
Please know that Name of College remains _______________________.
(Be truthful here. If the school was and remains: your number one choice – tell them. If you are unsure, say something like: remains at the top of my list).
(And as with the case of my students that applied Early Decision and got deferred, if the school remains your absolute favorite top choice and you will absolutely attend, you can tell them that too, but remember: be honest!) You can say something like:
I will absolutely attend if I am accepted.
Now you have clarified your objective and they know where you stand.
But wait!
That is not enough.
Use this as an opportunity to share with them information that is new since your application was submitted. Did you finish the semester with your best grades ever? Did you win an award, outside scholarship, or find out that you made Captain of the Lacrosse team? This is the perfect opportunity to brag a bit. Use the second/third paragraph of your email to tell them.
Say something like:
I am excited to report some updates since I submitted my application.
Now tell them your news. Keep this high level. You are not writing a new essay; remember this is an email. Take care with your wording and grammar. You can even use bullets if you want.
Whatever else you decide to include depends on your own personal situation. Some other topics to hit might be:
- You had a bad dip in a grade first semester that needs explaining
- You have made a trip to their campus since you sent your application
- You have taken the ACT or SAT again and gotten a better score
- You have asked someone special for an additional recommendation which you want to notify them to be on the lookout for.
Lastly, You want to close the letter nicely and with gratitude. Say something like this:
Please add this new information to my application, and thank you for your time and consideration. I look forward to hearing back soon.
Sincerely,
Student’s Name
Student’s High School
Student’s City, State
_____________________________________
Besides sending an email, there are additional things you can do to both strengthen and prove to admissions that you are still interested in their school. To find out even more about deferrals and what else you might do beyond sending an email, my colleague Nancy Griesemer wrote an informative blog post on Dealing with Deferral last month. Check out her post here for even more actions you can take![/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]