Biltmore Tutoring

Premier Tutoring and Test Prep

10 Crispin Court, Suite D-201
(Gerber Village)
Asheville, NC 28803
(828) 505-2495

  • About
  • Classes
  • Private Tutoring
    • Subject Tutoring
    • Test Preparation
    • Reading & Study Skills
  • College Counseling
  • Our Tutors
  • Contact
  • Testimonials
You are here: Home / College Counseling / The best way to handle a deferral

The best way to handle a deferral

April 9, 2017 By Brian Caskey

deferralMany students who apply to college via Early Decision or Early Action find that they’ve been deferred. This means they’ve neither been accepted nor rejected – a sort of college purgatory.

Unlike a rejection, a deferral offers hope! You have not been rejected! The college is asking you to wait. However, you have work to do if you want to improve your chances of turning the ‘maybe’ into a ‘yes.’ Typically, a deferral means the college wants to compare you with the full applicant pool because your application did not shine enough for them to admit you early.

Here are some suggestions to improve your likelihood of college admissions:

Don’t panic.  A deferral is not a rejection — the college saw something good and promising in your application.
Get information.  Contact the school’s Admissions Office and see if you can find out why you were deferred.  Ask to speak directly with an admissions counselor. This call should only last 4-5 minutes and your goal is to make great impression. But, first, make absolutely sure that the college doesn’t ask specifically for students NOT to call. You can find this on their website or by making a quick anonymous call a few hours or days before you make the important call. During the important call to the admissions officer, we suggest you do the following: 1) Politely ask why your application was deferred. Engage in a short conversation about it. Do not get angry or be defensive. 2) Ask for suggestions on how to turn your deferral into an acceptance. This is intelligence gathering, and many college admissions counselors will tell you exactly what they are looking for. 3) Reconfirm your desire to attend the school and your commitment to attend if you are accepted. If you aren’t sure what to say, contact your International College Counselors advisor for help.
Improve your standardized test scores. Get a tutor and up your scores, if at all possible. This is especially important if you think the scores you submitted don’t represent you.  Call one of our advisors to be matched with a tutor who can work with you.
Send in your midyear grades if the college asks for them.  Make sure you meet the college’s deadline.  Many colleges strongly consider your senior year first semester grades, which is another reason why it’s important not to let your grades slide.
Write a letter. Sincerely express your continued interest in the school and why you believe it would be the perfect match for you. Be yourself. Be genuine. Be upbeat. Be interesting. Be positive. Do not come across as whiny, negative or insincere. Mention any new and meaningful accomplishments that happened after you sent in your application. Accomplishments can include new activities, new awards, or leadership positions.
Send in 1-2 strong and relevant additional recommendations. The best recommendations spotlight your unique qualities and why they make you an ideal match for a school. Do not send a generic recommendation.  Before you send this, though, make sure you check to see if the college allows extra letters. Most schools will let you send them.
Let go.  There is no one “perfect” school.  Hope for the best, but prepare to go to one of your backup schools. Life is full of surprises and many students have been pleasantly surprised by going to a different school than what was originally planned.
Be proud of yourself.  You’re on the right path to the rest of the great adventure called life.

Share this:

  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Google+ (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)

Filed Under: College Counseling, Test Preparation Tagged With: college acceptance, deferral, deferral letter

Login to our Parent Portal

username:
password:


Can't remember your login? Contact us and we'll take good care of you!

Email Newsletter

Each month, we send out an email newsletter which is informative and generally awesome. Get it delivered free to your inbox!

Recent Posts

  • Testimonials and Reviews
  • Summer ACT/SAT Boot Camp Dates Have Just Been Announced!
  • Biltmore Tutoring Has Moved to Gerber Village!
  • Need some ACT and SAT test-taking tips?
  • How to determine your best college fit
  • How to prevent summer learning loss
  • How to get matched with a great college roommate
  • Have you considered hosting an exchange student?
  • Spring SAT and ACT Class Dates Announced
  • Biltmore Tutoring offers pre-learning and summer course recovery!

Tag Cloud

act act class ACT or SAT apex applications asheville best scores biltmore tutoring boot camp classes college college acceptance college admissions college aid college counseling college essay college majors computer course recovery engineering hendersonville learning loss math merit aid new sat north carolina one-on-one pre-learning private private tutor private tutoring psat sat sat class scholarships strategies summer summer camp summer learning test-optional test prep test preparation test prep class tutoring women's colleges

About Us

Located in beautiful Asheville, North Carolina, Biltmore Tutoring helps students in all areas of the educational spectrum. Our Master's degree and PhD level tutors specialize in preparing students for the ACT, SAT, SSAT, and other standardized tests.

Social Media

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Google+
  • Linkedin
  • Twitter
All Transactions Secured By:

Connect With Us

Biltmore Tutoring & Test Prep
1550 Hendersonville Road, Suite 104
Asheville, NC 28803
(828) 505-2495

info@biltmoretutoring.com

Want to leave a review?

Copyright © 2018 · Enterprise Pro Theme On Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in