What to do if you are accepted, deferred or rejected
Early Decision Results are Here!
While December is typically a month for gathering with family and friends at the peak of the holiday season, it is also when seniors who applied under Early Action and Early Decision programs receive their admissions results from colleges. Here are last year’s early decision and early action acceptance rates!
Here at Command Education, we understand this month causes anxiety for high school seniors: the anticipation of early application results, final exams right before winter break, and regular decision deadlines can contribute to feelings of stress. We remember being in that position not too long ago – waiting can be the toughest part of the process, but rest assured, you will hear back very soon!
Here’s our advice on what to do if you’re accepted, deferred, or rejected this year!
I got accepted to my early decision school! What now?
Congratulations on your acceptance! You should be incredibly proud of this achievement — your hard work has paid off. Email the teachers who wrote recommendations for you, your guidance counselor, mentors, and everyone else involved in your application process to inform them of the good news and to thank them for helping you through this journey!
If you applied to an Early Decision school, your college application process ends here. Pending an extraordinary circumstance, you are now bound to submit your deposit and withdraw your applications to all other schools. You should complete the latter quickly, certainly before the regular decision deadline, as this can potentially open a spot for another student deserving of admission. If you applied to a school under their Early Action program, you may continue the college application process (which will now feel less stressful!) to see if you will gain admissions to other schools, although we recommend only completing applications for schools that you are certain you would have more interest in attending or that may offer better financial aid packages.
Keep in mind, just because the college application journey might end here does not mean your high school journey ends here. Do not let “senioritis” get the best of you! If you let your grades slip too far, switch out of all your advanced classes into easy electives, share offensive content on social media, or engage in any other problematic behavior, schools have the right to rescind your acceptance. Don’t put yourself in a position of having to explain why you failed a class or faced disciplinary consequences from your school or in your community. You’ve worked incredibly hard to present yourself to colleges in the best light possible over the last few years, and the last thing you want is to do something, say something, or behave in a way that threatens to undo that. Be the smart, conscientious individual we know you to be!
I got deferred from my early decision school! What now?
A deferral is understandably a frustrating answer — a non-answer, rather — that a college can give you. While your application was strong, the admissions committee simply could not reach a decision on your application. On the positive side, this means that your application is in the ballpark for admissions. At this point, you should think about whether the school you applied to is still your top choice. If so, you should send additional information that could bolster your application to the admissions committee and write a letter of continued interest to inform the school that they’re still your top choice. Many students we have previously worked with have won awards, made breakthroughs with their passion projects, or improved their grades and test scores between the time they submitted their EA/ED application and the time they received their decision. By offering additional information, you boost the strength of your application as it is considered in the regular round.
I got rejected from my early decision school! What now?
A rejection from your Early Decision school is certainly disappointing news, and, as the highly capable student we know you to be, it may be the first major rejection that you have faced in life. It’s normal to be upset about this news; however, to offer some perspective on this disappointment, we want to remind you that whether a school accepts or rejects you is never a reflection of your worth. There are many reasons why a school may reject a student that can have nothing to do with a student’s profile or strength of their application. In many rejection cases, the admissions committee will be very impressed with an applicant yet deem other applicants to be a better fit for their school. Sometimes, the committee makes a rejection with the confidence that the student will be a better fit for another top school. Therefore, we implore you to consider yourself as having been redirected, not rejected. Pick yourself up and polish your other regular decision college applications – there are other amazing schools out there that would not hesitate to admit you! Your future holds many wonderful opportunities and experiences!
We hope this advice will help you address questions you may have about what to do after receiving your decision and alleviate some stress and anxiety caused by the admissions process! We wish you good luck and a happy and healthy holiday season!
