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After going through the archives, I've seen a few people say that getting deferred is better than getting wait listed. To be honest, I am not entirely sure of the distinction. What is the big difference? Does it matter from school to school? And is the behavior of getting from deferred to accepted the same as getting from wait listed to accepted?

if you've been deferred, a decision hasn't yet been made on you. So you still have a shot to get in regardless of who accepts their admission offers. Wait lists are at the complete mercy of who decides to attend and who decides to withdraw. I feel like a deferral will often turn into a wait list tho...that happened to me

caneman13 wrote:I feel like a deferral will often turn into a wait list tho...that happened to me

Same here. Late in the cycle, I feel like they do it to give you a chance to withdraw before they wait list you.

Columbia deferred me in December only to reject me in April. In other words, the argument goes both ways and is school-specific, I think...

Integrity wrote:Columbia deferred me in December only to reject me in April. In other words, the argument goes both ways and is school-specific, I think...

Michigan did the same to me...so I do agree, it does go both ways. I take deferrals as soft rejections.

ppa840 wrote:

Integrity wrote:Columbia deferred me in December only to reject me in April. In other words, the argument goes both ways and is school-specific, I think...

Michigan did the same to me...so I do agree, it does go both ways. I take deferrals as soft rejections.

I had the opposite experience. Cornell deferred me, and then admitted me in May.

jks289 wrote:

ppa840 wrote:

Integrity wrote:Columbia deferred me in December only to reject me in April. In other words, the argument goes both ways and is school-specific, I think...

Michigan did the same to me...so I do agree, it does go both ways. I take deferrals as soft rejections.

I had the opposite experience. Cornell deferred me, and then admitted me in May.

Well Cornell dropped the ball on the EA applications.

ppa840 wrote:

jks289 wrote:

ppa840 wrote:

Integrity wrote:Columbia deferred me in December only to reject me in April. In other words, the argument goes both ways and is school-specific, I think...

Michigan did the same to me...so I do agree, it does go both ways. I take deferrals as soft rejections.

I had the opposite experience. Cornell deferred me, and then admitted me in May.

Well Cornell dropped the ball on the EA applications.

Yes but there was the same speculation that deferred was just another word for waitlisted. And in the end that wasn't the case. I could have saved myself a lot of stress if I had just taken the school at their word that deferred was different, and better, than waitlisted. I think OP should do the same.

jks289 wrote:
Well Cornell dropped the ball on the EA applications.

Yes but there was the same speculation that deferred was just another word for waitlisted. And in the end that wasn't the case. I could have saved myself a lot of stress if I had just taken the school at their word that deferred was different, and better, than waitlisted. I think OP should do the same.[/quote]

to me it appears its the same as being waitlisted, its just more of a priority waitlist.

adameus wrote:

jks289 wrote:
Well Cornell dropped the ball on the EA applications.

Yes but there was the same speculation that deferred was just another word for waitlisted. And in the end that wasn't the case. I could have saved myself a lot of stress if I had just taken the school at their word that deferred was different, and better, than waitlisted. I think OP should do the same.

to me it appears its the same as being waitlisted, its just more of a priority waitlist.[/quote]

I know they say you can hear up until the first day of classes, but what is usually the latest possible date I might hear by?

b.j. wrote:

adameus wrote:

jks289 wrote:

Well Cornell dropped the ball on the EA applications.

Yes but there was the same speculation that deferred was just another word for waitlisted. And in the end that wasn't the case. I could have saved myself a lot of stress if I had just taken the school at their word that deferred was different, and better, than waitlisted. I think OP should do the same.

to me it appears its the same as being waitlisted, its just more of a priority waitlist.

I know they say you can hear up until the first day of classes, but what is usually the latest possible date I might hear by?

Well the last day possible would truly be up until the first day of classes, honestly. But I'd guess that if you don't get in off the first round of waitlist review by the end of May/beginning of June, your chances of getting in drop precipitously.

Well the last day possible would truly be up until the first day of classes, honestly. But I'd guess that if you don't get in off the first round of waitlist review by the end of May/beginning of June, your chances of getting in drop precipitously.

If I just found I was deferred on May 28, when would the first round of review begin? By the end of June, then, since it seems like they just finished the initial round of reviews?

If you aren't in by the end of June then you are likely screwed. Second seat deposits will have been due every where by then. There is always the chance someone drops out later because of some strange circumstance but that chance is very small.

I would definitely prefer to be deferred than waistlisted. In the first case, you at least have the possibility of being accepted outright. The waitlist game is grueling.

Depends on the school. In some cases, deferred is essentially a pre-WL. Other cases, they make deferred/WL decisions at the same time, in which case deferred is definitely a notch above WL. Either way, the waiting game kinda sucks.

I was deferred and then accepted. No waitlist involved, which is awesome because admission off a waitlist would not have allowed me to defer my enrollment for a year.

darknightbegins wrote:If you aren't in by the end of June then you are likely screwed. Second seat deposits will have been due every where by then. There is always the chance someone drops out later because of some strange circumstance but that chance is very small.

That makes sense.

danidancer wrote:Depends on the school. In some cases, deferred is essentially a pre-WL. Other cases, they make deferred/WL decisions at the same time, in which case deferred is definitely a notch above WL. Either way, the waiting game kinda sucks.

Is there any way to tell what is the case from school to school?