Jan 2024 Editorial: Deciphering US Early App Results

Article written by Ariel Lau, Millie's Co-Founder & Global Head Counsellor

Until December, students that had applied for US colleges in the early round have received their first batch of admissions decisions. Let’s review some of the key facts and points to note to help your students interpret and navigate their early application results!

Potential outcomes of US early applications:

• Acceptance: Congratulations! This will be a huge confidence booster for the students in the regular round of admissions. You may want to advise the students to restrategize their university list for the regular application based on their admissions result. As for students who are accepted to their early decision schools, they should then withdraw all subsequent applications submitted (and just celebrate!).
• Deferral: Historically, we have more students receiving a deferral decision in the early round. However, in recent years, most top US universities only defer a small percentage of their early applicants (around 20%). A deferral indicates that the student’s application will be evaluated by the universities again in the regular round, along with the regular pool of applicants.
• Rejection: While this is not a desirable result, students need to understand that competition is extremely fierce for US university application in general and this result is by no means reflective of the quality of the student’s application. The student should look ahead at the regular application round and make reasonable adjustments to the application materials, for instance, fine tuning the university list to include more match and safety schools, refining the personal statement if necessary, start working on the regular application supplemental essays, as well as maintaining satisfactory academic performance at school.

"Rejections are by no means reflective of the quality of the student’s application"

Last but not least, please see below for some recommended action steps for deferred applicants:

• Submit letter of continued interest if allowed / requested
• Share recent academic and extracurricular achievements
• Discuss the potential of sending an additional recommendation letter with school officials
• If you have built a connection with admissions officers previously through admissions talks and / campus tour, do reach out to them to express your continued interest in the university

If you need help with anything related to US Early Apps - do not hesitate to reach out. Our Partner School Program can be tailored to support you here. Click here to book an exploratory call.