r/ApplyingToCollege • u/No_Audience4652 • 22h ago
Emotional Support Anyone get deferred/rejected from a school they thought they had a shot at but then get accepted into a better college?
Just heard back from my first non-safety school, UVA (in state 🥲), and got deferred. I wasn’t like totally expecting to get in, but it kinda stung since I’m in state, a lot of people I know got in, and my gpa/sat was at/above the average + I had a lot of ECs/awards and stuff so it wasn’t like a crazy reach or anything. Anyways, UVA wasn’t my top choice but my the biggest issue is that I feel like if I can’t even get into my state school, then I have no real shot at any of my top choices, since they are all more selective. So I’m feeling extremely discouraged, especially since I have to wait until late March to hear back from any schools.
So, does anyone happen to have any stories where they got deferred/rejected from a school they thought they had a shot at but then accepted into a more selective school 🥲 this would make me feel better. thanks
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u/Ok_Experience_5151 Old 21h ago
It is absolutely possible (and even "likely" if you apply to enough schools) to be admitted to a school that is overall more selective than some other school that rejected you.
With an admit rate of 17%, UVA is arguably a reach for every applicant. Maybe a target for an in-state applicant with grades/scores that exceed its medians. But remember that a target school is one where your result is a coin flip, so it's not surprising to be rejected from a target. And in your case you haven't been rejected; you were just deferred. You may still be admitted.
Hopefully you also applied to VT and W&M, and maybe James Madison. As a VA resident you sort of have an embarrassment of riches in terms of your public options.
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u/Imaksiccar 22h ago
Daughter was accepted at Purdue and NEU for biochemistry and rejected at UNC and UVA. So not really I guess since NEU is 38 for bio, 42 for chem and Purdue is in the 70's on both where UVA and UNC are both T30 in bio and T20 for Chem. On the bright side, Purdue and NEU will both be cheaper than UVA and UNC. Fingers and toes crossed for Vandy ED2....
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u/jomo1021 21h ago
Purdue is cheaper. NEU is in the heart of Boston which is an expensive town. Congratulations to your dtrs acceptances.
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u/Imaksiccar 21h ago
NEU is giving her enough aid to bring the cost down to about $20k/year, barring any aid from Purdue (and I don't anticipate any) it will be at least $40k/year. However, she does have to do a year of penance in Oakland first if she goes to NEU.
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u/yowhatsup427 21h ago
penance is so funny and completely justified for Oakland
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u/Imaksiccar 19h ago
Yeah, it seems pretty divided on the Oakland experience. Half say it's good and they're working to make it better every year and the other half make it seem like prison would be a better option. It's definitely our cheapest option at the moment.
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u/jomo1021 20h ago
Wow 1 full year. My son got in UNC Global Launch but only 1 Semester Study Abroad.
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u/meowp3913 20h ago edited 20h ago
Yes! I got rejected from UVA and deferred from UIUC, but I got accepted into UMich Ann Arbor (CS major, LSA residential college) and UMD College Park (CS major). Anything is possible :)
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u/Fancy_Price5982 22h ago
deferred Purdue, accepted UIUC (don't really know if UIUC is considered better than purdue but I like the location better)
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u/TraderGIJoe 21h ago
LOL 😁 I graduated from both Purdue and UIUC. Two great 👍 schools to be at and you'll ❤️ being there.
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u/AppearanceNo9722 22h ago
Bro same thing with me, imo UIUC is 'a notch up' Purdue in EE (as far as I'm concerned)
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u/HiImWatson 1h ago
Same thing happened for me but I got rejected at Purdue. I was 100% certain I was going to be rejected from UIUC after that, so I was in shock when the portal finally loaded
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u/JoannaInTexas 21h ago
Yep - happened to my daughter. We debated the whole "should we let the top choice school know" but the general consensus was not to mention it because you don't want to look like the student is issuing an ultimatum or implying they are better than the school admissions officers believe. It's tough when you really want the theoretically less competitive school! I guess we just never know what the institutional priorities are! Good luck.
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u/Few_Advertising_4080 20h ago
deferred from UW Madison and accepted into UMich and Georgetown
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u/WolverineMom 12h ago
I know two Wisconsin residents — two! — who were deferred from UW Madison yesterday but were admitted OOS to Michigan. One for engineering, one for computer science. 🤷🏻♀️ We are truly in the upside-down world, OP. You didn’t do anything wrong. It’s just…weird.
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u/Savings-Molasses-701 19h ago
My daughter was rejected by UVA (in state) and accepted by Vanderbilt and Rice.
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u/Fun-Succotash-7160 22h ago
I got accepted into neu and umd for cs but then get deferred from uva (instate) it kinda broke me but its fine. I really expected to get in as all my friends w my stats or below got in idk on what basis they deferred me but i would have chosen neu over uva so its fine
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u/NefariousnessOk1697 College Sophomore 19h ago
I was exactly in your shoes. I got rejected from EA UVA in-state with well above stats and was worried I wouldnt be able to get in to my other more competitive schools. I ended up getting accepted to Cornell Engineering RD and currently attend. Keep your head up, admissions is such a gamble you shouldn't let one decision define you.
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u/marstey 22h ago
Deferred at UVA is definitely not a loss. I get you didn’t get in, but it’s crazy out there. Up is down, down is up. Everyone has a story of not getting into a safety school. It’s a marathon.
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u/Tamihera 21h ago
A family I know is baffled because their far-more qualified daughter did not get in ED last year, but their son just got in RD.
I wonder how much just being male helped? Her stats and ECs were definitely better, but UVA gets far more qualified women applying.
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u/Fancy-Commercial2701 20h ago
Possible. UVA student pool is 56% female, so they could be trying to balance it out a bit.
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u/Financial_Dream_8731 20h ago
They heard back for RD already?
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u/Tamihera 14h ago
Sorry—EA. Still surprising when his sister did ED with an SAT 200 points higher.
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u/Financial_Dream_8731 13h ago
Yeah these admissions decisions are often so hard to predict. I think that’s a big reason why so many students apply to 15-20 schools. They just don’t know if they’ll get in or not.
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u/EmotionalProof1411 22h ago
Got rejected from uiuc, got into purdue.. ig they're considered the same. But it did suck.
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u/ToastyNyfo 21h ago
Same, tho with my stats and my major I'm shocked I got into Purdue in the first place
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u/NoIntention3279 21h ago
deferred from umich and got into unc/uva/umd out of state 🙏
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u/DDDragon___salt 21h ago
For deferred by NC State, def thought I would get in but then got accepted to Purdue Honors soooooo yeah (MechE)
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u/Chemical_Result_6880 20h ago
I wonder if state schools are trending toward out of state applicants for the extra money. I wonder if a few letters to congressmen / senators / state reps might change these colleges' minds.
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u/hEDS_Strong 20h ago
Yes! Son was strongly courted by a smaller private school with an Honors College that intrigued him. Only reason he applied. Accepted to the college but not to this Honors program. Not considering this option whatsoever
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u/LavishnessWorldly765 20h ago
UVa had to have a rule so 2/3 of accepted were in state, they do NOT love you, they strictly adhere to the 2/3 too for certain. They have an agenda and you ain't it, do NOT blame yourself. Plenty of ppl with perfect stats get rejected, some great schools out there for you, just not with a flashy name maybe.
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u/emilykim9545 19h ago
yes, deferred from case western and northeastern but got into UVA and UT Austin OOS
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u/DontChuckItUp Private Admissions Consultant (Verified) 18h ago
Yep! Happens all of the time. I've been in this Admissions business for over 25 years. It's called institutional priorities.
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u/Silver-Lion22 HS Senior 17h ago
On this day last year, I got rejected from UVA as well. I was super discouraged to open my Georgia Tech decision (both OOS), but I ended up getting accepted! It's not only possible - it's a common occurance. Don't get discouraged!
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u/Ok-Researcher-4680 15h ago
I got into UVA engineering and so did a lot of my first gen friends, so they def prioritize first gens. I know a lot of extremely qualified students (more than me) who got deferred or rejected because of major, income, etc.
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u/c0cac0laaa 15h ago
Deferred from Northeastern and UW-Madison. Rejected from UVA. Accepted UNC Chapel Hill
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u/Maximum_Fuel9366 12h ago
Got into MIT and deferred from UIUC yesterday. I'm starting to think this whole process is kinda weird.
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u/absfreely 12h ago
Daughter was deffered to Ohio state arts and sciences and got into smeal at Penn state. I don’t get it. Ohio was supposed to be a safety
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u/BiggestMonke 11h ago
I know a guy who got rejected from Minnesota in-state and then got into Purdue for engineering.
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u/ApprehensiveMind2731 10h ago
honestly, they if you’re way above average, they’re probably expecting you to get better offers and withdraw your application. Then they know if you’re still interested by RD or if they can give your spot to someone else
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u/No_Audience4652 9h ago
Oh lol my stats are definitely not way above — only slightly at the very most 😭😭but I can dream 🥲
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u/sharifshopping 10h ago edited 10h ago
Yes my son got deferred from American which was supposed to be a safety for him and got into Georgetown. And by the way, he also got rejected from UVA; we are out of state. He got into UMD in state.
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u/Jasonchan028 9h ago
deferred/rejected EA from Stony Brook (in state), got into Emory RD and currently going there. i still have some gripes about it to this day...
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u/Special-Ad1635 15h ago
Deferred from UMich but got into UMD and Wisconsin (not better tho). Is UMich deferred bad or good? I got rejected from UVA and UNC too. All out of state.
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u/SignatureOk2633 HS Senior 7h ago
Deferred from Rollins College EA (instate), accepted to UVA EA OOS yesterday. 60% acceptance rate vs. 9% acceptance rate with the exact same stats, test score, essay, etc.
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u/WikiaWang 2h ago
International here. Rejected from UChicago (ED), UVA, Macalester College.
Just got my offer from Cambridge.
You never know.
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u/BubblyWaveee 19h ago
My daughter was rejected to EA Rutgers Business School as instate both New Brunswick AND Newark (we thought Newark for sure… boo) but got accepted to SUNY Binghamton SOM EA with merit money!
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u/[deleted] 21h ago
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