Early Decision Defers - Read This!, What You Should Know - Second Chance?

If you are reading this thread then you are probably one of the students who was disappointed when you received your Early Decision notification. Let me start by saying you should not lose hope. ED deferred applicants are admitted every year, and are provided the same chance of admission as the applicants who apply regular decision. At Hopkins, we do not defer all applicants who are not admitted ED - we actually do deny a number of ED applicants who we determine do not have a chance for admission in the RD review process. Deferred applicants do have a second chance.

Here is a list of suggestions and some advice that I feel will be helpful in better understanding the process and the decisions. I hope this post and subsequent discussion will assist you as you move forward over the next few weeks and months.

(1) Apply to other schools. Though obvious, your chance for admission to Hopkins is not guaranteed and you want to make sure you have options.

(2) Make sure you update the academic portion of your application. This would include mid-year grades (which will play a MAJOR role in your re-review), additional standardized test scores you may have taken, and maybe even an updated letter of recommendation from your guidance counselor.

(3) Consider updating the non-academic portion of your application. Though not required, an updated resume and an additional letter of recommendation (especially from a senior year teacher) can always help. Just make sure anything you add does contribute in a new way to your application. Do not be redundant.

(4) Write a letter to the Admissions Committee. Though not something all deferred applicants need to do or even should do, some of you may consider writing a personal letter to the Admissions Committee stressing your interest in Hopkins and why you feel you are an appropriate candidate for admissions. Consider this a cover letter to your overall application.

(5) What not to do:
*Do not request an interview - there are no more.

*Do not repeatedly contact the Admissions staff. Update your application, ask questions if you need to, but do not stalk. You will get your final decision at the end of March along with the other RD applicants.

*Do not ask to meet one-on-one with a staff member. We need to focus on reviewing Regular Decision applications and unfortunately we do not have the time.

*And do not ask why you were deferred. We do not discuss applicant's case nor the reasons behind our decisions.

(6) Most importantly, have a stellar senior year academically. The most important part of the review of a early decision deferred applicant is their academic progress throughout senior year.

We know you have additional questions, so feel free to post them here.

Happy Holidays and Best Wishes.

I though it would be helpful to post answers to the most frequently asked questions we have received in the past from ED deferred applicants:

The second paragraph of your email notification will reveal your decision.

If it reads:
"The committee has reviewed your application for admission to Johns Hopkins, and has decided to defer its final decision until April."
...then you have been deferred and your application will be reviewed under the Regular Decision process.

If it reads:
"I am very sorry to inform you that we are not able to offer you a place in this year's class. "
...then you have not been offered admission and you also have not been deferred. This is a deny decision and your application will not be reviewed again.

We ask that all additional information be received no later than February 1st.

This is the most difficult question we will receive regarding deferred applicants, and actually there is no clear answer. Statistically the majority of deferred applicants will not be offered admission as during the Regular Decision review process we will not offer admission to more than 80% of all applicants.

However, that last sentence should not be read as a deferred applicant has no chance. The competition will be difficult during Regular Decision, however as I stated above, all deferred applicants will be re-reviewed and given a fair shot for admission. There is no advantage nor disadvantage for deferred students ... just a second chance.

The number that we admit varies greatly year-to-year, it is not a set number, and it relates primarily to who well deferred students do between now and the finalizing of RD decisions.

So...I recieved news that I got deferred. When we update our application, does that mean we have to send in a new application? If not, how do we continue with updating stuff, getting reccommendations, etc.? Also, if we send in everything as soon as possible, is it possible to recieve notification of acceptance/denial before April 1st?

Will the same admissions officer review our application in the RD pool?
Is it possible to know what percentage of ED students were deferred?

No. Early Decision applicants do not need to re-submit their application. In fact, as I stated above your application will automatically be re-reviewed during the regular decision admissions round even if you do not send in an update.

All update materials must be submitted by postal mail. We are unable to process updates through email and you are unable to re-access your online application. The address to send materials to is:

Application Coordinator
Office of Undergraduate Admissions
Johns Hopkins University
Mason Hall
3400 N. Charles St.
Baltimore, MD 21218

Please make sure all application materials include your full name, birth date, and current school. You should also include a cover letter denoting that the additional materials are for an ED Deferred application.

No. All Early Decision deferred applicants will receive their final admissions decisions when we release Regular Decision notifications. That will be done during the last week in March. There is no rolling admission for ED defers.

Yes. First reads of all applications and re-reviews of ED defer applications will always be reviewed by the regional admissions counselors. There is no negative to this as applications are always reviewed by multiple admissions counselors and the overall admissions committee. All ED applications have had multiple reviews, and all ED defer applications will have multiple re-reviews. No files is every decided by one person.

Unfortunately that is a statistic we do not release since it changes drastically year - to - year. I can assure you that anyone deferred from ED will get a thorough review during RD.

What is the date we need to send in our midyear report and other information by if we are deferred?

As the second post in this thread details:

We ask that all additional information be received no later than February 1st.

Hi, I am wandering what I should do if my report card comes out after Feb. 1
should I send in the 1st marking period report card or wait and send in the mid-year report for the update? (I was confused since the dead line for any update information was Feb.1)

The deadline for all applicants to send their mid-year reports is Feb. 15, and that includes deferred applicants. That mid-year report can be submitted after Feb. 1, but we request all other updates be submitted before Feb. 1.

I was wondering if I am allowed to update my essay (add any new things and make corrections) and for that can I just send in the typed essay with my name and social security number on the top? Also, to update to academic and extracurricular information, can I send in a resume or do I need to fill out the extracurricular activity page from the application?

No, you are not able to update your previously submitted application essays. You may choose to submit an additional essay, but the essays you previously submitted will remain in your application and be reviewed during Regular Decision.

If you would like to update your extracurricular information, you do not need to complete the activity page again. You can just send us an updated resume.