If you applied to Vassar Early Decision, you were probably expecting to get in. That is sort of the point of applying ED to a competitive, but not supremely so, school. The acceptance rate is high enough that strong students approach it with confidence, and since it’s Early Decision the admissions office at the college knows that you are a serious applicant. Every year, though, most students who apply ED don’t get in. That is sort of obvious, we know, but it may not feel that way when you are deciding to ED, or even more so when you are on the receiving end of a deferral.
If you have been deferred by Vassar, it is because they want to know more about you — most often, they want to see your full fall grades. Something about your application and transcript caused them to say, “let’s press pause on this one.” So, now you’re in a weird spot. But, if you play this right, you can turn your deferral decision into an offer of admission.
The Vassar overall acceptance rate is about 17%, and they defer student to regular decision from both the Early Decision I and Early Decision II cycles. Once you’ve received your notice of deferral, there are key steps you need to take to turn things around. There are also important moves that will ensure your entire college application experience — not just Vassar — is a success. In this post, we’ll start with the big picture planning you need to employ, then zoom back in on Vassar and how to strengthen your application to your first-choice school.
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Before you deal with Vassar, you need to get the rest of your college list in order. It’s possible that you’ve put a lot of work into preparing a back-up plan, but it’s more normal to have not done much at all. Either way, it’s okay. We’re here to help.
Review Your College List
A well-balanced college list is the foundation of a successful college application experience. If you don’t have a strong mix of foundations (aka safeties), targets, and reaches, it’s almost guaranteed that you will experience unnecessary anxiety and stress and won’t feel satisfied in the end. So, this is what you need to do.
First, you need to verify that you have 3-4 foundation schools, which are schools that you are very likely to get into. This could be because your grades and scores are at the top end of their range for recently accepted students, because you’re in-state (and it’s a state school), or because you have a connection to the school. Ideally, it’s at least two out of these three. If you are way overqualified for a school, it may not be a foundation. Schools are likely to reject students that they feel are not seriously considering attending. Ultimately, a strong foundation is somewhere you would actually consider going.
Next, you need to confirm that you have 3-4 target schools. Targets are schools that you are likely to get into, but that aren’t somewhere you can count on. In our ideal world, your targets should be schools you’d be very happy to attend, even if they aren’t your first choice.
Last, you have your reaches — and Vassar is now one of them. It’s likely you’ll have to recalibrate your reaches to this new reality. Select two more reaches, in addition to Vassar, to apply to in the regular decision round. You may even want to select one to apply to ED II.
Once your list is set, it’s essay time.
Reassess Your Common App Essay
The next step is to go back to your writing and reevaluate. Your essay may have been your best work when you wrote it for Vassar, but we are confident that there is room for improvement. Take a look at our 2024-2025 Guide to the Common App Essay, and then read some real college essays that helped students get into amazing colleges and universities. These will help you see where your work has room for growth. If you are struggling to realize your vision for a stronger essay, we can help.
Press Submit
Next, you need to press submit. Obvious? Yes. Necessary to emphasize? Also, yes. We see too much bad editing happen in the window of time between an application being done and the student pressing submit. Don’t fall into this anxiety-induced editing trap. When your application is ready, simply submit.
Then, it’s back to Vassar.
WHAT VASSAR WANTS
Vassar doesn’t provide direct guidance as to what you should do after a deferral, but we know from experience what works if you have been on the receiving end of a deferral decision — and really want to get in. These are the three steps you need to take.
Grades
Your school counselor should send your updated grades automatically, but it’s worth checking in to make sure that it happens. Booking an appointment with your counselor is also an opportunity to ask them about making an advocacy call on your behalf. An advocacy call is a literal phone call from your counselor to the admissions office saying that you are awesome. Such calls are not required at all, but are helpful if your counselor is game. So, ask respectfully.
Scores
Vassar does not require the SAT or ACT, but you should send new scores if you have received a score higher than what was originally submitted since you first applied. This should be sent as an official score report. If you did not submit your scores originally, we only suggest sending a score now if it is highly competitive. Aim for an ACT over 33 or a SAT over 1500. If you are not hitting that threshold, scores will not improve your application.
Letter of Continued Interest for Vassar
The last, and the most important step, is to write a Letter of Continued Interest — or LOCI. A LOCI is a short, less than 400 words, letter to Vassar admissions emphasizing that Vassar remains your first choice school and updating them on what you’ve been up to since you initially submitted.
Start by looking up the admission officer assigned to your region, which you can find here. The letter should be written, and sent, to this person.
Next, you need an opening paragraph. This should be 3-4 sentences confirming that you remain interested in Vassar. Even if it isn’t your first choice anymore, you absolutely must say that it is if you still want to get in. This is not binding, as you’ve been released from the ED agreement.
After reinforcing your interest, you need to update Vassar on what you’ve been up to in 1-2 paragraphs. In this update, you need to emphasize leadership and community-mindedness (not necessarily volunteering), and you need to show a clarity of the path you plan to pursue at Vassar and beyond. Nearly half of the class of 2027 held a job in high school, so if you are working for compensation (i.e., not volunteering) and didn’t include that in your application, include it here.
End the letter with a few more sentences reminding them, again, how much you love Vassar. Then, edit, review, and send your LOCI to the admission officer you addressed it to at the opening.
Vassar does not prioritize demonstrated interest when making their decisions, which means that they don’t factor how many times you’ve visited, called, emailed, etc. into whether they accept you. We know that a LOCI can help, but bugging them beyond that can actually hurt your application. You don’t want to be seen as a problem — ever. So, focus on the core items that strengthen your application without coming off as a pushy person: grades, a letter of continued interest, and maybe some new scores. Then, move on.
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