regular decision — Blog — TKG

Sign Up & Subscribe To Our Newsletter. Click Here.

regular decision

Strategy for Regular Decision to Duke

Duke is a popular school and we always work with a ton of students who hope to get in. This popularity usually drives down their acceptance rates. In recent years, Duke has had a lower acceptance rate than schools like Dartmouth, Cornell, and UPenn. So what do we tell students who are dreaming of Duke? Well, one is to demonstrate interest and the other is often to apply early. Fun fact: all of our students who applied to Duke ED last year got in.

Strategy for Regular Decision to Michigan

The University of Michigan is on a short list of extremely popular public universities. We love public universities but when students are looking at elite schools there are only a couple of names we hear over and over. UMich is high on that list. If you are from out of state and you are applying RD, you need a strategy when applying to UMich.

Regular Decision to USC Strategy

This year was USC’s first year of offering Early Action. Previously the school only had a regular decision option. This is pretty big news given how much more competitive to get into USC it has become over the years. Last year they had about a 12% acceptance rate. Adding an EA option is going to make regular decision at the school even more competitive. You might be wondering, why is that? Well, let’s break it down.

The University of Pennsylvania (UPenn) Deferral Rate

If you were deferred from the University of Pennsylvania, or Penn, you’re in luck. Penn is kind enough to give you clear guidance on what to do next, which is a very Penn thing to do. We aren’t surprised that a school that attracts analytical go-getters who like to look before they leap would provide their applicants with the very information they need to do so. Which is to say, good job Penn on being Penn-y.

Regular Decision to Stanford

Stanford has one of the lowest acceptance rates out there. Because of this, we get a lot of questions about Stanford from students and parents alike. For the Class of 2025, Stanford had an overall acceptance rate of 3.9%. That is already very low, but there is more to this story. The overall acceptance rate is a combination of early acceptances and regular decision acceptances.

Deferred by Harvard — What Comes Next? 

If you were deferred by Harvard, you are far, far, far from alone. As fewer and fewer top-tier colleges publish their admissions statistics, Harvard continues to come through for us with fairly comprehensive and transparent statistics. In 2021, Harvard deferred 80 out of every 100 students who applied early. 80% of students who applied early were deferred. Again, 80%. Only 7.4% of students who applied early were accepted. So if you applied early, it is much more likely that you were deferred than any other potential outcome.

How To Create A College List For Regular Decision

Creating a college list is hard work. On the one hand, you want to be open-minded. But if you’re too open-minded, you run the risk of applying to schools that don’t make much sense. You also want to make sure that you’re streamlining the process and creating a college list that isn’t random or too aspirational. No one is expecting you to have everything figured out at 18 years old, but you do need to do a serious amount of research before you solidify your school list.

Regular Decision Strategies for College Essays

It’s almost December, which means that you have about a month to finish both your common app essay and your supplements. We’re often asked about strategies for early decision and regular decision, and the truth is that our approach doesn’t change depending upon when you apply. We work with our clients to brainstorm, write, and edit essays (common app and supplements) that stand out, no matter what time of year. The rest of this blog post will provide three tips for getting through the rest of the year:

What To Do If You’re Rejected Early Decision

Getting rejected early decision is undeniably difficult. We suggest that you take a day or two to be upset! It’s not an easy situation to be in, but it does provide true clarity – and you have no choice but to move forward. Setting those wheels in motion, and ASAP, is the best way to figure out more realistic next steps that will result in acceptances at other colleges.

Coronavirus/COVID-19 Response: What If I Am Accepted Regular Decision, But Can’t Tour Before the May Deposit Deadline?

Shortly after publishing our first blog post on the Coronavirus/COVID-19, we were asked an excellent question in the comments section. Lisa asked, “What happens if you get the regular decision acceptance letter and you want to tour the college before the May 1 deadline?”

Regular Decision Notification Dates For Spring 2017

The release dates for regular decision are right around the corner. Many of the colleges you’ve applied to will email you with their specific deadlines, but some might leave you waiting for the surprise. We’ve compiled a list of deadlines of some of the top schools. If we’ve missed a school you’re applying to and you would like us to find out the information, just shoot us an email.

Get your Regular Decision Applications Ready

We know it feels great to finally have submitted the bulk of your applications, but just in case you don’t get accepted to wherever you applied early, we suggest starting your regular decision applications. We recommend starting the next round of applications sooner rather than later because although applying early will help you in the process, a lot of students will end up getting deferred. This means they must apply elsewhere in case they are eventually rejected during regular decision.