Deferred from Yale early action: what to send

AA deferral from Yale's single-choice early action program keeps a file very much alive, according to a former senior assistant director at Yale: in his era, deferred early applicants were admitted at a higher rate than regular decision applicants. Every December many applicants learn they have been moved to the regular round, and many families read the letter as a polite no.

He was just as clear about the other side. Deferred students who stayed quiet rarely got in, and applying early had given only a slight boost in his telling, which means what a student does between December and March counts for more than the early application itself did. The question is what to send, and he had a precise answer.