What does delayed decision mean?

[Goofy Goober]

I have received two delayed decisions 3 weeks to a month after interviews. Is this a sort of informal waitlist? Maybe I'm being neurotic, but any advice would be greatly appreciated.

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[voxveritatisetlucis]

It sounds more like a deferral

 

[gyngyn]

It sounds more like a deferral

Deferral has a specific meaning in AMCAS admissions: an acceptance that results in a delayed matriculation.

 

[nicobean]

I have received two delayed decisions 3 weeks to a month after interviews. Is this a sort of informal waitlist? Maybe I'm being neurotic, but any advice would be greatly appreciated.

To me, it always means that they like you enough to not reject you post interview, but the adcom hasn't decided whether to go ahead with an acceptance or to put you on the waitlist, so they delay their decision and review more post interview candidates and then circle back to you, and see if they can give an official decision at that time.

 

[KnightDoc]

To me, it always means that they like you enough to not reject you post interview, but the adcom hasn't decided whether to go ahead with an acceptance or to put you on the waitlist, so they delay their decision and review more post interview candidates and then circle back to you, and see if they can give an official decision at that time.

It's a little more subtle than this, because some schools, like NYU, actually follow a delayed decision with a R, not a WL or an A.

But, you're right. It's exactly what it sounds like, a delayed decision. Sometimes they even turn into As, without a pit stop on the WL. They are what they are. There is nothing to read into. It just means they are not ready to make a decision on you.

 

[Goofy Goober]

It's a little more subtle than this, because some schools, like NYU, actually follow a delayed decision with a R, not a WL or an A.

But, you're right. It's exactly what it sounds like, a delayed decision. Sometimes they even turn into As, without a pit stop on the WL. They are what they are. There is nothing to read into. It just means they are not ready to make a decision on you.

Haha... so one of them is actually NYU 🙁

 

[DoctorFate]

Deferral has a specific meaning in AMCAS admissions: an acceptance that results in a delayed matriculation.

A lot of schools have a decision called "deferred" though. Basically means the same thing as a delayed decision, except restricted to WL or A, no R.

 

[KnightDoc]

Haha... so one of them is actually NYU 🙁

Best of luck with that. They are unique for all the reasons you certainly know. As a result, the vast majority of their earlier interviewees are in exactly your boat. No reason to be neurotic, and no, it's not an informal WL. WL with them is actually not a terrible place to be. The majority of their interviewees will be rejected when they start dumping decisions in January.

Many schools have a much higher post-II admit rate, and place everyone who does not receive an A on the WL, making that a soft R for many. Not NYU! They have a tiny initial A rate (around 100 out of 1,000), place another 200 or so on the WL, and reject everyone else. Given the relatively small numbers not rejected, they don't make a lot of early decisions one way or the other. OTOH, once they do release decisions in January, they don't leave most people hanging until June or July.

 

[KnightDoc]

A lot of schools have a decision called "deferred" though. Basically means the same thing as a delayed decision, except restricted to WL or A, no R.

I'm pretty sure @gyngyn knows what they are talking about here! 🙂 As stated, deferral usually means deferred matriculation, not decision. Which schools actually call a delayed decision a deferral, and how many are "a lot"?

Also, keep in mind that WL is actually a soft R for most people at most schools (even schools that extensive use of it don't usually come close to half), so I'd be careful about claiming that anything that isn't an A is not a R.

 

[DoctorFate]

No, usually in terms of admissions, deferred application means they have yet to consider you at all, ie, grant you an interview.
Delayed decision means they have interviewed and have not made any final decision on acceptance
Alternate /WL means you have been accepted by adcom and are waiting for a seat.

Delayed decision here usually means that your overall scoring/classification/priority of both written application and interview is below the cut off first acceptances. They will wait to interview and review more applicants before returning to decide on yours.

Two schools I applied to have given out post interview "acceptance", "rejection", and "deferred". The deferred email said it turns into a waitlist at the end of the cycle.

I have yet to see deferred in the context you mentioned. The only other place I have seen it it is post acceptance when you want to delay matriculation. What you described is referred to by the schools I have applied to as a Hold.

 

[deleted1092328]

Dean Rivera specifically said that "continued review" or delayed decision does NOT mean rejection.

In fact he told us stories of people he accepted after they got that notion and how they thought their chances were done

 

[Fano]

In my mind, there are only 3 states to an application: accepted, rejected or undetermined. If you're not informed of being an A or R, then you're in an undetermined/unknown state in which case all the various terminology and nuances don't really matter. I realize we want to know how close we are to an A or R but it's impossible to know so I'd suggest trying to focus on something else.

 

[Goofy Goober]

In my mind, there are only 3 states to an application: accepted, rejected or undetermined. If you're not informed of being an A or R, then you're in an undetermined/unknown state in which case all the various terminology and nuances don't really matter. I realize we want to know how close we are to an A or R but it's impossible to know so I'd suggest trying to focus on something else.

Haha fair enough

 

[KnightDoc]

In my mind, there are only 3 states to an application: accepted, rejected or undetermined. If you're not informed of being an A or R, then you're in an undetermined/unknown state in which case all the various terminology and nuances don't really matter. I realize we want to know how close we are to an A or R but it's impossible to know so I'd suggest trying to focus on something else.

True, but undetermined could be because you haven't yet been looked at, or have been looked at and put aside for a later determination. I would argue there is a value to knowing which bucket you fall into.

Particularly because many schools don't disclose if you are rejected at this stage of the cycle, so knowing whether you have been reviewed and put aside, and not rejected, or not reviewed at all, can actually mean a lot. And, it's not impossible to know, just because schools choose not to disclose. Many do.

It would actually be far from impossible for schools to provide periodic updates, either through e-mail or directly on their portals, to let you know where you are in the review process. Again, some do, but many just choose not to because they don't have to.

Focusing on something else is easier said than done. You prepare for this for years, and now you're in the middle of it, left twisting for months on end. It's only what part of the country you're going to be living in for the next 4 years of your life, or whether you're even going to be allowed to pursue your dreams at all.

What's more important to focus on? What to have for dinner tonight? Which football games to watch this weekend? From the inside, it really doesn't seem like a little transparency is too much to expect, even though it understandably takes time to work through thousands of applications at each school. 🙂