What’s the difference between being put on a wait list and deferring admission?
Being placed on a wait list means that the school is not ready to make a final decision about your application. It’s not a rejection, but it’s not an acceptance, either. After colleges offer spots to Early Decision or Early Action candidates, they offer admission to a list of students they have selected from the regular admission pool. Since not all of the admitted students will send in enrollment deposits to the college, schools make offers to more students than they hope to ultimately matriculate. They also wait list those students they aren’t ready to admit, but who they will consider later depending on several factors. If you’ve been wait listed, the college has looked over your file and determined that though you’re qualified, there are other students they’ve decided to admit ahead of you. The school will wait to hear from the students with offers and, if there is space left in the class, offer spots to students from the wait list. Some schools will tell you where you are on the w
