Emory Deferred You: Now What?

Submit a letter of continued interest by ASAP, ideally this Friday, December 12th, December 15th the latest. Afterwards , have your guidance counselor call or at least email the admissions office to update them concerning all of your awards, publications, accomplishments, and grades since you applied. They should affirm that no matter what other admission decisions you receive, you will choose to attend Emory if offered a spot.

But not just any letter of continued interest. This letter should be one of the most inspired pieces of writing you've ever composed. In it, you need to let your heart write a love song for Emory and translate that into giving the reader a concrete picture of exactly who you will be as a person on their campus. This includes demonstrating how you will contribute to spaces and organizations on campus and reminding the reader of your academic hook. In reintroducing your hook, the academic niche you spent time and effort carving out in high school to distinguish yourself from others, you want to remind the reader how you can change the world for the better if you have the opportunity to leverage specific academic opportunities at Emory.

Here's what makes Emory deferrals different: Emory doesn't defer many applicants. As their admissions office puts it, if they knew a student didn't have a chance for admission, they would have denied them at the ED stage. A deferral means the committee genuinely needs more information before making a final decision, this is your opportunity to provide it.

I personally recommend starting the letter of continued interest with something funny or lighthearted. It is naturally awkward reading something from someone whom you, in a sense, put on hold. To make the experience as cringe-free as possible for the admissions officer, I wouldn't reference the deferral explicitly or convey any feelings of disappointment.

After a lighthearted and positive introduction, I would then proceed to talk to the reader about something related to your niche, such as a new cutting-edge development or something new that you learned. I would then connect this new piece of information regarding your niche to something currently going on at Emory and explain how, by leveraging certain opportunities there, you can achieve some goal, and make the reader understand how achieving this goal can change the world.

Afterward, I would paint them a picture of you on their campus. Have fun here. Feel free to write a hypothetical scenario of you making some of the best memories of your life there, whether that's on the Atlanta campus at Emory College or the intimate setting of Oxford College. You want the reader to feel like by not admitting you, they will be denying you the opportunity to live your best life for four years. Show them you doing activities that have garnered you friends in high school on their campus. Show them how your hobbies or talents will brighten up the days of your Emory classmates. Present yourself as someone they want on their campus.

To conclude the letter, I would thank the reader for their time and add something to the effect of thanking them for the opportunity to share with them your favorite subjects and hobbies. Finally, I would tell them that no matter what other decisions you receive, you are absolutely resolute in attending Emory, and that if you are offered a seat, you will immediately accept it no matter what. I would then include a signed signature.

Upload your letter as a "Supplemental Material" through your Emory applicant portal. You can also use the portal to submit updated test scores, any new supplemental materials, or updates to your activities. Ensure the letter addresses your regional admissions counselor. When it comes to bragging about grades, prizes, or publications in your letter, please save it. If you made it this far in the admissions process at an elite school like Emory, then you already have enough academic credentials to be a strong candidate. If you did not, then you wouldn't be deferred and reevaluated in the regular decision round, you would have been rejected.

Your guidance counselor should be the one bragging on your behalf. When they do it, it carries much more weight and shows the university that there is something beyond those accomplishments to consider. By your guidance counselor going out of their way to share your accomplishments with the admissions officer, it demonstrates to them that there is something compelling enough about your personhood for them to be doing this. Given how accomplished you must be to even be deferred from Emory in 2025, this intangible quality they can infer is what will distinguish you from other overachievers.

One final note: don't forget to submit your first semester senior year grades as soon as they're available. And while it may feel counterintuitive, follow Emory's advice and apply to other schools. Your chance for admission to Emory is not guaranteed, and you want to have options. Regular Decision notifications are released by April 1st.

If you'd like help writing your letter of continued interest for Emory or any other school, please schedule a free consultation with us below.