<p>Question: </p>
<p>Being deferred means that the Brown admissions office saw something they liked, right?
Obviously those who were deferred needed to be compared to the RD application pool, but does being deferred mean your at least “competitive” for admission?</p>
<p>I saw something about “Sympathy Deferrals” and I hope Brown has no policy similar to that.</p>
<p>Can anyone elaborate?</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>I feel like you should know whether or not you’re competitive. But, as per the Brown website, they say “The majority of applicants in our Early Decision cycle are deferred to our Regular Decision cycle. Many factors go into our decision process”</p>
<p>so you could call that a “sympathy deferral” if you wish.</p>
<p>In my experience (of course limited) I’ve seen and been directly told that there are sometimes students that “the only reason they got deferred (and more so for wait-listed)and not rejected” was that they had an alum parent, or other “strong person of influence” ie recommendation letter, alumni interview etc. behind them. So you might consider these “sympathy” deferments, but you could also consider them an “extra bit of a chance” extension. Some of these do get in. And every student who gets in to Brown is very qualified to be there. Sometimes students need to be reminded of that.</p>