<p>It is definitely not in leaving the “Additional Information” field blank. Your EC’s were fine, how you entered the EC’s were fine, and more than likely your essays were fine also. I do not think it was in not providing any recs, HOWEVER a strong rec or two would have helped you somewhat (but would not have been the solution) as to WHY I think you may have been deferred:</p>
<p>your GPA and test scores were toward the bottom in the applicant pool.</p>
<p>IF GPA and test scores is the reason, hopefully you won’t agonize over this too much longer. Good luck on wherever you end up. It will have a happy ending. It usually does!</p>