<p>Looking at D’s high school’s admissions results history with Dickinson, the student with the highest GPA applying in the past 4 years was wait listed. Students with GPAs up to 5 points lower, were mostly accepted. I think Dickinson is a school that cares about level of interest, and may defer or wait list a highly qualified applicant if they think the applicant is unlikely to attend. We visited and my D had an alumni interview. She also emailed her admissions rep after our visit to express interest. </p>
<p>I imagine the deferral is to give your D time to demonstrate her interest. </p>
<p>Good luck.</p>