Did New York University recently defer your admission in the Early Decision I round to the Class of 2029? If so, chin up because even though it’s not the news you had hoped for from the Greenwich Village, Manhattan-based institution, you’ve still got a genuine shot of earning admission. So, what are your chances? Let’s dive in!

NYU Early Decision Admission Rates

Over the last six years, NYU has withheld its Early Decision I and Early Decision II admission rates, figures that are not required to be reported to The Common Data Set.

That said, there is a distinct advantage to making a binding commitment to NYU. In fact, in the years before NYU began withholding its Early Decision admission rates, NYU’s Early Decision admission rate often nearly doubled its overall admission rate.

For example, for the NYU Class of 2023, 27.8% of Early Decision I and II candidates earned admission, while only 13.8% of Regular Decision candidates got in. While NYU didn’t distinguish its Early Decision I admission rate from its Early Decision II admission rate that year, like at all of America’s elite universities, NYU admits more students through Early Decision II than Early Decision II, and the admission rate is generally significantly higher through ED I than ED II.

NYU Early Decision Deferral Rates

While NYU doesn’t publish its annual Early Decision deferral rate, the school is known to defer less than 5% of Early Decision applicants. That’s right — less than 5% of applicants were deferred.

As NYU’s Office of Undergraduate Admissions states on its website, “From year to year, depending on the applicant pool, the number of students who will be deferred varies. This year, of the candidates who applied for Early Decision, less than 5% were deferred to a later round of admission. This means that these students will be considered alongside our applicant pool at large – and not just our Early Decision candidates. We only defer students who are viable candidates for admission.”

So, unlike many of NYU’s peer institutions, the school rejects most Early Decision candidates. Only a select pool of students each year is deferred. A deferral from NYU is thus meaningful, and, therefore, as we said, chin up!

5 Steps to Take After Being Deferred by NYU

1. Go for a hike, a swim, a run — anything to clear your mind. You’ll need to keep the fight at NYU post-deferral but first it’s important to clear your head for a few hours (not days — you don’t have days).
2. Sign up for a complimentary consultation with Ivy Coach to learn about our services for deferred NYU candidates.
3. Complete a PostMortem application review with Ivy Coach. We’ll go through what went wrong, what went right, and what changes should be made to your applications for Regular Decision admission. While the NYU application can’t be changed, you’ll want to avoid making the same mistakes again.
4. Submit a powerful Letter of Continued Interest within a few days of your deferral so that NYU’s admissions committee doesn’t think you have sour grapes. In a word, Ivy Coach’s Letters of Continued Interest are weird. They’re love letters to NYU. They feature no brags and no updates. It’s a big reason why they’re so often effective.
5. In the New Year, after it’s been submitted, bring your Letter of Continued Interest to your school counselor so your school counselor can make an advocacy call to NYU. This way, they’ll be able to position you as you position yourself in your letter.

NYU Deferral FAQ

Is an NYU deferral meaningful?

While certain elite universities defer most of their applicant pools (we think that’s wrong!), NYU defers less than 5% of Early Decision pool. Thus, deferred applicants to NYU can genuinely earn admission to the Greenwich Village, New York-based institution. Because most Early Decision applicants to NYU are denied outright, a deferral has real weight — if deferred applicants play their cards right.

Does NYU accept, defer, or deny most Early Decision candidates?

NYU denies outright most Early Decision candidates. As NYU’s Early Decision admission rate will surely fall below 30% and as NYU defers less than 5% of applicants, most ED applicants are simply rejected.

Is getting into NYU through Early Decision I or Early Decision II easier?

It’s easier to get into NYU through Early Decision I. The reason? Elite colleges like NYU grow more secure as time passes during each admissions cycle. And it’s best to apply when they’re insecure.

When students apply to ED I, NYU admissions officers don’t yet know if they’ll get a strong crop in ED II and Regular Decision. Yet when students apply ED II, NYU admissions officers can already see the full ED I, ED II, and RD crops.

Ivy Coach’s Assistance with NYU Deferral

If you’re interested in optimizing your chances of admission to New York University post-deferral, fill out Ivy Coach’s complimentary consultation form, and we’ll be in touch to outline our college admissions counseling services for deferred candidates.