Dec 5, 2025
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By Justin Neiman, Former Admissions Officer
If you’re reading this, you may be one of the many students who logged into your Stanford portal hoping for an early admit and instead saw the word “Deferred.” It’s not the news you wanted, but a deferral from Stanford REA still means your application is alive. Many students immediately wonder about the Stanford deferral acceptance rate, what their REA deferral chances look like, and what a deferral actually means for their application.
In Stanford’s Restrictive Early Action round, a deferral simply moves your file into the Regular Decision pool for a second review. It can feel discouraging, especially after working so hard on your application, but a Stanford deferral is not the end of the road. You still have an opportunity to strengthen your candidacy.
This guide explains what a Stanford REA deferral means, what we know about Stanford's deferral acceptance rate and how students can assess their REA deferral chances.
If you applied Early Action to Stanford this fall, there are three possible outcomes:
Stanford University does not currently publish specific statistics for its Restrictive Early Action (REA) admissions process. This is quite a different approach from MIT and some other peer institutions, which are very transparent with this data. Even Harvard has shared more recent data: their Early Action acceptance rate for the Class of 2028 was of 8.74%. The only available admissions statistics for Stanford that have been released is their overall acceptance rate of 3.61% for the Class of 2028. Stanford’s Admissions Website does share that “Stanford’s philosophy is to make final decisions whenever possible. As a result, Stanford defers only a small percentage of Restrictive Early Action applications to Regular Decision.” What exactly this “small percentage” is, we can only make calculated guesses based on peer data. The last time Stanford released detailed early numbers was several years ago.
Stanford does not publish a public, consistent “deferral-to-admit” rate for REA deferred applicants.
Since the university has not released deferral to admit rates, it is difficult to assess an applicant's Stanford Early Action Deferral Chances.
If you were denied in Stanford’s Restrictive Early Action round the decision is final for this cycle. Stanford does not accept appeals, but you can apply again next year or later as a transfer student. For now, the most productive step is to focus on the strong opportunities still ahead with your Regular Decision applications.
If Stanford is still your top choice and you want to strengthen your Regular Decision chances, there are a few steps that matter.
Last year, Stanford asked deferred students to complete a Stanford Deferral Form with four short-answer questions instead of submitting a traditional Letter of Continued Interest (LOCI). We advise students focus on the Deferral Form rather than submit a LOCI.
Below are the questions from last year’s version. We expect Stanford to keep the same format this year. The form was due by February 15 (but we suggest submitting it as soon as possible).
If Stanford is a serious option for you, this form matters. You’ll want to submit it thoughtfully and make sure each answer supports your overall narrative while adding something new and useful.
Although you can’t change your Stanford materials, you can update applications for other schools. Many students use the period between December and January to make their strongest work even better.
A deferral is not a rejection—it’s an invitation to stay in the game. Keep excelling academically, remain proactive, and use this as an opportunity to refine your strategy. Remember, many successful students use setbacks as fuel for future success.
I like to share this quote from a past student to just offer some perspective:
“If I hadn’t been deferred in the early round, I wouldn’t have realized how much my application needed improvement. I made changes and ended up getting into all of my top schools during regular decision. It was a blessing in disguise.”
We’ve helped many students turn Early Action deferrals into spring acceptances. If you want support with Stanford’s Deferral Form or your Regular Decision applications reach out.
This article was updated in December 2025 for the 2025-2026 Admissions Cycle.
If you’re reading this, you may be one of the many students who logged into your Stanford portal hoping for an early admit and instead saw the word “Deferred.” It’s not the news you wanted, but a deferral from Stanford REA still means your application is alive. Many students immediately wonder about the Stanford deferral acceptance rate, what their REA deferral chances look like, and what a deferral actually means for their application.
In Stanford’s Restrictive Early Action round, a deferral simply moves your file into the Regular Decision pool for a second review. It can feel discouraging, especially after working so hard on your application, but a Stanford deferral is not the end of the road. You still have an opportunity to strengthen your candidacy.
This guide explains what a Stanford REA deferral means, what we know about Stanford's deferral acceptance rate and how students can assess their REA deferral chances.
If you applied Early Action to Stanford this fall, there are three possible outcomes:
Stanford University does not currently publish specific statistics for its Restrictive Early Action (REA) admissions process. This is quite a different approach from MIT and some other peer institutions, which are very transparent with this data. Even Harvard has shared more recent data: their Early Action acceptance rate for the Class of 2028 was of 8.74%. The only available admissions statistics for Stanford that have been released is their overall acceptance rate of 3.61% for the Class of 2028. Stanford’s Admissions Website does share that “Stanford’s philosophy is to make final decisions whenever possible. As a result, Stanford defers only a small percentage of Restrictive Early Action applications to Regular Decision.” What exactly this “small percentage” is, we can only make calculated guesses based on peer data. The last time Stanford released detailed early numbers was several years ago.
Stanford does not publish a public, consistent “deferral-to-admit” rate for REA deferred applicants.
Since the university has not released deferral to admit rates, it is difficult to assess an applicant's Stanford Early Action Deferral Chances.
If you were denied in Stanford’s Restrictive Early Action round the decision is final for this cycle. Stanford does not accept appeals, but you can apply again next year or later as a transfer student. For now, the most productive step is to focus on the strong opportunities still ahead with your Regular Decision applications.
If Stanford is still your top choice and you want to strengthen your Regular Decision chances, there are a few steps that matter.
Last year, Stanford asked deferred students to complete a Stanford Deferral Form with four short-answer questions instead of submitting a traditional Letter of Continued Interest (LOCI). We advise students focus on the Deferral Form rather than submit a LOCI.
Below are the questions from last year’s version. We expect Stanford to keep the same format this year. The form was due by February 15 (but we suggest submitting it as soon as possible).
If Stanford is a serious option for you, this form matters. You’ll want to submit it thoughtfully and make sure each answer supports your overall narrative while adding something new and useful.
Although you can’t change your Stanford materials, you can update applications for other schools. Many students use the period between December and January to make their strongest work even better.
A deferral is not a rejection—it’s an invitation to stay in the game. Keep excelling academically, remain proactive, and use this as an opportunity to refine your strategy. Remember, many successful students use setbacks as fuel for future success.
I like to share this quote from a past student to just offer some perspective:
“If I hadn’t been deferred in the early round, I wouldn’t have realized how much my application needed improvement. I made changes and ended up getting into all of my top schools during regular decision. It was a blessing in disguise.”
We’ve helped many students turn Early Action deferrals into spring acceptances. If you want support with Stanford’s Deferral Form or your Regular Decision applications reach out.
This article was updated in December 2025 for the 2025-2026 Admissions Cycle.
Former Admissions Officer, Harvard University
Former Assistant Dean, Stanford University
As a College Counselor I help students navigate the college admissions process. My goal is to help students stand out and get accepted to their top-choice schools.
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