Deferred? What Now?

A reader in the College Admission Forum recently posted this timely question:

I just got deferred by Stanford. I'm in neither Hell nor Paradise, but in Purgatory... I know that I'll be reconsidered along with the regular decision applicants. Why didn't they just reject me or accept me? What's the connotation of a deferment decision? Why do colleges do this? What are the colleges looking for when they defer a student?

I imagine many college applicants who applied through either Early Action or Early Decision are finding themselves in similar situations. (In fact, when I applied early to M.I.T. I was deferred but managed to squeak in under regular admissions.) Check out this article on deferrals to learn what deferral means and what you can do to improve your chances of admission.