Deferring after getting AIP may be a crucial reason of rejection because they said on webinars that 2 step approval is for September intake. Probably if sb defer it before AIP, they think this person is manipulating the system and also taking valuable time of others.The person got rejected for the second stage was because the student differed from fall to winter 21 intake. And then he/she received an AIP. So AIP followed with a rejection as AIP is only for fall mostly and not for winter intake. So don’t worry