Do not overshoot for your ED

[Anonymous]

I have seen so many normal smart, top of class kids who could have been admitted at great schools like Emory, Pomona or even Cornell but overshot during ED/EA for schools like top Ivies and Williams and wasted their ED. They ended up getting rejected/waitlisted everywhere during RD for schools they should have ED'ed, waited for the WL to clear all the way til July and they never cleared.

[Anonymous]

FFS

Trying to game ED is bad advice, period, and OP--who seems to think that Pomona is an easier admit than Williams--is unusually poorly positioned to give it.

[Anonymous]

OK. ED apps were submitted two weeks ago.

[Anonymous]

Eh, this could go either way - and honestly I hate it that college counselors always try to get kids to shoot lower on ED. If you have the grades and scores for a school, go ahead and try if you will actually get a boost from ED/REA/SCEA or regardless if it is your first choice - at Williams or Yale there is no boost from early unless you are initutional priority. (btw, Pomona is just as hard to get into as those schools!) Cornell takes kids RD all the time and goes to their waitlist. Emory, WashU, Chicago, and many others have ED2. I think people should do what they think best and not listen to strangers on the internet who are telling them to take the safe route.

[Anonymous]

The smart play is to find a school with ED2 that is a high target or low reach, and take your shot at ED1 on a high reach if you are dying to go somewhere. But there is no one size fits all advice, it really depends on how strongly you feel schools on your list relative to each other.

[Anonymous]

Even if your stats are such that it’s not an over shoot, it’s just a lottery for all, have a good Plan B

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have seen so many normal smart, top of class kids who could have been admitted at great schools like Emory, Pomona or even Cornell but overshot during ED/EA for schools like top Ivies and Williams and wasted their ED. They ended up getting rejected/waitlisted everywhere during RD for schools they should have ED'ed, waited for the WL to clear all the way til July and they never cleared.

Mine overshot but he is already in at a great school so yay for him.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have seen so many normal smart, top of class kids who could have been admitted at great schools like Emory, Pomona or even Cornell but overshot during ED/EA for schools like top Ivies and Williams and wasted their ED. They ended up getting rejected/waitlisted everywhere during RD for schools they should have ED'ed, waited for the WL to clear all the way til July and they never cleared.

So you were saying that if these same kids can't afford full pay they are screwed from the beginning because they couldn't do Ed anyway?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:FFS

Trying to game ED is bad advice, period, and OP--who seems to think that Pomona is an easier admit than Williams--is unusually poorly positioned to give it.

I don't think it's an easier admit, but this is a specific case I know. DF's DC, great kid, great scores/grade, loved Pomona after touring but held out for 3 ivies til RD. Got WL by Pomona in RD, CC told them they would have been accepted if he applied ED. This kid was top of his class, should have been enjoying his senior year, had a great graduation but instead stressed out all the way til July and ended up at a school he was not excited about.

Every year I've known 3-4 kids who did this so just want to share here. Wishing everyone GL.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OK. ED apps were submitted two weeks ago.

then think about ED2

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Eh, this could go either way - and honestly I hate it that college counselors always try to get kids to shoot lower on ED. If you have the grades and scores for a school, go ahead and try if you will actually get a boost from ED/REA/SCEA or regardless if it is your first choice - at Williams or Yale there is no boost from early unless you are initutional priority. (btw, Pomona is just as hard to get into as those schools!) Cornell takes kids RD all the time and goes to their waitlist. Emory, WashU, Chicago, and many others have ED2. I think people should do what they think best and not listen to strangers on the internet who are telling them to take the safe route.

Cornell actually has made pledges to take less in ED due to "equity" - so they take a lot more in RD.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The smart play is to find a school with ED2 that is a high target or low reach, and take your shot at ED1 on a high reach if you are dying to go somewhere. But there is no one size fits all advice, it really depends on how strongly you feel schools on your list relative to each other.

you have to see how ED1 plays out. If it's a rejection (and school both rejects and defers) then I'd look to Ed2 bc that is a message.

if you are deferred, and school defers only a small %, bet your kid has strong app and will get into some T25 in RD so I wouldn't do Ed2 so quickly.

lastly, you have to see where the rest of your kids' class lands - how many kids still need to be placed after Ed1 decisions come out and how they compare to your kid. Bc at the end of the day, your kid is competing against those kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:FFS

Trying to game ED is bad advice, period, and OP--who seems to think that Pomona is an easier admit than Williams--is unusually poorly positioned to give it.

I don't think it's an easier admit, but this is a specific case I know. DF's DC, great kid, great scores/grade, loved Pomona after touring but held out for 3 ivies til RD. Got WL by Pomona in RD, CC told them they would have been accepted if he applied ED. This kid was top of his class, should have been enjoying his senior year, had a great graduation but instead stressed out all the way til July and ended up at a school he was not excited about.

Every year I've known 3-4 kids who did this so just want to share here. Wishing everyone GL.

CC is full of shit. No way they could know that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:FFS

Trying to game ED is bad advice, period, and OP--who seems to think that Pomona is an easier admit than Williams--is unusually poorly positioned to give it.

I don't think it's an easier admit, but this is a specific case I know. DF's DC, great kid, great scores/grade, loved Pomona after touring but held out for 3 ivies til RD. Got WL by Pomona in RD, CC told them they would have been accepted if he applied ED. This kid was top of his class, should have been enjoying his senior year, had a great graduation but instead stressed out all the way til July and ended up at a school he was not excited about.

Every year I've known 3-4 kids who did this so just want to share here. Wishing everyone GL.

CC is full of shit. No way they could know that.

our CCO was also surprised by an ED deferral that turned into a RD rejection. In retrospect it was due to the other competition from the class in RD process.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:FFS

Trying to game ED is bad advice, period, and OP--who seems to think that Pomona is an easier admit than Williams--is unusually poorly positioned to give it.

I don't think it's an easier admit, but this is a specific case I know. DF's DC, great kid, great scores/grade, loved Pomona after touring but held out for 3 ivies til RD. Got WL by Pomona in RD, CC told them they would have been accepted if he applied ED. This kid was top of his class, should have been enjoying his senior year, had a great graduation but instead stressed out all the way til July and ended up at a school he was not excited about.

Every year I've known 3-4 kids who did this so just want to share here. Wishing everyone GL.

Truthfully, the kids I know that end up in this place are:
1. male
2. white or asian
3. CS or business
4. didn't apply to other schools (including SLACs) where they might have had a better chance.
5. lacked in-school leadership or impact