Do not overshoot for your ED

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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?

None of those schools give merit money. The financial aid is the same for ED and RD.

[phone]

Run the NPC, decide if you are willing to pay the amount stated. If yes, then ED. If Not, then don't.
Nothing is changing with RD.

And for the idiot who might be willing to pay $90K/year if their kid doesn't get into a school in the 25-60 range with great merit, well you have a choice to make----ED or RD and you get to compare. You dont' get it both ways.

[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.

Not helpful. Most ED deadlines were 11/1.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: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

Very important! Everyone should have 2-3 TRUE Targets and 2-3 True Safeties. And imo, part of the definition includes them being affordable and YOUR KID actually being excited to attend. Until you have that, your list is not complete.

Actually, if it's your top choice you only need safeties. If your number one choice is a school you can easily get into, there is no need to find targets and reaches. If you know what you want, you don't have to play the game.

[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.

Out of the many, many kids I know over many years when they were seniors, I know of a single one who had zero safeties to go to and were locked out of all schools. I doubt you've seen this happen to "many" kids. But the message is important to have some safeties where you could be very happy.

[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.

Emory, Pomona, Williams, Cornell are all about the same. Duke, Northwestern, Johns Hopkins are better examples. Also, you should apply ED to your top choice, whatever that may be.

[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.

There aren't any ED2 high targets in the T30.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Emory, Pomona, Williams, Cornell are all about the same. Duke, Northwestern, Johns Hopkins are better examples.

Same what? Pomona has a lower overall acceptance rate than Northwestern and JHU. (A decade ago, its acceptance rate was also lower than Duke, but Duke has gotten a lot more popular recently.) Personally, I think Williams' acceptance rate is slightly higher only because of it's location leads to more self-selection of the academically qualified. And admission to Cornell's CS or Engineering programs is probably more selective than any program offered by any of the schools you mentioned.

[Anonymous]

My kid undershot. He did EA at a T20 and was deferred.

He got into 3 T10s RD. He’s at an Ivy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kid undershot. He did EA at a T20 and was deferred.

He got into 3 T10s RD. He’s at an Ivy.

He also got into Pomona RD.

I won’t buy the panic for my next kid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Agreed. Even if one accepts OP's logic, what are they even recommending? Is it that really smart kids should ED to schools that are less selective than Williams (8%) or non-Cornell Ivies (3-5%) but more selective than Emory (11%), Cornell (8%), or Pomona (7%).

Anyhow, my kid was rejected from a high selective school in ED but got into four schools that were actually more selective in RD. There is little linear consistency among schools whose acceptance rates are below 10%. Many kids are rejected from Duke, Williams, Dartmouth, Pomona, or Northwestern who but accepted at Harvard, Princeton, Yale, MIT, and Stanford.

This is what makes ED2 strategy a challenge. If you got denied in ED1, then should you "aim lower" or assume it was "just one of those things" and aim for a comparable school.

Lots of DCUM people, if they get rejected from UVA ED, will be wondering if they should apply ED2 to W&M. Or should they YOLO it and ED2 to Amherst / Bowdoin / Colby while applying RD to W&M?

So what’s your answer in that situation?

Haven't decided yet. It's a real dilemma because the natural tendency is to think that if you are rejected at UVA, then how can you possibly be good enough for (say) Colby?

Colby?! Really?? One of these things is not like the others. And it’s Colby!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kid undershot. He did EA at a T20 and was deferred.

He got into 3 T10s RD. He’s at an Ivy.

Stats?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kid undershot. He did EA at a T20 and was deferred.

He got into 3 T10s RD. He’s at an Ivy.

Same except 3 T20….

[Anonymous]

This came a bit too late, feel DC may have over shot.

[Anonymous]

Really tough. I agree in theory to ED your first choice BUT it is crystal clear that no one at our public HS gets into HYP/M/S/Penn/Brown EA/ED without a big hook (QB, athlete, FGLI, top 2% of the class). It does feel like a wasted app. I guess the answer is not to EA/ED at all?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Getting scared can have bad results, too. After getting deferred from first choice, DD’s friend did ED II at Johns Hopkins and it is not social scene she was aiming for. Who knows?

You should never ED/ED2 unless you have visited the school (while school is in session) to get a feel.

Otherwise, yes, it may not be a school you really want to attend