Does everyone ED? Stories of successful RD?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No ED, no hooks, five T15/ivy admits RD. Top students do fine in RD

You hear this but then you see a lot of kids with extremely good academic credentials- like near perfect- who land at something like Villanova

[Anonymous]

Not there yet and of course things could change, but DC currently has no clear front runner AND we are chasing merit, so while DC will do EA or simply put in early applications everywhere possible (DC’s private HS encourages kids to have everything submitted by the early deadlines regardless), DC will likely not apply ED anywhere.

[Anonymous]

No ED last year. Didn’t have a clear front runner and wanted choice. Also, didn’t want to think “what if?”

Kid accepted to 14 out of 15 schools. At an Ivy this year. He was accepted to 2 Ivies, Hopkins, 2 very selective SLACs, Gtown, etc., no hooks RD.

We were shocked. But, so many friends/classmates also did much better RD.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No ED, no hooks, five T15/ivy admits RD. Top students do fine in RD

You hear this but then you see a lot of kids with extremely good academic credentials- like near perfect- who land at something like Villanova

My kid was WL at Villanova RD, but had RD outcome like the pp you are responding to .

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No ED, no hooks, five T15/ivy admits RD. Top students do fine in RD

You hear this but then you see a lot of kids with extremely good academic credentials- like near perfect- who land at something like Villanova

Because they do NOT have extremely good academic credentials in reality, and one of these things was likely true of their 1500+, 4.0 uw, took 10APs:

1. Their weighted GPA was 4.4 but that is not even top 10% at their high school and only 3-4 kids get in to elite private/ivies unhooked. People way overestimate rank, or think it does not matter: relative rank matters and is decipherable by AOs.

2. They were at or near the top, but they skipped out on the hardest APs at their high school to keep their spot as Val or Sal not realizing the kids they were "competing" with were getting As in the hardest courses and doing all the rest.

3. OR, they had bad letters of rec. There are some a-hole kids, ask teachers--we know.

4. They had no ECs . Nothing to speak of outside of school that they cared about, and nothing within the school community that they got involved in more than peripherally.

[Anonymous]

^ yep people exaggerate their kid’s credentials, test scores, etc

[Anonymous]

I think last year will turn out to be a bit of an outlier, first year no AA.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:^ yep people exaggerate their kid’s credentials, test scores, etc

Kids that do well in RD meet the academic credentials but also have
- spectacular differentiating LOR
- great to stellar ECs, including at least 1 that shows strong impact and 1 that shows entrepreneurship (founding EC) or intellectual curiosity

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A third of the kids at my child’s school have committed to a college and nearly all of these were ED/REA. Medium size private.

same. my guess is that >75% applied somewhere ED or REA

Proving the point that high percentages of ED applicants is a private school thing. Not everyone EDs. But it will feel like it if you are at a private. And maybe colleges expect you to ED and will hold it against you. We are public. We applied for financial aid. I don’t think schools will hold it against my kid that he didn’t ED. Only the very rich and very poor can afford to do that.

Correct, and one of the many reasons ED is so obnoxious, and why I have an automatic hatred for schools that fill 50%+ of the class ED.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think last year will turn out to be a bit of an outlier, first year no AA.

I have a 2024 that didn’t ED and did really, really well RD. There was also a huge fiasco with the brand new FAFSa form last year. The new SC ruling and new, very delayed FAfsa girm certainly made it an unusual year even if applicant numbers were an all-time high. There was a crazy amount of WL movement too which the schools likely want to avoid this year. Who knows? Just my take. Every year seems so different. Now you have scores coming back too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No ED, no hooks, five T15/ivy admits RD. Top students do fine in RD

You hear this but then you see a lot of kids with extremely good academic credentials- like near perfect- who land at something like Villanova

Because they do NOT have extremely good academic credentials in reality, and one of these things was likely true of their 1500+, 4.0 uw, took 10APs:

1. Their weighted GPA was 4.4 but that is not even top 10% at their high school and only 3-4 kids get in to elite private/ivies unhooked. People way overestimate rank, or think it does not matter: relative rank matters and is decipherable by AOs.

2. They were at or near the top, but they skipped out on the hardest APs at their high school to keep their spot as Val or Sal not realizing the kids they were "competing" with were getting As in the hardest courses and doing all the rest.

3. OR, they had bad letters of rec. There are some a-hole kids, ask teachers--we know.

4. They had no ECs . Nothing to speak of outside of school that they cared about, and nothing within the school community that they got involved in more than peripherally.

5. They want to go to Villanova because they’re tired of the grind and competition, and don’t want to be around the other students for 4 more years who all did what it took to get into Yale or Princeton.

6. They got a full ride to Villanova and they’re saving their 529 for grad school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No ED, no hooks, five T15/ivy admits RD. Top students do fine in RD

You hear this but then you see a lot of kids with extremely good academic credentials- like near perfect- who land at something like Villanova

Because they do NOT have extremely good academic credentials in reality, and one of these things was likely true of their 1500+, 4.0 uw, took 10APs:

1. Their weighted GPA was 4.4 but that is not even top 10% at their high school and only 3-4 kids get in to elite private/ivies unhooked. People way overestimate rank, or think it does not matter: relative rank matters and is decipherable by AOs.

2. They were at or near the top, but they skipped out on the hardest APs at their high school to keep their spot as Val or Sal not realizing the kids they were "competing" with were getting As in the hardest courses and doing all the rest.

3. OR, they had bad letters of rec. There are some a-hole kids, ask teachers--we know.

4. They had no ECs . Nothing to speak of outside of school that they cared about, and nothing within the school community that they got involved in more than peripherally.

5. They want to go to Villanova because they’re tired of the grind and competition, and don’t want to be around the other students for 4 more years who all did what it took to get into Yale or Princeton.

6. They got a full ride to Villanova and they’re saving their 529 for grad school.

IME 5 and 6 are the most likely and the typical reasons among kids I know IRL.

[Anonymous]

The kids that wait for RD are much stronger applicants. They are confident. The ones that ED aren't as strong applicants and need the extra edge.

[Anonymous]

OP, what do you mean by 'successful'? My DC who didn't ED got into six colleges, all but one with merit aid and is happy and doing well where he chose to go.

But after reading this thread, it seems that some would think he was unsuccessful.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The kids that wait for RD are much stronger applicants. They are confident. The ones that ED aren't as strong applicants and need the extra edge.

True. My kid had very high stats/ECs and no clear #1. He did not feel pressure to ED. Did great RD and at an Ivy now, but had 7 T1-15 options.