To ED or Not to ED

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For many kids the comfort of knowing where you will attend Dec-April and really being able to enjoy your senior year while others are chewing fingernails and busting to raise semester grades is a highly significant benefit.

This is in addition to the gigantic admissions benefit if it is a competitive situation.

The idea that kids generally mature and gain great insights during that specific 4 months is not really plausible, IMHO.

A lot can happen in a few months - kid's insights could change due to mental health issues that arise, family illness, anything.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For many kids the comfort of knowing where you will attend Dec-April and really being able to enjoy your senior year while others are chewing fingernails and busting to raise semester grades is a highly significant benefit.

This is in addition to the gigantic admissions benefit if it is a competitive situation.

The idea that kids generally mature and gain great insights during that specific 4 months is not really plausible, IMHO.

A lot can happen in a few months - kid's insights could change due to mental health issues that arise, family illness, anything.

Right, and that all ends in April?

Don't buy it.

[Anonymous]

Y'all this is making me hate ED. I read for curiosity and we aren't at that point, but it's coming soon. I hate that kids have to commit so early and cut out having options. It's unfortunate that so many schools fill up that way and the anxiety is causes both for those who are and who aren't taking that path. I'm not sure if schools who don't have ED are any less stressful in this process or even worse.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For many kids the comfort of knowing where you will attend Dec-April and really being able to enjoy your senior year while others are chewing fingernails and busting to raise semester grades is a highly significant benefit.

This is in addition to the gigantic admissions benefit if it is a competitive situation.

The idea that kids generally mature and gain great insights during that specific 4 months is not really plausible, IMHO.

A lot can happen in a few months - kid's insights could change due to mental health issues that arise, family illness, anything.

Right, and that all ends in April?

Don't buy it.

No one said it ends in April, but...I don't know how you can argue that kids don't change a lot throughout their senior year. Not much may change for adults during that time span, but it's different for kids. If your kid has lots of changes going on in their life and isn't sure what they want to do, then it seems sensible to not ED and use that additional time to figure things out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For many kids the comfort of knowing where you will attend Dec-April and really being able to enjoy your senior year while others are chewing fingernails and busting to raise semester grades is a highly significant benefit.

This is in addition to the gigantic admissions benefit if it is a competitive situation.

The idea that kids generally mature and gain great insights during that specific 4 months is not really plausible, IMHO.

A lot can happen in a few months - kid's insights could change due to mental health issues that arise, family illness, anything.

Right, and that all ends in April?

Don't buy it.

No one said it ends in April, but...I don't know how you can argue that kids don't change a lot throughout their senior year. Not much may change for adults during that time span, but it's different for kids. If your kid has lots of changes going on in their life and isn't sure what they want to do, then it seems sensible to not ED and use that additional time to figure things out.

No, it makes no sense. At some point you pick one college to attend. It is an admittedly difficult decision. But it is no less difficult in April than it is in December, and that short period of time could be VERY costly in the admissions process.

I am not saying ED is for everyone. I am saying it probably should be for most whose first choice college offers it. And I am also saying the idea that the decision gets easier with more time is false, because you won't have the ability to choose a college you got rejected from and might have been accepted to if you had applied ED.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For many kids the comfort of knowing where you will attend Dec-April and really being able to enjoy your senior year while others are chewing fingernails and busting to raise semester grades is a highly significant benefit.

This is in addition to the gigantic admissions benefit if it is a competitive situation.

The idea that kids generally mature and gain great insights during that specific 4 months is not really plausible, IMHO.

A lot can happen in a few months - kid's insights could change due to mental health issues that arise, family illness, anything.

Right, and that all ends in April?

Don't buy it.

No one said it ends in April, but...I don't know how you can argue that kids don't change a lot throughout their senior year. Not much may change for adults during that time span, but it's different for kids. If your kid has lots of changes going on in their life and isn't sure what they want to do, then it seems sensible to not ED and use that additional time to figure things out.

No, it makes no sense. At some point you pick one college to attend. It is an admittedly difficult decision. But it is no less difficult in April than it is in December, and that short period of time could be VERY costly in the admissions process.

I am not saying ED is for everyone. I am saying it probably should be for most whose first choice college offers it. And I am also saying the idea that the decision gets easier with more time is false, because you won't have the ability to choose a college you got rejected from and might have been accepted to if you had applied ED.

Totally disagree. It’s probably student dependent, though.

My oldest could not commit and did not ED knowing it meant she had almost no chance at her 2 reaches. She understood that and did not care. She got into 7 schools (everywhere else she applied) and felt like she had good choices, picked a school and is not a very happy junior. I suspect if she had applied ED to one of her reaches, she would gotten in (the other was a high reach so probably not). Turns out, the school she would have gotten into had she ED’d would be a terrible choice. She knew in her heart it was wrong.

Second kid has absolutely no idea what she wants. She has schools ranging from 1500-50,000 students, rural and urban. Seriously, no clue. No clue as to major, etc. if she ED’d it would be just for prestige schools and she would likely be unhappy. She needs the extra time until April to figure out what she wants. She was uninterested in visits because she was overwhelmed with the process. This allows her to target some schools that feel right and visit a smaller pool later. For a kid with executive function issues, it makes the process more manageable and less overwhelming.

I get it that some kids know and ED is there for them, but I would hate to see ED become the norm.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:She should definately switch to EA. If she is not 100% certain, then she shouldn't do ED. It doesn't matter if she is "blowing her chances". ED is binding and no kid should be forced to attend a school the parent wants them to just for bragging rights

Is it still a top choice? Keep ED. Is another school clearly a top choice? Don’t ED.

No, if it's not THE TOP Choice she really shouldn't ED to it. Unless 100% certain, you should wait and RD/EA. If any doubts, don't do it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For many kids the comfort of knowing where you will attend Dec-April and really being able to enjoy your senior year while others are chewing fingernails and busting to raise semester grades is a highly significant benefit.

This is in addition to the gigantic admissions benefit if it is a competitive situation.

The idea that kids generally mature and gain great insights during that specific 4 months is not really plausible, IMHO.

A lot can happen in a few months - kid's insights could change due to mental health issues that arise, family illness, anything.

Right, and that all ends in April?

Don't buy it.

But in April the kid will have multiple colleges to choose from. So it is a bit easier knowing you can pick from several. Very different than selecting top choice in Nov if not 100%

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For many kids the comfort of knowing where you will attend Dec-April and really being able to enjoy your senior year while others are chewing fingernails and busting to raise semester grades is a highly significant benefit.

This is in addition to the gigantic admissions benefit if it is a competitive situation.

The idea that kids generally mature and gain great insights during that specific 4 months is not really plausible, IMHO.

A lot can happen in a few months - kid's insights could change due to mental health issues that arise, family illness, anything.

Right, and that all ends in April?

Don't buy it.

No one said it ends in April, but...I don't know how you can argue that kids don't change a lot throughout their senior year. Not much may change for adults during that time span, but it's different for kids. If your kid has lots of changes going on in their life and isn't sure what they want to do, then it seems sensible to not ED and use that additional time to figure things out.

No, it makes no sense. At some point you pick one college to attend. It is an admittedly difficult decision. But it is no less difficult in April than it is in December, and that short period of time could be VERY costly in the admissions process.

I am not saying ED is for everyone. I am saying it probably should be for most whose first choice college offers it. And I am also saying the idea that the decision gets easier with more time is false, because you won't have the ability to choose a college you got rejected from and might have been accepted to if you had applied ED.

Totally disagree. It’s probably student dependent, though.

My oldest could not commit and did not ED knowing it meant she had almost no chance at her 2 reaches. She understood that and did not care. She got into 7 schools (everywhere else she applied) and felt like she had good choices, picked a school and is not a very happy junior. I suspect if she had applied ED to one of her reaches, she would gotten in (the other was a high reach so probably not). Turns out, the school she would have gotten into had she ED’d would be a terrible choice. She knew in her heart it was wrong.

Second kid has absolutely no idea what she wants. She has schools ranging from 1500-50,000 students, rural and urban. Seriously, no clue. No clue as to major, etc. if she ED’d it would be just for prestige schools and she would likely be unhappy. She needs the extra time until April to figure out what she wants. She was uninterested in visits because she was overwhelmed with the process. This allows her to target some schools that feel right and visit a smaller pool later. For a kid with executive function issues, it makes the process more manageable and less overwhelming.

I get it that some kids know and ED is there for them, but I would hate to see ED become the norm.

PP here. So she didn't decide the reach wasn't for her in April, she decided in December when the ED deadline passed that the reach wasn't her first choice. And you admit she might have gotten into her reach if she applied ED and didn't RD. This is my point exactly and you are making it perfectly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For many kids the comfort of knowing where you will attend Dec-April and really being able to enjoy your senior year while others are chewing fingernails and busting to raise semester grades is a highly significant benefit.

This is in addition to the gigantic admissions benefit if it is a competitive situation.

The idea that kids generally mature and gain great insights during that specific 4 months is not really plausible, IMHO.

A lot can happen in a few months - kid's insights could change due to mental health issues that arise, family illness, anything.

Right, and that all ends in April?

Don't buy it.

But in April the kid will have multiple colleges to choose from. So it is a bit easier knowing you can pick from several. Very different than selecting top choice in Nov if not 100%

You have those same colleges to pick from in November. You just don't know whether you are admitted or not yet. If you are not admitted to your ED choice in Dec, what have you lost?

[Anonymous]

Our private college counselor recommended that DC ED (we are full pay with enough savings) and find his top pick among the schools that are ED and that are a slight reach. The advice sounded crazy at first but we came around. DC wanted 3 schools that are all highly rejective. We realized that ED was really his best chance of admission. So he agonized and worked hard to choose among the 3. Applied ED to that one and got in. He’s happy now at that school. He thinks that if he hadn’t done ED, he’d be at none of the 3 schools. He feels like he chose too. He just chose among great options in November vs lesser options in April.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Y'all this is making me hate ED. I read for curiosity and we aren't at that point, but it's coming soon. I hate that kids have to commit so early and cut out having options. It's unfortunate that so many schools fill up that way and the anxiety is causes both for those who are and who aren't taking that path. I'm not sure if schools who don't have ED are any less stressful in this process or even worse.

It doesn’t always have to be stressful. My DD is EDing at her first choice and if she doesn’t get in she will ED2 at her second choice; in the meantime, she plans to submit her RD apps well before their deadlines. Her top 5 are really not that much different from one another, so she would be happy at any of them. The stress will come in if she doesn’t get into any of her top 5 schools, but we’ll cross that bridge when we get there.