Parents of Juniors: learn from us and ED if able

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So you can only ED at one school?
What if you ED at a reach and get waitlisted there?

Right. ED is binding. If you get waitlisted, pick an ED2 school
threats ranked a little lower.

But then what happens to your ED1 choice if they finally decide to admit you? Does the waitlist/deferred status cancel the obligation to attend the first school?

If the ED school defers you, you move to the RD pool so there is no longer a binding agreement. If they reject you in the ED round well you have your answer sooner and can focus on other options. Also while you can only apply to one school ED, you need to check if that school allows you to apply to early action and rolling admission schools as well (not only RD) so you have a backup plan if you get deferred or rejected. You would not want to delay getting in your UMD application by the Nov 1 EA deadline (where they fill 90% of their class) by waiting to find out in mid-December if you were admitted to your ED choice.

I give the same advice as the OP to parents of juniors, if you run the Net Price Calculator for that low-reach college that your child really wants to attend (and they are sure) and you are okay with paying that price, have them apply ED and get that admissions boost.

Not sure if that statement is accurate. I don't think there are any restrictions on applying to other schools non-ED. However, once you get admitted ED, you will have to withdraw those applications.

There are some. Ivy REA/SCEA and Notre Dame REA are examples.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Don't some schools offer aid even in ED?

I am looking at Villanova and they list deadlines for financial aid, even with ED. Or am I misunderstanding something?

There are many sources of aid, most of which are not based on merit and most of which have deadlines that must be met.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:what about EA?

Doesn’t help as an admissions strategy. You just find out results earlier.

Which can be worth a lot in stress relief.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I agree that ED is worth a shot, if merit aid isn't a deciding factor.

However, it is far from a sure thing. If you pull recruited athletes and legacies out of the ED numbers, acceptance rates are better than RD, but not nearly as good as the raw numbers look.

One interesting example was that Vanderbilt accidentally published their ED1 numbers separately from ED2 (they usually combine them), and, if you did the math with the final numbers, you could see that the ED2 acceptance rate wasn't much, if any, better than RD.

Recruited athletes aren’t considered ED. They are in their own category.

Recruitment itself is a separate process, but at every school I’m aware of, recruited athletes apply ED.

https://www.collegezoom.com/early/early-decision-early-action/

Which matters A LOT at SLACS where varsity athletes make up 25-30% of the student body. But at mid sized schools like Vanderbilt and BC (just to name 2 that are mentioned above), varsity athletes make up, what, 6-7% of students. Even if the entire population of athletes are admitted early, it wouldn’t account for their disparate in ED vs RD acceptance rates.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you are able financially to ED, please don’t be like us and think “naaaah I’m just gonna see where all DC gets in and make a decision then.” Pick a reasonable target (maybe a low reach) where your kid would be happy and ED there. Because what’s left over in April when you’ll have all your options is … the next tier down.

People told us don’t do it, don’t pass on the chance to ED. We thought naaaahhh that doesn’t apply to DS. He has high stats and doesn’t have a clear favorite. DS does have choices, but not ones as good as he could have had if he had picked in November and EDd. There just aren’t many spots left for RD after the top colleges have filled up with ED.

Thanks for your post. To sum it up, you have to be financially loaded and unconcerned about aid and your kid will have the best shot in college application selection.

[Anonymous]

^That sums up 95% of living, especially in this country.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I agree that ED is worth a shot, if merit aid isn't a deciding factor.

However, it is far from a sure thing. If you pull recruited athletes and legacies out of the ED numbers, acceptance rates are better than RD, but not nearly as good as the raw numbers look.

One interesting example was that Vanderbilt accidentally published their ED1 numbers separately from ED2 (they usually combine them), and, if you did the math with the final numbers, you could see that the ED2 acceptance rate wasn't much, if any, better than RD.

Recruited athletes aren’t considered ED. They are in their own category.

They count under the ED stats though, which is why it appears there is an advantage to ED, which, unless you are hooked, there really isn't.

[Anonymous]

ED should be outlawed. It’s only purpose is to increase yield for better schools that are not most elite. I got into Harvard mommy, but I am stuck attending UVA!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:ED should be outlawed. It’s only purpose is to increase yield for better schools that are not most elite. I got into Harvard mommy, but I am stuck attending UVA!

This point is unclear to me - if you apply successfully to UVA ED, then you never submit an application to Harvard bc UVA ED is binding.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:^That sums up 95% of living, especially in this country.

Isn’t that the crux of capitalism and the American dream? Our country has never been egalitarian but is certainly less classist than it was a century ago, when lower middle class would have virtually no shot at college, let alone a choice beyond the state land grant university. The disparity is more glaring because people are exposed to all walks of life and realize more what is out there for others. But we have come a long way. I have way more choices and freedoms than my grandparents did.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:ED should be outlawed. It’s only purpose is to increase yield for better schools that are not most elite. I got into Harvard mommy, but I am stuck attending UVA!

A). you would not “get into Harvard” if you got into UVA ED. You would have to pull your Harvard app before then. Harvard’s acceptance rate is <5%, so no one (even 4.0 UW, 1600) can credibly say “I am sure I would’ve gotten into Harvard if hadn’t done UVA ED”
B) Why pick on UVA? Last I checked, it filled about 19% of its class ED. By way of comparison, here are some other highly regarded schools that seem to be leaning on ED to boost yields far more than UVA does. (% are % of class filled thru ED)
Columbia 50%
Cornell 49%
Brown 46%
Penn 54%
Dartmouth 51%
Hopkins 53%
Duke 53%
Emory 60%
Northwestern 58%
WUSTL 60%
Vanderbilt 51%
Swarthmore 63%
Middlebury 65%
Wesleyan U 64%
Bates 81% (!!!)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is great advice - My kid applied ED and got into his reach, and other kids with better grades and stats were rejected in April. Kids who RD'd were down a tier from the ED kids. Sad but true.

And yet at every admissions event the ADs swear up and down that it isn't true. Liars the lot of 'em.

What do they swear up and down isn’t true? I suspect it’s that they don’t compromise their standards during the ED round, not that the RD round isn’t more competitive. There are many more students in RD, so inevitably many highly qualified—perhaps with higher GPAs and test scores than some ED admits—aren’t going to get it. There aren’t enough slots for all of them. Many of those slots were taken by ED students, who were considered in a smaller and almost by definition less competitive pool. That’s not the same as saying they weren’t qualified or didn’t meet the school’s standards.

[Anonymous]

ED is a great strategy depending on your list. My DC’s first choice didn’t offer ED, so he missed opportunities to meet other school ED deadlines waiting for their response first. Didn’t get in. Missed all ED opportunities.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So you can only ED at one school?
What if you ED at a reach and get waitlisted there?

Right. ED is binding. If you get waitlisted, pick an ED2 school
threats ranked a little lower.

But then what happens to your ED1 choice if they finally decide to admit you? Does the waitlist/deferred status cancel the obligation to attend the first school?

If the ED school defers you, you move to the RD pool so there is no longer a binding agreement. If they reject you in the ED round well you have your answer sooner and can focus on other options. Also while you can only apply to one school ED, you need to check if that school allows you to apply to early action and rolling admission schools as well (not only RD) so you have a backup plan if you get deferred or rejected. You would not want to delay getting in your UMD application by the Nov 1 EA deadline (where they fill 90% of their class) by waiting to find out in mid-December if you were admitted to your ED choice.

I give the same advice as the OP to parents of juniors, if you run the Net Price Calculator for that low-reach college that your child really wants to attend (and they are sure) and you are okay with paying that price, have them apply ED and get that admissions boost.

Not sure if that statement is accurate. I don't think there are any restrictions on applying to other schools non-ED. However, once you get admitted ED, you will have to withdraw those applications.

There are no restrictions with applying. Just that anyone admitted ED must immediately remove all other applications (ED2, EA, RD, etc)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I agree that ED is worth a shot, if merit aid isn't a deciding factor.

However, it is far from a sure thing. If you pull recruited athletes and legacies out of the ED numbers, acceptance rates are better than RD, but not nearly as good as the raw numbers look.

One interesting example was that Vanderbilt accidentally published their ED1 numbers separately from ED2 (they usually combine them), and, if you did the math with the final numbers, you could see that the ED2 acceptance rate wasn't much, if any, better than RD.

Recruited athletes aren’t considered ED. They are in their own category.

Recruitment itself is a separate process, but at every school I’m aware of, recruited athletes apply ED.

https://www.collegezoom.com/early/early-decision-early-action/

Exactly, this is why the "amazing" ED acceptance rates are not typically as good as they look. Yes, they are somewhat better than RD, but at a school like Northwestern/Duke/UVA you have to assume all recruited athletes are included in that ED rate, so guaranteed admissions for them.