Amherst - most normal kids and experience of the group - very very different feel and social life than Williams

NP - DD really wants to ED because she wants to be done. I don’t love this approach but it’s her college journey.
Williams was top choice on paper. Then visited. Town was way way too small for her although it offered everything she wants. (Same with Bowdoin.). We have an athlete friend at Amherst and for various reasons she is not interested. Pomona is too far.
Likes Swat incl being able to take classes at Penn, H’ford, BMC. Lots of interesting class options for her possible majors.
Kid was also interested in U Chicago but they changed financial aid calculator so now way too $$$$.
Btw we are not full pay at all but NPC has come back very doable.

I like Pomona the most by far because of the consortium and CA location. But I would only ED there if your high school has a record of kids attending.

Anonymous wrote:I will just share with you my DD's Swarthmore experience. She applied there ED, was deferred, and then was accepted in the RD process. Apparently most of their ED admits are recruited athletes, which DD was not.

That’s true everywhere. Coach-supported athletes/recruits all have to apply ED/early round.

Choose based on fit, not DCUM crowdsourcing. My kid visited and didn’t vibe with any of the WASP, but loved Bowdoin and Wesleyan.

I will just share with you my DD's Swarthmore experience. She applied there ED, was deferred, and then was accepted in the RD process. Apparently most of their ED admits are recruited athletes, which DD was not.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There is no benefit to applying ED to any and they will openly tell you that. So no reason to get locked in when one has the same chance of acceptance in RD.

Everyone from our HS (well respected private outside DMV) who has 3.8 and applied during ED had been accepted to Pomona in last 5 years. Literally 100% acceptance rate for that profile

My kid got into Pomona RD- and wouldn’t have known he’d also get into some Ivies and Hopkins too RD if he had done ED.

The answer to your question is very person-specific. My DD visited Amherst, Williams, and Swarthmore. (She has no interest in West Coast schools, so Pomona is out as a possibility). She loved Williams and liked the other two. Won’t ED to any of them because her top choice is different. But as others have pointed out, ED does not provide any advantage in these four schools.

Anonymous wrote:I would not ED to any unless I'd visited and truly fallen in love. My unhooked kid was accepted to Swat RD. We had visited.junior.year and she really thought she wanted to go. But when we visited for Swatstruck (accepted student day) she realized it was not for her. Polling DCUM is not the way to pick one of these schools

++ though Swat would be it if DD had had to pick one for ED. Her brother would pick Amherst.

Anonymous wrote:There is no benefit to applying ED to any and they will openly tell you that. So no reason to get locked in when one has the same chance of acceptance in RD.

Everyone from our HS (well respected private outside DMV) who has 3.8 and applied during ED had been accepted to Pomona in last 5 years. Literally 100% acceptance rate for that profile

Anonymous wrote:There is no benefit to applying ED to any and they will openly tell you that. So no reason to get locked in when one has the same chance of acceptance in RD.

This. I actually think many full-pay families wind up selling their kids short by making game-theory based decisions about ED and especially ED2.

Anonymous wrote:I would not ED to any unless I'd visited and truly fallen in love. My unhooked kid was accepted to Swat RD. We had visited.junior.year and she really thought she wanted to go. But when we visited for Swatstruck (accepted student day) she realized it was not for her. Polling DCUM is not the way to pick one of these schools

Very helpful reply. Thanks! Do you mind sharing your DD’s stats, what you think was the difference that got her into RD of such a tough-admit school, and why she didn’t like it after accepted student day? Again this is very helpful. Thank you!

There is no benefit to applying ED to any and they will openly tell you that. So no reason to get locked in when one has the same chance of acceptance in RD.

I would not ED to any unless I'd visited and truly fallen in love. My unhooked kid was accepted to Swat RD. We had visited.junior.year and she really thought she wanted to go. But when we visited for Swatstruck (accepted student day) she realized it was not for her. Polling DCUM is not the way to pick one of these schools

They all have super low acceptance rates, I get it! But you have to at least take a shot to have a chance. If you’re in the fortunate position to ED and full pay, which among these four would you choose to ED? Please share rationale: e.g. which one you like most for your DC (and why), ED odds, etc.

If you’ve BTDT and have additional ED vs ED2 vs RD strategy for these schools, that’s even better. TIA