Anonymous
04/21/2026 19:30
Subject: Proposal: ED3 to four schools
Why 4 schools? Why not 3, or 5, or 7? This reminds me of the back and forth on how many teams should college football playoff have. There will never be remotely any consensus.
More seriously, who is going to police all this? Public school counselors ain't got no time to do all these when each has to serve hundreds of students.
Hate to call an idea a dumb idea. But this is one, without a doubt.
More seriously, who is going to police all this? Public school counselors ain't got no time to do all these when each has to serve hundreds of students.
Hate to call an idea a dumb idea. But this is one, without a doubt.
Anonymous
04/21/2026 19:23
Subject: Re:Proposal: ED3 to four schools
I see the appeal of allowing students to express a preference for a few schools in RD to increase chances there and help schools better manage yield. But I worry that it would move all the gaming problems of ED into the RD round— students would have to decide whether to preference their true first choices even if they are reaches, or choose high targets that are more realistic but not actually top choices. I think common app and CCs should just limit applications— maybe 12 applications max per student.
Anonymous
04/21/2026 19:16
Subject: Proposal: ED3 to four schools
Anonymous wrote:They have ED3 now!?!
Vanderbilt and Michigan do.
Anonymous
04/21/2026 19:08
Subject: Proposal: ED3 to four schools
EDD2 is rare - most top schools don't offer it. Unlikely to see an ED3 when the majority of T30 don't even think ED2 is worth it.
Anonymous
04/21/2026 18:58
Subject: Proposal: ED3 to four schools
They have ED3 now!?!
Anonymous
04/21/2026 18:51
Subject: Proposal: ED3 to four schools
It would possibly make sense to require Ivy+ schools to complete all rounds of admissions in November and then let everyone shut out apply to non-T20’s in a regular round after commitments are done on top picks.
Anonymous
04/21/2026 18:41
Subject: Proposal: ED3 to four schools
ED is binding. That's what makes it worthwhile for both students and schools.
There's no need to add complexity to it. Works fine as it is for both parties.
There's no need to add complexity to it. Works fine as it is for both parties.
Anonymous
04/21/2026 18:33
Subject: Proposal: ED3 to four schools
Anonymous wrote:Problem: the number of applications from each student is exploding, with negative effects all over the place
Problem: there’s no way to absolutely prevent people from applying to a lot of schools
Solution (suggested by that other poster’s “dumb thought”): elite privates launch an ED3 round where a student can apply to that school and up to three other ED3 schools.
Benefit for the school: they get apps from people who don’t feel they can commit to just one school yet, whether for emotional or financial reasons, but they know they’re reasonably likely to yield the student because their school is in the student’s top 4
Benefit for the student: increased odds of admission because the school knows the student is more likely to yield
Honestly it could run on the same timeline as RD. It wouldn’t stop students from applying to lots of schools if they wanted to, but it would favor kids who identify a more focused list.
yet another "dumb idea". Schools and students don't have time to manage all of this. ED1/2 is plenty.
Anonymous
04/21/2026 18:28
Subject: Proposal: ED3 to four schools
Problem: the number of applications from each student is exploding, with negative effects all over the place
Problem: there’s no way to absolutely prevent people from applying to a lot of schools
Solution (suggested by that other poster’s “dumb thought”): elite privates launch an ED3 round where a student can apply to that school and up to three other ED3 schools.
Benefit for the school: they get apps from people who don’t feel they can commit to just one school yet, whether for emotional or financial reasons, but they know they’re reasonably likely to yield the student because their school is in the student’s top 4
Benefit for the student: increased odds of admission because the school knows the student is more likely to yield
Honestly it could run on the same timeline as RD. It wouldn’t stop students from applying to lots of schools if they wanted to, but it would favor kids who identify a more focused list.
Problem: there’s no way to absolutely prevent people from applying to a lot of schools
Solution (suggested by that other poster’s “dumb thought”): elite privates launch an ED3 round where a student can apply to that school and up to three other ED3 schools.
Benefit for the school: they get apps from people who don’t feel they can commit to just one school yet, whether for emotional or financial reasons, but they know they’re reasonably likely to yield the student because their school is in the student’s top 4
Benefit for the student: increased odds of admission because the school knows the student is more likely to yield
Honestly it could run on the same timeline as RD. It wouldn’t stop students from applying to lots of schools if they wanted to, but it would favor kids who identify a more focused list.