Our son ED’d and got in from a NoVa public. 33 ACT/4.3 weighted, IB, good ECs. After the fact, we wondered if he should’ve just EA’d and let the other many applications he had already completed for EA bear out. At the beginning of his senior year, it felt like ED was important to boost admission for his favorite school. As the year went on, his GPA got higher (ended with a 4.5) and we couldn’t help but wonder if he maybe did everything too prematurely. But that’s really more us than him. He’s super excited about heading to UVA! It worked out the way it was suppose to.

Anonymous wrote:If you are clearly in the green on the scattergrams, there is no admissions advantage.

This may be true at private schools with a small sample size. I don't think it is true at big FCPS schools.

Anonymous wrote:OP, no one here knows if there is an advantage or not. This is why using ED as a strategy is a fool’s errand for most schools save for a few (I’m looking at you Tulane and Middlebury.)

If this is the school where your kid knows in their heart that they want it above every other school, then apply ED. If not, then don’t apply ED.

Which is what the schools will tell you.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:ED was definitely better for borderline kids this year at our large VA public

ok, so I gotta ask: how the hell do you know who the "borderline" kids are?

i'll wait

DP here but some kids are very open about what their stats are and what schools are a reach for them. We knew a girl who ED'd to W&M who openly admitted it was a long shot in advance. (She did not get in.)

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:ED was definitely better for borderline kids this year at our large VA public

ok, so I gotta ask: how the hell do you know who the "borderline" kids are?

i'll wait

True. NP. We don’t know.