Anonymous
Post 02/06/2025 17:00     Subject: ED is the name of the game

Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:When you apply ED you are locking yourself in to one school versus being able to compare merit offers from different schools.

By taking lower stats kids in ED schools get to select for full pay or price insensitive families.


how perverse. you know there are plenty enough full pay kids to fill the school's roster at the stats the school wants. But if it makes you feel better to think that only rich, lower stats kids get in ED, then sure.


Not every ED kid has lower stats. But if the average stats of the ED kids are lower than the average stats of the RD kids, then that means that rich kids who can commit to ED are getting in over kids who can’t commit to it.


At schools where ED matters much, the differences in stats between ED and EA/RD are not significantly different. Trust me, no T50 school has an average SAT of 1550+ for RD and has a ED SAT average of 1500 (and even that is not that much different). There simply are not statistical difference. You just want to think that because you are annoyed you are not able/not willing to commit to $90K/year college.


One thing to remember for SLACs is that half (or more) of the ED applicants will be athletes. A very high percentage of whom will be omitted with equal or lower stats than NARPs, who will be admitted at a much lower rate. You need to understand when analyzing your ED benefit (assuming not recruited/hooked), what percentage of the pool is athletes and then adjust the ED admit rate to account for that if your kid is a NARP. And, before you whine about this being an unfair hook, athletes add value to the school and, overall perform better academically and go on to better careers than NARPs as a whole.


I'm not whining about athletes or anyone getting admitted ED. I fully support ED. Just wish people would stop complaining they "cannot apply ED because they need to hear from all the schools". It's okay, you want to compare so apply EA/RD, compare all offers and then decide. Nobody is forcing you to apply ED.

And yes, I get that the ED rates look better at many schools than they actually are, because Athletes and legacies (who are going to get admitted no matter what) typically get in thru ED
Such is life. Unless your last name is Gates/Bezos/etc there will always be someone who seems to have an "unfair advantage" over you, that is just life

Anonymous
Post 02/06/2025 16:58     Subject: ED is the name of the game

SCEA/REA at HYPS is more difficult than RD if unhooked.
Anonymous
Post 02/06/2025 16:29     Subject: ED is the name of the game

I don’t regret the ED decision. Yes, she could have been accepted to a more prestigious school, but I mush prefer paying $40k vs $88k + travel costs.
Anonymous
Post 02/06/2025 16:09     Subject: ED is the name of the game

Anonymous wrote:WASP ED admit, DS thrilled to be one and done. Felt it was the best fit, didn't need other options to consider after visiting a number of schools.


(but probably could be happy at any good LAC)
Anonymous
Post 02/06/2025 16:08     Subject: ED is the name of the game

WASP ED admit, DS thrilled to be one and done. Felt it was the best fit, didn't need other options to consider after visiting a number of schools.
Anonymous
Post 02/06/2025 16:04     Subject: ED is the name of the game

I think ED is nice for avoiding stress and a lot of effort between December and May for kids who have a strong preference for a particular school. My DC was rejected outright in ED from a WASP LAC but admitted to two Ivies, an Ivy+, and two other WASP LACs in RD. DC would have had a much more enjoyable senior year if they had gotten into their ED school. But DC is at a great school and definitely wouldn't swap schools if given the option.
Anonymous
Post 02/06/2025 15:56     Subject: ED is the name of the game

Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:ED really shines for the T25ish to T50.

Schools like Emory, NYU, Northeastern, WashU, Wake Forest, UMiami, BU, BC.





This is the correct answer. I would add Chicago, which is course is an outlier within the t15.

At t10 schools it is simply the legacy/athlete/URM/donor phase of the admissions cycle. Unhooked acceptances are generally very strong apps. But typically most of these kids are deferred.


Chicago is definitely the outlier. From Naviance (and anecdata) the T10 acceptance rate for EA/ED is lower than RD, at our test-in magnet school. Chicago takes almost all ED1 applicants and about half from ED2.
Anonymous
Post 02/06/2025 15:54     Subject: ED is the name of the game

Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:ED really shines for the T25ish to T50.

Schools like Emory, NYU, Northeastern, WashU, Wake Forest, UMiami, BU, BC.





+1000

That's the ED sweet spot for high stats kids.

Sweet spot.
Anonymous
Post 02/06/2025 15:51     Subject: ED is the name of the game

Anonymous wrote:ED really shines for the T25ish to T50.

Schools like Emory, NYU, Northeastern, WashU, Wake Forest, UMiami, BU, BC.





+1000

That's the ED sweet spot for high stats kids.
Anonymous
Post 02/06/2025 15:50     Subject: ED is the name of the game

Anonymous wrote:ED really shines for the T25ish to T50.

Schools like Emory, NYU, Northeastern, WashU, Wake Forest, UMiami, BU, BC.





This is the correct answer. I would add Chicago, which is course is an outlier within the t15.

At t10 schools it is simply the legacy/athlete/URM/donor phase of the admissions cycle. Unhooked acceptances are generally very strong apps. But typically most of these kids are deferred.
Anonymous
Post 02/06/2025 15:41     Subject: ED is the name of the game

ED really shines for the T25ish to T50.

Schools like Emory, NYU, Northeastern, WashU, Wake Forest, UMiami, BU, BC.



Anonymous
Post 02/06/2025 15:29     Subject: ED is the name of the game

Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:We are in the "ED Honeymoon" phase. There is a possibility that they will regret not throwing their hats in the ring once they see the results of their classmates.

The game is still afoot.

There really should be no regret. Kids (should) know exactly what the tradeoffs are when they apply ED.

DS considered the options, looked at his chances with all the available data and opted to go ED. His choice and his win. No shoulda/coulda/woulda/.
Anonymous
Post 02/06/2025 15:20     Subject: ED is the name of the game

Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:When you apply ED you are locking yourself in to one school versus being able to compare merit offers from different schools.

By taking lower stats kids in ED schools get to select for full pay or price insensitive families.


how perverse. you know there are plenty enough full pay kids to fill the school's roster at the stats the school wants. But if it makes you feel better to think that only rich, lower stats kids get in ED, then sure.


Not every ED kid has lower stats. But if the average stats of the ED kids are lower than the average stats of the RD kids, then that means that rich kids who can commit to ED are getting in over kids who can’t commit to it.


At schools where ED matters much, the differences in stats between ED and EA/RD are not significantly different. Trust me, no T50 school has an average SAT of 1550+ for RD and has a ED SAT average of 1500 (and even that is not that much different). There simply are not statistical difference. You just want to think that because you are annoyed you are not able/not willing to commit to $90K/year college.


One thing to remember for SLACs is that half (or more) of the ED applicants will be athletes. A very high percentage of whom will be omitted with equal or lower stats than NARPs, who will be admitted at a much lower rate. You need to understand when analyzing your ED benefit (assuming not recruited/hooked), what percentage of the pool is athletes and then adjust the ED admit rate to account for that if your kid is a NARP. And, before you whine about this being an unfair hook, athletes add value to the school and, overall perform better academically and go on to better careers than NARPs as a whole.
Anonymous
Post 02/06/2025 15:17     Subject: ED is the name of the game

Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:My DD made was thankfully deferred after an ED application to a SLAC she liked but wasn't her absolute top choice. Perhaps she was settling because she ultimately got into Harvard during RD round.

Happy we got deferred from her ED so you could make a better choice in RD. She didn't expect to get into Harvard and we're so happy she did. But be careful about ED. If she had been admitted to her ED she wouldn't be at her actual #1 choice now.


She chose to APPLY ED. That's on her.



She was also 17 or 18. Take it easy.


Umm, she's a 17/18 yo applying to T25 schools, and got into Harvard. She should be "smart enough" to understand what the ED process is and weigh the pros/cons. If one cannot do that, they might not be ready to handle the rigors of attending college away from home in a few months.

Anonymous
Post 02/06/2025 15:16     Subject: Re:ED is the name of the game

Anonymous wrote:I wish our kid hadn’t done ED. Yes she got in. Honeymoon phase was brief followed by regrets. These are kids after all. Even if they think they really know their own mind, realizing they won’t have options to select from can be hard to actually accept.


These are kids largely applying to T50 schools ED. They should be smart enough to understand what the ED process means. And if they think they might have regrets then ED is not for them and you as a parent should help them realize that