<p>A few of the colleges that D is looking at offer 2 rounds of Early Decision. The first is usually due by 11/15 and the second is usually 1/15. Can anyone provide any feedback or suggestions as to the advantages/disadvantages of each deadline for a student interested in the ED option? Is there any "rule of thumb" strategy to follow? Thanks for any help</p>
<p>Bobby, I’ve seen some of your earlier posts, and that your D is interested in St. Olaf–that’s one school that has ED1 and ED2.</p>
<p>Most schools that offer ED are more likely to admit a candidate who applies either ED1 or ED2; there are a lot of reasons for that; they especially like candidates who are saying that that college is the first choice and show enthusiasm by applying ED. For female applicants, ED is a way to distinguish ones self from the larger group of applicants. Even if one is deferred at the ED1 stage, the decision can be reconsidered at a later stage.</p>
<p>The downside, of course, is that one cannot compare financial aid offers.</p>
<p>I would say that if your D is looking at more than one college with ED1 and 2, she really needs to ask herself if one college is her top choice and, if so, whether the finances work out. If it is the number one choice and the financial estimates seem workable, she should go ahead and apply ED1. It is nice to know by mid December.</p>
<p>Thanks John. St. Olaf is at the top of her list but there are a few others she has there as well. The second round of visits will hopefully make her decision easier. I understand the benefits (and downside) of apllying ED over RD in general, I was just curious if there was any distinct advantage/disadvantage between choosing between the 2 ED options. We will not qualify for FA so that won’t be an issue except the possibility of any non-need based merit scholarships. I am just curious how a school allocates the number of students admitted under each ED round. If you have an exceptionally strong applicant pool in ED 1, what does a school do?</p>
<p>My general impression is that the ED1 pool is bigger, and that schools admit more students ED1 than ED2. Reasons for choosing ED2 would be a rejection from an ED1 or SCEA school, or the desire to have a strong senior semester to show to colleges (perhaps due to a weak junior year). But all else being equal, ED1 is the way to go.</p>
<p>Some students wait out ED-1 at a dream school, and if rejected they know by December, so put in an ED-2 application during January. They still get to let that ED-2 college know they are special to them, but only after they’ve gotten their ED-1 rejection or deferral from elsewhere.</p>
<p>Some schools like offering ED-2 because it gives THEM a chance to pick up on some excellent candidates before the school has to compete (in the candidate’s mind) with RD acceptances from several other schools in May.</p>
<p>It’s a two-way street that has up-sides for both college and student. A down-side is if the student is accepted ED-2, that really is a commitment. Other apps filed and under RD consideration elsewhere must be withdrawn, as part of accepting the ED-2 offer. I would imagine if a student declines an ED-2 offer of acceptance, then don’t expect them to hear more happy news in RD from that same school.</p>
<p>The solid-gold reason to apply anywhere ED is because you’re sure it’s your first choice and there are no financial obstacles. ED-2 is just as serious a commitment as ED-1. An advantage (like all ED’s) is a happy senior year. The disadvantage (in all ED’s) is believing so much it will happen (magical thinking) that a student doesn’t put in the effort to work on other applications. So if deferred or denied, then it’s a big last-minute rush to file other applications in time. Can your student put in the work on RD applications even when wishing/hoping for an ED to work out? Or, put differently, can they generate 7 good apps in a short time period under much pressure after a disappointment? </p>
<p>The other side, doing only RD decisions (as my youngest did) is it is really hard to get through April when others are coasting because they got their ED’s in hand. Nonetheless, all the decisions come in at the same time and then choices can be made, so it’s a temporary discomfort. </p>
<p>Only do ED-l or ED-2 if you can in clear conscience say, "I can easily let all those other apps go in my mind; won’t spend rest of life asking ‘what if…’ about the others. It should be a clear first choice.</p>
<p>Right, I think ED2 is generally a second bite at the apple for kids who have put in an ED or EA application at a reach school and been rejected or deferred. Many then apply ED2 to a matchier college, and hope it will help them (and it often does). </p>
<p>The problem with ED2 (if there is one) is that, unlike ED1, you don’t find out if you have been accepted until long after your other applications are due, so you don’t get to avoid the stress of submitting multiple applications to a variety of colleges. That’s why almost everyone who applies ED2 has already had a disappointing result in an earlier early round.</p>
<p>And perhaps a student isn’t sure by November whether That School is the hands-down personal first choice. Then, through reflection and visits, feels ready to say that by January, relative to the other apps filed. In that case, it will improve chances of admission to That School to reroute their filed RD app into an ED-2 deadline.</p>
<p>Usually, though, the big obstacle is creating all those applications. Once many are filed, I can’t imagine students wanting to pull back from them. They’re too curious to see what will come their way in May.</p>
<p>^Right. It’s possible that some students file ED2 applications as the result of calm reflection and sober decisionmaking in November and December. That’s why I said “almost” everyone.</p>
<p>But I am now going to do a graphical representation of the amount of calm reflection and sober decisionmaking about colleges I have seen from high school seniors in the months of November and December: .</p>
<p>The other thing to consider is that ED2 may not offer as much as boost as ED1. For example, a couple of years ago Emory posted stats for both ED1 and 2, and their acceptance rate for 2 was barely higher than RD, but ED1 was significantly higher.</p>
<h1>8 - Classic post, JHS.</h1>
<p>Bluebayou, ED-2 apps may appear to carry all the sincerity of a belated birthday card. ED-1’s must mean it so much more.</p>
<p>In some schools (definitely NOT ALL), ED acceptance rate is significantly higher (almost by the factor of 2). A very good candidate school for S2 is just such a school, and they have ED I and ED II. Does anybody have any feel for whether the acceptance rate boost for ED I and ED II is similar?</p>
<p>My son applied to Clear Choice Number 1 for ED1 and was rejected; he heard on Dec 13. The app deadline for his Clear Choice Number 2 for ED2 was Dec 15, so he applied and was accepted. (He heard on Feb 8.) </p>
<p>The only downside: He also applied to 11 other schools in the meantime – between Dec 15 and Jan 15 – for regular decision. Once his ED2 acceptance came in, he of course withdrew all the other apps – with no refund of the app fees. Wound up costing us maybe $500 which, at the end of the day, was a waste of money.</p>
<p>Oh well. When you consider all the other expenses for preparing, applying and attending college, I guess it was a drop in the bucket.</p>
<p>hyeonjlee: I have never seen figures on ED1 vs. ED2. Using my imagination, I believe that (a) ED2 acceptance rates are probably a little lower, and (b) the ED “boost”, such as it is, is the same.</p>
<p>I think the acceptance rates will be lower because ED2 will have fewer or no recruited athletes and children of library-donors, whose presence in the ED1 pool artificially inflates acceptance rates, since they are really in separate pools that have a 100% (or close to it) acceptance rate, and probably represent a significant chunk of ED1 acceptances. Countering that somewhat is my suspicion that the ED2 pool consists largely of candidates who are stepping down in category – people who took a shot at Brown or Dartmouth ED because they believed they had a decent chance, were rejected or deferred, and now remember that, really, the college they liked most was Colgate – and that will probably be a fairly strong group of candidates.</p>
<p>I think the boost is the same because . . . why wouldn’t it be? It’s the same deal – let’s go steady. “OK, I admit I used to have a crush on this other guy, but it turned out he was a jerk, and we didn’t even mess around. Let’s not even talk about him. When I came to my senses I realized you’re the one that I want. I’m a sure thing.” What red-blooded, yield-hungry American college is going to turn up its nose at that?</p>
<p>I assume that rejection from ED I means the candidate has no more chance with that school, meaning, s/he can’t aim for ED II or RD. Similarly, deferment from ED I means being put into the RD pile, NOT rolled into the ED II pile.</p>
<p>Am I correct?</p>
<p>I think most colleges make that explicit somewhere in their FAQs or on the application itself.</p>
<p>I appreciate all the feedback and it confirms what I believed that ED 1 may be the best bet for the dream school. However, like JHS says, often people can change their mind and may decide a different school is better and apply ED-2. (assuming they get rejected by Dream School 1). I would think that a college might look at the ED 2 applicants as those not getting into their first choice. I guess the bottom line is go ED-1 first, ED-2 second and RD last for the dream school.</p>
<p>I think that colleges would definitely look on ED2 applicants as those not getting their first choice. But there are a lot of colleges – especially those that offer ED2 – part of whose market niche is being the next-best choice to an unrealistic first choice. If Amherst is going to turn down great applicants – and it is – why shouldn’t College X snap some of them up on the rebound? Is it going to downgrade them for having applied ED to Amherst unsuccessfully? It shouldn’t. It WANTS the kind of kid who wanted to apply ED to Amherst.</p>
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<p>Actually, at least at some schools, I think you are given the choice of whether you want to go to EDII or RD if you’re deferred. In fact, I go to a school with ED II, but the only people I know who got in ED II were deferred from ED I. I’m sure that’s just a coincidence of who I know, but anyway, that’s definitely another category of people applying ED II.</p>