<p>Vassar is my first-choice school and I would want to apply ED. Unfortunately, I might not get the chance to visit. Would it be a bad idea to apply ED and try to visit later when I have more money from working? We'll need financial aid, too......help would be appreciated!</p>
<p>YES!</p>
<p>Friend of mine applied ED to Penn. Got in (suprisingly), went on a campus visit in April, and realized that it was too nerdy for her. </p>
<p>Visits will tell you whether or not you should apply ED there or not.</p>
<p>When you are applying ED, you need to be absolutely sure. You should definately visit. Since financial aid is an issue, go prepared with tax and income documents so they can give you some preliminary financial aid packaging info. (It won't be official, but schools with ED provide that information.)</p>
<p>well if hes from CA, visiting Vassar in NY isnt exactly the easiest trip to make in general, especially with needing FA...</p>
<p>But applying ED is binding...that is like applying for a school and not visiting before sending in a deposit on May 1.</p>
<p>If he is applying ED (which is binding if admitted)..and it is the only school he is applying to ..then why not visit? FA is even more of a reason...to discuss FA. Besides, if he can't visit once, how can he expect to afford travel over the next four years?</p>
<p>This is an expensive decision... you should definately take the necessary steps to make an informed.</p>
<p>Applying ED without visiting a school first is like buying a house without actually inspecting it first. If money is that much of an issue you probably shouldn't apply ED anyway (they might not give you much aid), but definitely do not apply ED without visiting first.</p>
<p>This question surfaces frequently... here is a passage from a recent post by me on this topic:</p>
<p>If one is applying Early Decision (ED), I would highly recommend a campus visit(s) prior to submitting the ED application. The reason for this is evident -- there is a binding commitment to attend and to withdraw all other applications filed with other schools.</p>
<p>There can be detrimental impact to taking a visit to a college subsequent to ED acceptance by a college -- with the impact affecting the student, the student's parents, the H.S. counselor, other students at that H.S., and the college.</p>
<p>If a student visits the school after ED acceptance and finds out that it is simply NOT the kind of "fit" s/he was hoping to find, that will not be sufficient reason in the eyes of that college's adcom to default on your commitment. The student would then be "stuck" with his/her choice. If s/he breaks the commitment, there are ramifications for that student that may force him/her to "settle" for a state school or less than selective school. This may come about through the college notifying other schools of what you have done -- a form of "blacklisting" that occurs in the admissions process.</p>
<p>In some cases colleges have established mandates with H.S. counselors that they will not further submit transcripts to other colleges for that student. (Obviously, such a counselor is placed in a difficult role, becuase the counselor must also think about the future of that high school's relationship with that college's adcom.) </p>
<p>By the way, here is something from Vassar's website regarding Early Decision Plan: </p>
<p>EARLY DECISION AGREEMENT</p>
<p>My signature below confirms that I am aware of the conditions of Vassars Early Decision Plan:</p>
<p> After carefully considering several colleges/universities I have decided that Vassar is my first choice and request an Early Decision on my application.
This is the only Early Decision application that I currently have pending.
My Early Decision application cannot be evaluated without senior year first quarter/trimester grades.
If accepted under Vassars Early Decision Plan, I will accept the offer of admission, will withdraw all other college applications, and will not apply to any other colleges/universities.
I understand that if offered Early Decision admission, Vassar may share my name and my Early Decision agreement with other institutions.</p>
<p>In other words, if accepted by mid-December, they expect the applicant to respond to their offer of admission by the first week in January -- likely before you will have heard from most Regular Decision and perhaps only some Rolling Decision plans. </p>
<p>Here's a story to consider: My daughter has a very good friend who had her sights set on Swarthmore. She was certain that based on all the information she had, this was her "dream school", and she was set to apply early. She was even lobbying my daughter to also apply to Swarthmore -- up until she visited and became entirely disenchanted with the "fit" to her personality. She eventually decided against applying to Swarthmore, was wait-listed at one Ivy, accepted at others, and eventually chose to stay closer to home, deciding on Stanford. Imagine if she had not visited the school! If a student has any doubts, do NOT apply ED, if for no other reason than to keep your options open.</p>
<p>Jackson -- DO NOT APPLY EARLY if you've never even seen the school. </p>
<p>Here's a real life senario. I took an online tour of Wesleyan and was completely won over by the idyllic scenery as well as the student testimonials. I was certain it was my top choice.</p>
<p>Then I visited this summer. I was stunned and quite disappointed to see that the school -- both the campus and the people -- did not match up to what I had built it up to be. I realized how lucky I was that I had visited before applying early -- or else I would be stuck going to a school that wasn't right for me.</p>
<p>The bottom line? The added "advantage" of applying early is not worth the headache and heartache of finding out that your "top choice school" isn't all it seemed to be.</p>
<p>There are videotaped tours (<a href="http://www.collegiatechoice.com)%5B/url%5D">www.collegiatechoice.com)</a>, but I don't think they would be a substitute for physically going to the college. Because we couldn't visit every potential school, my son ordered a number of the tapes prior to coming up with his final list and it did tell him that some places he might like and some he wouldn't. However, for his ED school, we definitely made it a point to visit, even though it was on the other side of the country. It ended up his final choice was between two places that he had only seen the tapes for. Research left him preferring one school. Physical visits to both places told him that he didn't like that school and he strongly preferred the other.</p>
<p>I have read too many stories here of kids who decide they want a particular school and get committed to go ... then they see it and immediately dislike it. This seems like a more expensive mistake than the cost of visiting a school and confirming that, yes indeed, one likes a school enough to apply ED.</p>
<p>you could always apply early, get in, and try the school for a year. if you dont like it its not the end of the world because you can always transfer.</p>
<p>if aid is a big requirement, then ED is a bad choice for two reasons. 1] schools then will give fewer merit scholarships and the need based aid may not be enough though their calculators says it is (but i think if finances are that big they will allow you to back out of ED sometimes). 2] you never know what money other colleges are going to give you unless you apply so vassar may give you some aid, but another may give you more, and a state school may give you a full ride.</p>
<p>OP, I think you are making 2 mistakes. The first is applying without visiting. As others have pointed out, if you don't like it you can't simply change your mind without serious ramifications. The second is the financial aid angle. While theoretically you can get out of an ED committment if you can't afford it, if the school "meets" your need you don't have that out and nothing prevents them from meeting as much of your need as they want with loans. </p>
<p>There is no doubt ED enhances chances of admissions. However it's a big gamble to take if you need financial aid. A lot of kids who need financial aid apply to reaches and also to some matches, especially those they've found thru research that give generous merit aid to attract strong kids. IMHO you are better off with that approach rather than graduating college saddled with 100K+ in debt. And you can even do some negotiating with a few aid packages in hand.</p>
<p>Lemme just say that IMHO, applying ED to a school you never visited is one of the DUMBEST things i've ever heard.</p>
<p>Hmmm, this sounds like an idea I had been toying with last year, though (A) I was too lazy to ever actually complete the application in time (B) I could never get around to visiting in time and (C) I never would have cared enough about a school by that time and (D) I wanted to see how I would have done at other schools, so I would definitely recommend that you don't follow through with your plan unless you get to visiting Vassar because your social environment will be perhaps the most important aspect about attending any school, but once you visit [which I hope you do BEFORE you apply ED if you are going to do so] and you know this is where you want to spend the next four years of your life then I would definitely agree that you should do that.</p>
<p>jPoD, you never cease to amaze me with your insightful comments.</p>
<p>i dont even know you.....</p>