I get the logic but at the same time I feel if you are borderline you would be deferred, not rejected.
But obviously lots of opinions. Interesting question for sure.
I’ve heard a lot of people getting advised it’s better to use your ED for a great school that you have the best shot at admission rather than the ‘hail mary’ as you would waste your one chance because the data doesn’t support admission.
1 Like
After RD, being, the wait list? I am not understanding.
How does an Admissions Office shape the characteristics of an admittance class after admissions decisions have been finalized?
Given the extremely low wait list admissions numbers of most schools, it seems these would have little impact.
1 Like
I may have missed where anyone claimed this. Post #?
What most are saying is that it does not provide any benefit (“improve chances”) over ED, given those two options.
Do you believe a student rejected in ED would have had a good chance at RD admission? Or that a student deferred to RD from ED has a worse chance than if they just waited to apply in RD?
I’m replying to this statement:
“By the time you get to RD, the College Admissions office is in the final stages of “rounding out a class” - so they are looking for specific demographics and “skills” (like the orchestra needs a Tuba player) to fill.”
I asked for a source, and it was not provided.
According to Jeff Selingo’s book, shaping follows RD. My point is that RD is not about shaping with a few spots like the needed tuba player as suggested. The futility statement was my own.
See an excerpt from Selingo’s book here:
I’ve read Selingo’s book and yes, RD is about shaping. They do need to find students who meet their institutional needs in the RD round.
But, not every accepted kid is going to matriculate. They choose the kids they really want RD, and the WL is comprised of a variety of students.
-they know the student can succeed at the college if they are admitted.
-the student may be full pay.
-or, it’s a polite rejection so as to not upset alumni, or a particular high school.
Getting off WL is never a given, considering how many students are offered it. My own kid got off two waitlists so it definitely happens. She had moved on and never expected it, but it worked out for her. We both think she would certainly have been accepted ED to the college she ultimately attended.
All of that shaping in Selingo’s book happened in the RD round. And as lindagaf says the schools are choosing specific types of students in RD all along…whether one wants to call that shaping or not, in RD the schools are finishing filling out their institutional priorities, which includes meeting their revenue targets. It is more difficult because they have to estimate yield in RD which they don’t have to do in ED1/2.
I have also heard numerous AOs talk about shaping in the ED2 round (obviously at schools that offer ED2). Each year of ED2 is different, and therefore unpredictable, because the school tries to fill what they didn’t get in EDI….and because they already have visibility to the RD round in ED2, they can have a highly focused process in choosing the ED2 candidates they want the most.
1 Like
It also seems to me that schools are starting to fill more and more of their class in ED1 and 2. It helps their yield prediction tremendously to have binding ED. Northwestern filled 54% of their class in ED last cycle. One of the schools on my D’s original list was filling 60+% in ED.
Then there are the EA schools where if you don’t submit by that deadline the chances of some of the popular majors are 0%.
4 Likes