My son is a HS senior considering applying ED at BU, George Washington, and NYU Stern. Stats:
GPA UW 3.97 W 4.35
Class rank UW 7/400 W 16/400
ACT 33
SAT Subject Matter - in progress
National Level debate
Several elected / selected positions
Thoughts on if/where to apply ED?
ED is like a marriage. It’s a real commitment and you may or may not get much aid from the schools you are applying to. Just went through the admissions process with my son. He applied to a few colleges early action (non-binding) and regular admission. He got a generous Presidential Scholarship from GW and almost no merit aid from BU. My friend’s daughter goes to NYU with no aid. I think you should look at how all of the colleges are handling COVID-19 because GW is online and BU is on campus. Unfortunately the epidemic may still be here in fall 2021.
^ understanding the types of aid is important too. As pointed out above, GW can be quite generous with merit, but it is very rare at NYU (who bases most aid on financial need, but explicitly does not usually meet full financial need). BU is usually somewhere in the middle of these. I know of a few people who got little or no aid at NYU who got decent aid at BU.
I do wonder about someone who is interested in Stern, a top business school, but also GW. GW is excellent for politics but not usually so highly regarded for business. His chances will be significantly higher at GW ED than the other two, but is the course there one he is happy to totally commit to?
Just to throw something else in the mix, perhaps have your son apply EA to Fordham (Gabelli). The business school is well regarded, usually around the same kind of level as BU’s, and they are pretty generous with merit. It might be a nice “bird in the hand”, especially if ED1 doesn’t work out, wherever he ends up doing it. If he’s not wedded to the northeast, Kelley (Indiana) is also worth considering for an EA app.
ED is a huge commitment. I only think ED should be used if both conditions are true: 1) the applicant has a school that is definitely his/her top choice and 2) the school appears affordable (run net price calculator).
That said, if your S wants business I think Stern stands out – however NYU is often not great with financial aid.
Agree with the above post – again, if he wants business I think an EA application to colleges such as Fordham (Gabelli) and IU (Kelley) -or other EA/rolling b-schools he likes makes a lot of sense. It’s always nice to have an acceptance in hand in case the ED school doesn’t work out.
Thank you! Great input.
We are struggling with the ED decision because he really wants Stern, and thinks he has a chance, but the sheer number of applicants seem to make it a crap shoot vs possibly applying ED to BU( or other similar) another top choice. I think he will apply EA at Fordham. We are not finding many other schools in his target range that are doing non binding EA.
Then my suggestion would be to apply ED1 to Stern and EA to Fordham at the same time, and then apply ED2 to BU if the Stern application isn’t successful.
Stern is a reach for sure, but there’s a difference between a reach and a crap shoot, especially with his stats. I think if it really is his top choice (and it’s affordable) you should let him do it, or he will forever be thinking “what if”.
Yeah, I agree with SJ2727. I don’t think a student who is not truly in love with a school should apply there ED, so if he really wants Stern and financial affordability is not a factor, then he should apply ED to Stern.
Thank you both. Great perspective. Agree with the “what if”, he’s worked hard to get to this point and wants to go for it.
One thing I’ll add with GW is that their merit aid for the ED decision pools is not fantastic. Because they don’t have to incentivize top students (like your son) to go to the school, they don’t offer as much aid. I was accepted EDI and did not meet anyone who received more than $15k in merit aid. Comparatively, my roommates who had similar academic achievements all received between $20k and $28k per year. Therefore, if money is a consideration, don’t choose GW.
Are you full pay? ED to any of those three is unlikely to earn any merit money, so expect to pay sticker. If he want business, Stern is where I’d throw the ED app. (Has he taken/is he taking Calc BC?) He’ll still have a great chance at the others RD.
Really appreciate this community and the responses. We are prepared to pay full but of course the opportunity for assistance is a factor.
S is in calc AB this year. Will this be a neg for stern and other competitive undergrad business programs?
CalcAB: Not ideal, not a dealbreaker.
NYU’s aid is almost entirely need based and they do not meet full need, so if you come out at full pay or close to full pay on the NPC, don’t expect any aid.
BU historically has given some merit to high stats students, though with BU’s average admit stats having risen to 3.9GPA/33ACT, around where your son’s stats are, not sure where one has to be to get merit now.
Fordham will likely offer some merit.