I have a school that became my first choice after sending my ED to a different school, which I did not get into. I want to tell this new school that they are my top choice and I would 100% attend if I got in, which is true. I basically want to get the closest I can do the binding agreement of ED but for RD. How do I make this sound sincere? And where should I do it, in additional info or send an email or both? What else can I do to demonstrate they’re my top choice?
I think it is okay to communicate that to a college.
“What else can I do to demonstrate they’re my top choice?”
If the school tracks demonstrated interest, there are a lot of things you can (and should, if you can afford to do them) do. Have you visited? Taken official tours? Met with a professor in the department of your major? Visited with admissions reps when they came to your school? Signed up for their emails and actually read them? Done an overnight?
“I will attend if I’m accepted” Will just seem a ploy to get accepted. They will wonder why you didn’t apply to them ED. It may come across as admitting that your profile alone isn’t adequate to be admitted.
Is it true even if the financial aid isn’t what you hope for? Are your parents on board with this? If so, then I think it is okay to tell them that.
Many schools have ED II for exactly this purpose. Does the school you are targeting have that?
@ClassicRockerDad no it does not sadly.
@intparent Yes, my parents are on board regardless of the aid, we will make it work.
@TomSrOfBoston Is there any way to make it come off as sincere?
@Groundwork2022 I have demonstrated interest through the email list and I talked to a professor over the phone. The problem is the college is far away from me so I would need to fly and I can’t make it work before applications are due. My parents are on board with sending me on a visit in January, do you think this would still be significant even after my application has been submitted?
Hmm. I would not tell a school you have never visited that you will attend no matter what. Tell them you are interested and send any accomplishment updates in late Jan/early Feb. Once you have acceptances and FA packages, go to accepted student visits at your top couple of choices.
Telling isn’t binding so likely it has little to no value. Only reason for ED is to know who is ready to legally commit. Slick applicants flirt with every college but colleges believe in an old saying, “if you like it put a ring on it”.
it works better if your guidance counselor tells them. His/her reliability is important, and the colleges know that GC will only say this if it’s sincere. GCs want to develop a reputation as trustworthy.
The school will tell you if demonstrated interest is important or not. This can be found on the school’s common data set if it isn’t on their web site. If you have the means to visit in January AND you can arrange a meeting with admissions, go for it. @intparent has a good point, though: don’t commit to attend a college you haven’t visited.
At this point, I would not plan a visit to a school you haven’t gotten into.
My suggestion is to plan a visit in late Jan. / early Feb. We did this last year for a college that rose to near the top for my D and she hadn’t visited. We were worried that if we waited for acceptance the last minute ticket for accepted student’s day would be very expensive. Plus, we figured going to visit in the early part of their RD review process would count as demonstrated interest. She made a point of doing official tour and meeting with a professor. It worked out – she was accepted, with merit $ to boot!
Nice thing – very few visitors during the that time of year so we have practically a private tour by a student.
And I do think if the visit goes well you can send a follow-up not letting them know if accepted you will attend.
Good luck!
But it is wasted money if the student is not accepted. You don’t have to visit to show interest. If the student is applying regardless of the visit, I’d wait.
@intparent – I agree it’s a tougher call if it’s a reach. In my high stat D’s case it was a pretty solid match college, esp. given she was a significant geographic diversity pick. (Or at least we thought it was match - then it turns out last cycle they dropped their admit rate a lot b/c of over-enrolling the previous year. But that’s another story and we didn’t know that would happen.)
My D really wanted to do everything she could to be admitted and not have any ‘what if’ regrets if she didn’t get in. Plus, we got reasonable tickets to a nice place to visit in Feb. and made it a long ‘girls’ weekend’ and saw other folks we knew in the area.