Yes, the OP has shown he’s a versatile, while technically strong, writer.
The ED admittance rate at many of the LACs is through the roof. Yes, I know that recruited athletes count in the ED category, but I suspect it is more than that–that being so small, these schools need to be as accurate as possible on their yield percentage.
My recommendation is to take the next nine months and try to figure out which of those schools you like the best, through visits and a deep dive into your preferences. They are different–some have a stronger Greek culture, and you may decide you prefer a school in a small city/large town over one more rural. Also, Haverford is the smallest and I think Colgate may be the largest–Colgate may be twice as big as Haverford! That’s not irrelevant.
The creative writing really stands out to me–not to stereotype, but it is less usual from an Asian male and may be a positive to these schools and a way to stand out. Do you submit to journals? There are a ton of publications that encourage teen writers. I subscribe to “Authors Publish Magazine” that sends me a weekly e-mail announcing journals seeking submissions with deadlines over the next month; some are themed, some not. Some have short word limits. May be worthwhile for you–there’s time to get several pieces published over the next year, which would really demonstrate interest. Good luck!
Bowdoin, Amherst, Williams- very hard to get into. You would have a chance, but if you don’t LOVE one of those more than the other schools, why waste your ED on it? Middlebury is absolutely gorgeous, and despite the cold there I could see a Californian liking it. Colgate is a bit different than the others on your list- bigger, sportier, maybe frattier. The Maine schools are pretty remote, so is Hamilton. Haverford and Vassar give you better city access. So you need to think about what it is you want.
But I don’t think you should play the ED game. If you don’t have a clear favorite then you shouldn’t commit with an ED application. I think you will get into a great school even RD.
Haverford’s proximity to Philly is one of the reasons I’m considering it. As for Vassar, however – what person in their right mind would classify Poughkeepsie as a city?
I almost definitely will apply ED to one of the LACs on this list, though. I’ll take your advice and do some writing contests, although anyone’s chances of winning such contests are low.
On a side note, although I’d obviously like to go to a good LAC, I resent the LAC admissions model entirely. An unremarkable LAC that has a sub-15% acceptance rate due to its absurdly small class sizes can boast exclusivity in spite of being academically inferior to many schools with similar or higher acceptance rates. Colorado College, for example, has an acceptance rate comparable to that of Georgetown – but I’m sure Georgetown garners many more applicants due to its clear academic superiority over Colorado College. The university-admissions game is fairly playable, but LAC admissions are nothing short of absurd in this respect.
To clear up any confusion–I’m not focusing on contests, but actual publication in on line or print journals. Many of them are small, but it doesn’t make them less credible. Many want genre fiction, too–horror, sci-fi, comedy, etc. and you can find some publications that are in your wheelhouse. Here’s another list for you: https://publishedtodeath.blogspot.com/p/calls-for-submissions.html
Re Vassar, I expect the poster means access to NYC via the very close train station and (relatively) easy 2 hour trip.
ED acceptances rates are hardly off the charts for elite LACs. SO many of those are athletes. For the NESCACs specifically, something like 40% of the kids play a varsity sport. Many to most of those were recruited and went ED. Our S at Bowdoin has met a LOT of non-athletes who were deferred in ED and then eventually accepted in RD. I think applying ED does show interest and boost a non-recruited athletes chances but it’s not a slam dunk.
Thanks for clarifying about Vassar @cinnamon1212. I didn’t know there was a train line to NYC from Vassar; that definitely bumps it up on my list.
I think a sound policy at this point is to apply EDI to a school like Middlebury or Bowdoin and, in case of rejection, apply EDII to Vassar due to their preference for male applicants. I’d love to go to any of these schools!
@homerdog I did some research in the interim, and ED is a huge advantage by any measure. I would refer you to this document: https://www.iecaonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Early-Decision-and-Regular-Decision-Acceptance-Rates-April-2018.pdf
Look at the statistics for LACs. With the possible exceptions of Bowdoin, Carleton, and Pomona, ED acceptance rates far exceed RD acceptance rates at LACs. (maybe this is why you’re skeptical, as Bowdoin doesn’t confer as much of an ED advantage as other LACs)
@deneuralyzer I know ED is a big bump but mostly for athletes. If you look at Bowdoin’s most recent CDS, 246 kids were accepted in ED. That’s half of the class. 43 percent of the class are varsity athletes. That’s 215 kids. Arguably, a large percentage of those 246 kids in ED are athletes.
Another ten percent or so are legacies who are also almost all ED candidates.
So, as you can see, the chance for a non-athlete or legacy in ED is very low even though the overall acceptance rate in ED is greater than RD.
I’m confident this Bowdoin example is pretty similar to the other NESCAC schools. You’d have to look up the athlete and legacy info for other LACs.
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@homerdog is correct. Most of the athletes have to apply ED and most have already passed a pre-read. Most schools ask legacies to apply ED, the idea being that they will give you that preference but only if you promise to use it (which ED does). Questbridge is in this round. So when a small school fills half its class through ED, it can appear that it’s a whole lot easier to get in that way. But the number of spots for someone who isn’t in one of those preferred groups? Not many. Your odds will be a smidge better, but not like that chart suggests.
I remember seeing those numbers the first time and feeling like I had found the keys to the secret kingdom. Alas, that was not the case…
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I think ED is different for elite universities (Vandy, Duke, Northwestern, etc). At those places, ED is a bigger bump for non-hooked kids. LACs are a tough nut to crack if you aren’t an athlete or a legacy.
I think the best chance non-hooked kids have at LACs is to (1) be above the 75th percentile for scores, (2) be able to state very clearly in their essays that they FIT the school, and (3) show in their app how they will specifically contribute on campus (newspaper? music? theater? maybe fill a spot in one of their smaller majors where they need kids?) LACs are communities with a lot going on. They need kids who are going to contribute on campus and they want to know where each admitted student might fit.
Right. Thank you @homerdog and @gardenstategal for the information. I do have a thing I do that’s fairly unique (not incredibly so, but good enough.) It may help with the “fit” part of the application, especially with more creative-type schools like Grinnell.
How about ED II? Is that affected as much by athletics and legacies?
It’s hard to find ED2 acceptance rates broken out. I also have not ever heard what the strategy is for schools and how they decide to accept kids in ED2. At that point, the small schools have their athletes, etc. I would assume they take kids in ED2 that fill holes they really want filled…especially since those kids will definitely come. Maybe kids from underrepresented states or first gen kids or URMs get a bump there. Certainly, kids with the highest of stats also get a bump. They want those kids.
S19 applied and was accepted to Grinnell in RD. I don’t see it as a more “creative” school. Grinnell is pretty strong in the sciences. Have you visited? We found the kids pretty mainstream and super happy. Be aware that Grinnell is very isolated with not much of a town at all. Lots going on on campus but really no where else to go within an hour’s drive. I do think that ED is more of a bump at Grinnell than at some other LACs.
If you have artistic ability, that might be of interest at a sporty LAC since they need artists as well and probably have fewer applying there than to maybe other LACs that lean more artsy like Vassar.
Sorry, I did mean Vassar instead of Grinnell. Was a bit addled. I am considering Grinnell, however, due to my interest in CS. Again, I will visit colleges, but as I don’t have an unlimited flight budget I need to prioritize.
The aforementioned thing I do isn’t really artsy per se. I won’t say what it is, again because it might be used to identify me.
I do know Hamilton College reports its ED II acceptance rates (~30%.) Not sure about the others.
@homerdog thank you for all the info! You really seem to know your stuff. Tell me, what are some more LACs (Grinnell, according to you, being a possible instance) that don’t really privilege sports recruits?
I have not seen ED 2 broken down separately for most schools – in fact, those stats for ED in the chart you have are for as 2 rounds of ED combined.
What you should know, though, is that it isn’t uncommon for students who got rejected at Stanford, for example, (or any of the SCEA schools that actually reject applicants in the early round) to decide to do ED2 applications to selective LACs… IOW, that ED2 pool may not have many athletes in it but it’ll have lots of unhooked talent in it. It’s a great way for the schools to lock in students they want. So it is often a strong pool that admits fewer students.
With that said, I do think that using ED2 for another bite at the apple can be a good strategy. But as we noted above, if you are deferred in the ED1 round (which is what happens more often than being rejected), you need to be comfortable with the possibility that you will get into your ED2 school and have to pass on seeing what happens at your ED1 school.
Because you are a junior, you have some time. Definitely plan to visit any school that you might want to put on your ED list while it is in session. Check to see when you can interview on campus – many will only talk to juniors in late spring. On campus interviews are a great way to get current information about what interests you - alumni interviews are more about showing interest.
I would recommend you follow some of the threads here on ED at the schools you like because you will see how it unfolds in real time.
And FWIW, the kids from our school who have chosen Grinnell are more artsy. (More theater, less sports!)
Note that the OP was correct to observe that Hamilton reports its ED II acceptance rate (32%).
I did look at a Grinnell EDI thread, which seems very acceptance-heavy. So does the Vassar thread. I’m personally looking at Grinnell because it’s got a combo of STEM and the LAC atmosphere, which I feel fits my CS+Humanities profile.