Has anyone else received an email asking them to convert their Regular Decision Application to ED2? I showed my guidance counselor the email, and she thinks it’s unlikely that I’ll get in regular decision if I don’t convert. However, I got the same request from F&M, who I said yes to since they’re my top choice school.
I was wondering how common this is, as my guidance counselor said it’s virtually unheard of for not one but two LAC’s to make this request. I’m planning to send a nice email to Hamilton that says I’m interested in the school but am unable to change admissions plans at this time.
If it’s at all relevant, I have a 33 act, 4.3 gpa, several leadership positions (President of a Mental Health club and Section Editor for the paper), and 800+ community service hours.
I responded to your F&M thread. Now I am beginning to wonder if these requests are related to scholarship merit award consideration.
Your stats are very strong to outstanding, and your ECs are excellent & not typical. I suspect that these schools are concerned that an Ivy or very highly ranked LAC will grab you.
P.S. I would ask Hamilton admissions as well as F&M admissions if this request is related to scholarship award consideration.
Did many applicants get that letter? My daughter did not. I haven’t heard of colleges making requests to specific applicants to change their application status.
I suspect that OP (@Cait2666) has outstanding teacher recs that enhance her application. Hamilton College may have a special interest in OP’s EC as President of a Mental Health club.
@Publisher and @basil2000, thanks for your replies! My counselor said that getting these letters is practically unheard of at one, let alone two LAC’s. However, I go to a super competitive high school (#1 in my state)where many kids to go to Ivies/T-20s. I was hoping someone else was in this position because my counselor said that “encouraging” students to change their admissions plan is unethical, yet small colleges do it to increase their ED 2 numbers.
I ended up saying yes to F&M since I love the school, and I didn’t apply to any ivies even though I could have since I don’t think those places are all that great mental-health wise. My guidance counselor who wrote my rec sponsors the mental health club, so maybe that helps? Also, my teacher who wrote my rec knows me really well.
This could be true, but in a way that’s only tangential to the generation of your recent email. In the RD pool, Hamilton accepts 1 in 5 (technically, 19%). On a statistical basis, this makes admission improbable for most RD applicants.
The ethics of this seem impossible to evaluate on this thread without the wording of your email. All RD applicants can convert their applications to RD2 through the end of January. By reinforcing the availability of this option through timely communication, Hamilton may have simply provided you with clarifying information.
@Publisher Hamilton does not offer merit scholarships.
@Cait2666 As the mother of a current junior in college at another LAC, and of a current college applicant, I can say for sure that several schools do alert applicants of the option to change from RD to ED2.
For what it’s worth as a sample size of 1, in 2014 my daughter was in the same position with Hamilton that you now find yourself. She had applied RD, received a letter or email asking (I don’t think it was “encouraging”) her if she wanted to switch to ED2. She declined, was accepted RD, and had a fantastic four years at Hamilton.
Hamilton is need blind and does not offer merit money, so this request does not relate to finances.
Hamilton offers everyone the ability to convert their RD app to ED2 by a certain date, so I do not feel this is related to your stats and it is likely that this offer was extended to many if not all applicants. Asking for you to convert your application does not mean that you will be accepted, and all schools are trying to make their acceptance rates as low as possible for the ED rounds as well as RD. In addition, colleges want to increase yield and ED2 applicants do this for them. It’s a way for them to try to capture those who were not certain about where to ED2 when applying in December but now want to increase their chances of admission at a single school. I do not find it unethical at all; sometimes the difference of a month or so makes a big difference in whether a student is willing to commit to a school for ED2.