dd has doubt on early decision application. any advise?

Hello, my dd applied to about 6 schools. Some reach and safety….she applied early decision (to her second choice school) . Now is having second thoughts (we have not heard from the school yet) . she received an acknowledgement email stating they received the early decision application. And if she wanted to change the application status to submit an email to xxxx; not cut off dated.
She has her #1 school….not the early decision one. She has not heard back from them yet. I think both schools may come in a day from each other. Can anyone offer some advice? Thanks!!

definitely write them to change to RD, happens frequently.

we were hoping to hear from first choice by now…to then change to RD. but it’s coming down to the wire. we are getting worried.

Why did she apply ED to her second choice school?

If you did ED then you really do need to contact them now and back out to RD asap. You committed to the school that she would go there if she was accepted.

the school did not offer early action. it’s hard to get in if you apply RD…you have a high chance to get in if you do ED.

@CaMom13 the school did not offer early action. it’s hard to get in if you apply RD…you have a high chance to get in if you do ED.

You were trying to sort of game the system…and it didn’t work.

Call the ED school…today…and ask them to change her application to RD.

Really, kids should be applying to ED schools that are their number one choice.

So confused. She applied early to make sure she got into a school she didn’t want to go to?

of course not. she wants to go there but not her #1 choice.

@thumper1 pardon me… I wasn’t trying to game the system. I simply was trying to get my daughter into the school she wants to go. but its her second choice. Its nothing illegal or to judge anyone… everyone does it all the time. that is why all the schools have different dates.

@blossom of course not. she wants to go there but not her #1 choice.

@ucbalumnus the school did not offer early action. it’s hard to get in if you apply RD…you have a high chance to get in if you do ED.

Call today before she’s accepted and move her application to RD.

@bahamabreeze - Sorry to disagree with you, people DON’T do this all the time. ED is a commitment - not only yours and your students, but her Guidance Counselor had to sign something too, so bailing on ED impacts future students from your school. You really should change it now before decisions come out.

Well…she has two choices.

  1. Change the ED application to RD....so she can actually decide which school is her top choice.
  2. Stick to choice two being ED....with the understand she will attend if accepted.

Yes, at some schools, there is a small admissions edge for ED students…but unless this is the student top choice…OR would be top choice if accepted, an ED application probably shouldn’t be done.

Your daughter applied to her number two choice ED. Did she fully understand the ED commitment signed…or not?

Really…it’s OK to switch to RD. Kids do this. And a lot can change from the student perspective between top choices between now and May.

Your daughter’s guidance counselor had to acknowledge the binding nature of the ED agreement. So did you and your daughter. By applying ED, your daughter is indicating it’s her first choice above any others. Clearly it wasn’t though, and your daughter is at risk of being bound to go to a school that isn’t her top choice, and this has you all worried. I am sure you weren’t thinking that way, but yes, it’s a textbook definition of trying to game the ED process. Colleges have different deadlines because they know how much time they need to process applications and release decisions.

It’s not a crime to game the system but be aware that a game is just that, and you might lose in ways you didn’t foresee. It’s not wrong to say that the whole college process is a big game, but some ways of playing are riskier than others. Yes, you need to call right away and switch to RD.

I am sorry, but I have to disagree with most of the posters here. OP kid’s first choice was the EA school. If she got in there then she would move her ED school to RD, but if she were to be rejected by the EA school then she would be perfectly happy to to go the ED school. As long as she is able to change the ED to RD in time then she is within her right and abiding by the the ED/EA rules.

According to OP, the EA result is to come out before the ED result. As long as the ED school doesn’t stipulate a date to change from ED to RD then she has up to the day when ED comes out.
Not sure why people think the student is “gaming” the system any more than what most of other students are doing.

The student would be gaming the system if she was accepted to ED first, then decided to take the EA offer by claiming financial reason.

That’s not gaming. That’s just lying.