<p>I'm currently a Junior, and these are my top 3 schools. I love them sooo much, have visited, and I think they're a good fit for me, but I'm so confused on what my chances are. My counselor says that I should do ED for the first two, but I guess I find the idea of doing ED scary. What are my chances without doing ED?</p>
<p>Ethnicity: Black/Spanish (biracial)
GPA: 3.8 unweighted / 4.32 weighted
SAT: 720 CR, 730 WR, 690 MT --> Total: 2140
SAT IIs: 640 Bio and 730 US
Class Rank: 30/250</p>
<p>I've been in all Honors Classes every year. During Jr year I was in AP US history, and for this upcoming Senior Yr, I'll be doing AP Chemistry, AP English, and continuing with all the rest being Honors Classes. (My school doesn't offer many APs. The only other AP I could have possibly been in is for math -not my strong suit- so I'm sticking with honors for that)</p>
<p>Activites & Leadership, etc:</p>
<p>School Newspaper- all four years, and have had a leadership position each year. I'm currently the Senior Editor.
Pax Christi-four years (volunteer club)
National Honor Society- 2 years, currently the Senior Representative
Poverty Initiative club- 3 years
Volunteer summer camp counselor- 2 Summers (200+ hours)
Lab assistant at a local research center- 1 year, going on 2
Paying job as a teacher's assitant at a local karate dojo (I help teach the little kids)- 1 year, going on 2
Student at Local Karate Dojo (of adult class) - 4 years</p>
<p>Honors/ Awards:
I was an honorable mention in the NYU march of dimes essay competition
I was invited to the national achievement forum of medicine
I won first prize in an essay competition for local newspaper
Put in US Achievement academy Yearbook</p>
<p>I really don't want to do ED, so please help me out! I really just want a better idea of how I stand up against other applicants. thanks tons =]</p>
<p>You can only do ED at one school – and that should be the school you really, really love, but you haven’t mentioned one particular school as your clear first choice.</p>
<p>Contrary to what your counselor and many other people think, ED does not really give you that much of a “boost” at most schools. (These people are just looking at the higher acceptance rates for ED vs. RD, without giving any consideration as to the potential differences in the stats and “hooks” of the ED applicant pool compared to the RD applicants.) You are an extremely strong candidate for all of these schools and your URM status just adds to that strength, so quite frankly, I don’t see ED really helping you very much. And another downside of ED is that you don’t get the chance to compare financial aid packages.</p>
<p>I would advise you to just apply RD. You have a solid shot at all 3 schools so why box yourself in with ED at just one?</p>
<p>I’d probably say Vassar is my fave, but I’d be happy at all 3, which is one of the reasons why I don’t want to do ED, just in case one of them were to give me a better financial aid package like you said. I just wanted to make sure I stood a good chance for them. If my chances of getting into these 3 was low, then I might consider it.</p>
<p>Your counselor is not giving you good advice to ED at these schools if money is important. The packages can be quite different. Good chance at all.</p>
<p>Bard has something called the Immediate Decision Plan. It is not binding like Early Decision. I recommend reading about it on their website - but in general the way it works is that you apply early, go for a special day of classes where they evaluate you, and they let you know a few days later if you’re accepted. There is a high acceptance rate for those students who apply in this manner - I assume they feel those are the students who are truly interested in the college. You needn’t then let them know if you’ll attend until May 1 - just like all the other regular decision choices.</p>
<p>Do you know what your Profile and FAFSA EFC’s are and how much, realistically, your family plans to spend on your education per year? These are all schools that determine your need based on their own calculations, so it’s important to know what their financial aid is like before you apply ED to any of them. An acceptance is worth very little if the FA offer is too low for you to accept.</p>