Early Action

<p>Someone told me that Early Action is much more score-oriented, so if you don't have the scores they'll throw you into the deferred pile and reevaluate your application in regular decision, paying more attention to your essay and extra curriculars, etc. Is this true, or do they view application the same in both pools?</p>

<p>definitely never heard this but it would work to my advantage ;)</p>

<p>all i keep hearing about is the "magic number" they seem to have for cutoffs of EA. I thought it was straight bs but then the ND admissions person who came to my school said that she reeeeally advises applying early if you have reached these numbers and really not to if you havent.</p>

<p>ND does NOT evaluate apps the same in both pools. For EA my ND admissions rep said EA was more numbers oriented (like 34+ on ACT or 1460+ on SAT and atleast top 5% in the class). And if you get deferred EA, the adcom doesn't look at your entire application again in RD. THey only look at the "notes" made from the previous EA adcom.</p>

<p>yep rep told me pretty much the same as pccool</p>

<p>I think basically they look at EA like--regardless of what this persons recs/essays look like (as long as they're acceptable), this person is obviously brilliant as shown by his/her scores, rank so we want to accept them, whereas in RD they look at the all around person because the margin for being accepted becomes soooooooooooo small</p>

<p>Well, I hope my class rank doesn't hold me back. I have a good GPA and great test scores, but because my school is so stacked, my class rank is not as outstanding.</p>

<p>that sucks. 5%? comon, so if someone has a perfect SAT, great EC, great Essays, and good recs but is only in 6-8%, he will get deferred?</p>

<p>It's possible, but not likely. It depends on how good the school is and how good the EC's and essays are. Someone in the top 6-8% at Andover is a little bit different from someone outside of the top 5% at generic high where only 50% of the kids go on to four year schools.</p>

<p>i assume they have regional counselors?</p>

<p>There is an article in The Observer, the ND student newspaper, that offers some insight to EA at ND. Dan Saracino from the Admissions Office is interviewed. It is available on line...</p>

<p>Yeah, ND should have a profile on your school. If your school is a very competitive school (like mine) where nearly everyone goes on to college, ND will know. I could easily be top 2% at the local public high school (ND would probably be able to deduce that, too, not that they will). However, plenty of kids apply each year from my school, so they're acquainted with the quality of our students. Top 5% at Generic High could easily translate to top 15% at a school like mine. I'm sure that this is the case with plenty of other schools. While it could be a big point on your application, if your grades are still stellar and your test scores are good, it shouldn't hold you back too much.</p>

<p>From today's Observer (as noted by notre dame AL): Early</a> action applications up 11.5 percent - News</p>

<p>""My projection is that we will come out of early action with an admitted group of students with higher academic records and extracurricular activities than ever before," Saracino said. "However, even more notable will be the amount of diversity - ethnically, internationally, and socio-economically - that will be reflected in next year's freshman class." "</p>

<p>if I'm doing the numbers correctly, then the acceptance rate for EA should be less than 25%. That is ridiculously low for EA (last year wasn't it around 33%). I think it is going to be extremely difficult this year to get accepted EA if you don't have the suggested benchmarks and don't have a hook. I hope RD doesn't increase as much, even though it probably will. :(</p>

<p>Toclafane's news brings me down a bit. I gotta go hit up the Naviance graphs to reinforce my morale.</p>

<p>Toclafane's post quoting Dan Saracino... if you read it closely, it doesn't really mean anything. Think about it, is any dean of admissions gonna say anything different? "Actually, our class is going to be incredibly underqualified, white, Catholic, rich, uninvolved and untalented."</p>

<p>I don't really think so.</p>

<p>No, I actually read the article. The EA pool will probably be more competitive this year just by the fact that the number of applicants has risen. I hope not, but I don't really have control over that. I agree that Saracino would obviously try to talk up the application pool. I understand hyperbole. However, numbers don't lie.</p>

<p>I'm still confident in my application, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed.</p>

<p>I was just saying, applicant pools get more competitive every year. More people apply to more colleges every year.</p>