<p>Hi there,</p>
<p>What is the percentage difference between those accepted to Wellesley ED and those accepted by RD?</p>
<p>How does Wellesley compare to Smith in terms of academic rigor? Which do you think is better and why?</p>
<p>You might want to ask this in the Smith topic as well. My D was accepted at both Wellesley (Early Evaluation "likely") and Smith, her two finalists, chose Smith. But not to hijack a discussion in the Wellesley topic....</p>
<p>wellesley ED doesn't give you an advantage, I don't think; 19-20% of the class is made up of ED applicants -- the rest are RD.</p>
<p>"wellesley ED doesn't give you an advantage, I don't think; 19-20% of the class is made up of ED applicants -- the rest are RD."</p>
<p>The advantage of applying ED are calculated in a different way. 61% of students applying ED at Wellesley are accepted; 81% at Smith. Such acceptance rates represent a huge advantage. </p>
<p>WELLESLEY: Overall Acceptance
Percent applicants admitted: 37% </p>
<p>Transfer Students
Total number of transfer students who applied: 103
Total number of transfer students who were admitted: 30
Percent applicants admitted: 29% </p>
<p>Early decision
Number of early decision applications received: 218
Number admitted under early decision plan: 133
Percent applicants admitted: 61% </p>
<p>SMITH: Overall Acceptance
Percent applicants admitted: 57% </p>
<p>Transfer Students
Total number of transfer students who applied: 223
Total number of transfer students who were admitted: 81
Percent applicants admitted: 36% </p>
<p>Early decision
Number of early decision applications received: 192
Number admitted under early decision plan: 156
Percent applicants admitted: 81%</p>
<p>hmmm. i was told by a wellesley admissions officer today that ED held no advantage whatsoever. (those were the stats she gave me.) it's a little different, though -- what percent of the class was accepted ED and what percent was accepted RD. not sure.</p>
<p>The reason ED doesn't give you the advantage is that the ED pool is very self-selected. Students applying ED have the required credentials to be admitted. The grades, the test scores are not lower for ED applicants.</p>
<p>simply a misleading old woman's tale that is rabidly repeated by ED applicants. It is, however, very easily contradicted by verifiable evidence. FWIW, you'd have to go extremely deep in the rankings to find schools admitting students at 61%, let alone a 81% that rivals rolling admission's statistics. Further, at schools where the ED admission rates are virtually identical to the RD rates, ED is still considered a huge advantage because of more liberals standards. Why would it be any different at Wellesey? </p>
<p>
[quote]
The early program decision works together with other factors that reinforce class lines. The people whose parents can pay for elite private high schools, shell out additional thousands for 'independent college counselors,' visit campuses and meet with the 'right people,' and, yes, who know that applying early can give them a boost - they are clearly at an advantage" (Toor, 2001, p. B16).</p>
<p>Many college admissions counselors admit that students who apply early have a better chance of being accepted than students who apply through regular decision (See Loftus, 2002, p. 70). The favorable acceptance statistics across the board for early-decision admissions have influenced many high school students to feel that they have to apply early in order to maximize their chances of getting into a good college.</p>
<p>A 2000 study of five years of admissions records from 14 selective colleges by Christopher Avery and colleagues at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government shows that this may be true (as cited in Fallows, 2001). Avery's study found that the competitive value of an early-decision application was equivalent to 100 SAT points more than a regular decision application (as cited in Fallows, 2001). Admission rates for early-decision applicants are higher than for regular-decision applicants. For example, in 2002, Johns Hopkins University admitted 59% of its early-decision applicants compared to 33% of its regular-decision applicants; the University of Pennsylvania admitted 38% of the early pool compared to 16% of the regular pool (Loftus, 2002, p. 70).
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Wellesley accepted 47% of early decision applicants for the Class of 2009 and 36% of early evaluation applicants. I think that 30% of regular decision applicants were admitted. </p>
<p>Please check with the college directly on admission statistics. There appears to be a lot of misinformation being spread on CC. </p>
<p>Good luck.</p>
<p>I amm aware of the self-selected pool but for someone who really wants to go to Wellesley, and its a reach because its sooo selective, could the decision plan (applying ED) make a difference between getting in and getting waitlisted? Any input would be gladly appreciated…it’s a matter of being academically qualified but maybe in a borderline situation with someone in the RD pile when there’s less room to admit pple…thanks :)</p>
<p>^ I would also like some input on this.</p>
<p>Also, I am curious to hear what anyone else has to say about how the two schools compare in academics. I’ve heard many many positive things about the reputation of Smith’s classes. However, Wellesley (though I know it’s not an ideal way to compare the two) is ranked sufficiently higher in college reports like US News. I think it would be interesting to hear from someone who isn’t going to Smith to help make this comparison.</p>
<p>Not all of my classes have been 100% entirely amazing, but I think that’s true of any school. Overall, I’m very happy with the academics at Wellesley. I never sat in on a class at Smith though, so I can’t directly compare the two. I imagine that Smith offers more classes than Wellesley does because it has more students. </p>
<p>I think one would get a great education at either school. It surprised me how different Smith/ (Mount Holyoke)/ Wellesley felt when I visited. Wellesley just “felt right.”</p>
<p>It also might be worthwhile to compare strengths of individual departments. Wellesley’s econ department is famous. On the other hand, I believe Smith is the only seven sister’s college to offer engineering. At Wellesley there is an introduction to engineering course + cross registration at Olin College of Engineering + cross registration at MIT, but there is no true engineering major. ([Wellesley</a> College - Admission & Financial Aid - Engineering](<a href=“http://web.wellesley.edu/web/Admission/OnlyWellesley/Academics/CoursesandMajors/sciences/engineering.psml]Wellesley”>http://web.wellesley.edu/web/Admission/OnlyWellesley/Academics/CoursesandMajors/sciences/engineering.psml)</p>
<p>Rigor of classes is only one criterion. Pedagogy at different schools differs a bit. I would compare the courses offered in the catalogue for a window on the pedagogy. The wording of course titles and how material is divided into departments and courses can be revealing of the point of view of the school.</p>
<p>I don’t think the USNew and World Report rankings have much relevance. Wellesley’s superior rating has much to do with its endowment.</p>
<p>As a professional educator I would consider the schools peer institutions. Therefore I think any student could be confident in choosing either institution and basing her decision on “fit.”</p>
<p>That said, full disclosure, my D chose Barnard. Was right for her.</p>