DD was in a very similar situation a year ago… narrowed ED down to 4 schools - probably all had lower ED odds for her than you noted for your daughter. Overall acceptance rates less than 20% at all of them. Stellar academic record, solid (but not spectacular) ECs, essays and recommendations. I was very concerned that she was going to fall into some never never land where she wasn’t quite what the top schools were looking for and the next tier down schools thought they were her safety school and wouldn’t admit to protect their yield.
She is legacy at one of the schools and could see herself at any of the four - they each had their plusses and minuses. We discouraged her from putting all of her emotional eggs in one basket. We did encourage her to apply to a school ED as we all thought it would give her a leg up. One of the schools had ED 2 so that was moved to the “if I don’t get into the first one” pile. And then she narrowed it down to just one.
She also applied to three schools EA - two big state schools (one in state) and one private. She received her EA admittance to the in state school a few hours before the ED decision came out. She was admitted! (She was admitted to the second state school later that evening and had to withdraw her application from the EA private school.)
We were all so happy that the process was done by mid December! And she knew where she would be going in the fall. No additional decisions to make.
I definitely encourage ED if there appears to be an admissions advantage and if you can live with the estimated financial aid / net price calculator results.
Good luck to your daughter!
ED is great when it works. I know it gave my kid a stress free senior year after he got hisbEDvacceot. That itbwas his true top choucevwas a plus too. But had he not been accepted to that school, jebliked his EA and rolling choices well enough that he was “game over” in the process.
I really like the strategy of applying early to a number of schools. If you don’t have a clear favorite and you really do not want to commit to a school yet and ED just doesn’t make you comfortable, you want to compare Aid offers, you want or need merit money, ED is not for you. So check out some EA and rolling admissions. It’ll cover some safeties if you pick wisely, and give you an idea where you stand in college admissions.
Schools are increasingly changing from EA to SCEA. A lot of the selective ones that are not way up at the top (I’m looking at you, Michigan!) are getting a bit tired of being in back up position early, and are either becoming ultra selective EA or going ED(BC) or SCEA(Georgetown).
Back in the day, my oldest was able to apply EA to G-town, BC, Binghamton, st Bonaventure all early and get a good reading in where he stood in college admissions. Full ride accept, Low sticker price accept, Full cost accept, Deferred.
He had a price that was difficult to beat, a selectivity threshold he could choose to push, and yes his final results lined up well along those lines
I agree with the poster(s) above who recommend that you be patient and perhaps a #1 choice will emerge. My daughter–now a HS senior–was struggling with this issue in the spring. There were about a half-dozen schools that she loved and where she felt she’d thrive. But between, say, March and June, a top choice gradually emerged just by thinking deeply about each school on her list. Visiting a second time solidified it. Sometimes my daughter questions whether this school will be the BEST school for her, but we tell her that as long as she believes she would fit in, be challenged but not overwhelmed, and be happy, she can’t go wrong.
Give it time. Perhaps there is one thing about one of the four schools that will make the difference. Minds are always working.