Early Decision or no?

College Majors Musical Theater Major
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<p>So I've been stressing over finding "the perfect" college since February, and this summer I realized that it's been there all along: NYU. I guess it seems like the obvious choice because it's in New York, but I really like their program because it gives me independence and balances between performing and academics.</p>

<p>So my puzzle is, should I apply early decision? I've already finished my essay and a lot of the application, save for some finishing touches, and I have a pretty good idea of songs I could sing for the Voice Performance major in Steinhardt. I have no idea what monologue I can use but they don't have dance auditions (phew!).</p>

<p>Are there advantages to applying ED for a performance major? Do I have to audition by a certain date? I'm this close to doing it, but I'm just not sure. Does anyone else have experience with this?</p>

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<p>Hi Dianne - My d was accepted ED for CAP21; only because it was HER first choice. If I had my way, she'd have applied RD to all the 9 schools she was interested in. My thought is that she MIGHT have gotten more scholarship $ if she went RD; I don't know for sure, though. I know you're competing against a smaller pool of applicants for ED, but I'm still not sure why! They still have x number of slots, so I don't know why it's a better chance. Anyone out there have a good explanation? The explanation in the brochure says they don't need to worry about leaving any spots open; but in that case, couldn't they fill all the slots for ED? I don't really get it. But I'd recommend RD, unless $ is no object. For me, it is!</p>

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<p>I picked up the new US News & WW America's Best Colleges Guide today, mainly because it is an easy place to get updated statistics on the schools we are looking at. My son has a long list of possible schools, and NYU is the very most expensive one on his list, in going through the guide and adding tuition with room & board. Our schools vary by $20,000 a year from the least to the most expensive. </p>

<p>If you go ED, you will not be given your financial package until later. It seems to be in your best interest to try for a number of schools to see what the cost ends up being after considering the scholarship or financial aid package.</p>

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<p>Sorry, Ericsmom; you DO get your financial aid package when you apply ED. My d got a $9,000 per year Tisch scholarship and she found out when she got accepted on Dec. 10, along with Perkins/Stafford loans. It did not change at ALL
after I filled out the FAFSA. (You fill out an NYU financial aid statement before applying ED)</p>

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<p>Yes, that is true at Tisch, but with most other schools that is one of the pitfalls of ED. You don't know about your financial offers until after you have signed the binding agreement.</p>

<p>We have a family friend who is the former Director of Admissions at NYU. He told me that absolutely it is an advantage to apply ED. "The numbers don't lie," he said. But it must be your first choice. Be sure of that, becasue ED is binding.</p>

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<p>Is it the same at Steinhardt as it is for Tisch?</p>

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<p>A couple things...</p>

<p>Early decision is USUALLY a statistical advantage in terms of admission acceptance rates compared to Regular decision at MOST colleges. How much of an advantage varies from school to school. What one would need to do is to get the admit rate for ED and the admit rate for RD at the particular school in question. At some schools, the admit rate in the early round can be twice as high as in the regular round, for example, and at another school, less of a percentage difference. At some schools, they accept a certain percentage of the class in the early round that is significant (example, UPenn). Only a handful of BFA in MT programs even have ED (some have rolling or Early Action though). But overall, say at a school like NYU, there IS an "odds" advantage in the acceptance rate in the ED round. So, that is simply discussing factual information. You'd have to get these rates from the schools themselves. </p>

<p>However, the decision as to whether to apply ED has many facets. One is that ED is BINDING. NOBODY should do ED UNLESS they feel absolutely certain that X college is their far and away first choice school and they wish to attend more than anywhere else and feel positive of that decision. On that ONE count alone, the original poster seems a tad unsure of her decision whether to apply ED and THAT alone, for me, would sway me to advise her to apply RD to NYU. By not applying ED, she is not losing out really....as she is still an applicant and still has a chance. My D opted out of ED at NYU (considered it at one time) and still got in RD. Maybe she lost some percentage odds in the admit rate but she still had a chance in the RD round. </p>

<p>Usually the rule of thumb is that if you must compare financial aid packages, you should NOT apply ED. This would then allow you to have all your cards on the table before commiting to a school. </p>

<p>Lots of seniors change their mind about their favorite schools as the year goes on and so by opting out of ED, it allows them to really accept changes in preferences and to make the decision later in the year. Of course, ED has the advantage that if you get in, you are DONE EARLY and do not have to have angst and uncertainty all year until spring or do not have to do lots of auditions and so forth. But that is not reason enough to do it as nice as it sounds. One should really only do ED if VERY certain they do not wish to go anywhere else if accepted. In order to do ED, in my opinion, a kid should have visited some of his/her other choice schools to make a fair comparison (if you have not done the visits yet, do not do ED). Ideally, one might even do a second visit to the ED school, including an overnight, before making the binding commitment to apply ED. </p>

<p>The OP asked if she has to audition by a certain date. You must check with the program directly. For Tisch, ED applicants must audiiton during the month of November and then find out Dec. 15. I advise anyone going this route to also do all their other applications in a timely way (not wait until Dec. 15) and put lots of energy into preparing for the other schools applications and auditions because of the difficult odds. </p>

<p>Bottom line....if you have visited this program and some others and are totally certain you wish to attend above all others and are ready to commit to a binding decision, are able to do this without comparing financial aid packages, then perhaps go ahead with the ED plan (but you also must be very prepared ahead of time with audition material as you audition sooner than at some other schools). But if you do not do ED, it is not like you are giving much up because you will still be an applicant and still have a chance to get in (many get in RD) but you lost a bit of an advantage in the admit rate, that's all. It is not like if you apply ED, you have a WAY better chance or will get in but you simply have increased the odds somewhat. That helps, no doubt about it but it is not a guarantee anyway. If you are the type of candidate they want, you still will be considered for the program if applying RD so you do not have that much to lose. </p>

<p>Susan</p>