Hi all,
I am a junior looking to apply to some schools including Northwestern and possibly some Ivies. Since ED gives a statistical advantage/higher admission rate when applying, is it strategically better to use it at an “easier” school like Northwestern (which accepts more than 1/3 of applicants ED) or a more longshot school like Yale that will only take less than 15% ED (since it seems like using ED could be the only way to get in there) ? Assume that I love both Northwestern and the Ivy school equally.
Thanks so much- I really appreciate your feedback.
First off, I think early decision should only be used for a school that is a person’s top choice. I don’t think it should be used as an admissions strategy (although people do). Many who use it to try to “game” the system end up having regrets that they didn’t apply to their true top choice in order to get a more certain admission. For example, if you apply ED to Northwestern would you always wonder “what if??” about Yale?
Second, it is important to take the time to understand the programs you might apply under. Yale does not have ED, it has SCEA which is single choice early action (you cannot apply to another school EA or ED) and it is not binding. Yale accepts fewer early in part because of the non-binding nature of their program.
Determine which school you like better, and another crucial thing to note is your FA. ONLY apply ED if you can afford the CoA after running the Net Price Calculator for each institution.
Agree, ED specifically must be your top choice. SCEA and EA both usually have lower acceptance rates because it is leaving the college on the hook - they don’t know if the applicant was “serious” or not.
You can’t apply to Northwestern ED and anywhere else ED, and if Northwestern accepts you, you can’t go to an EA school (that is assuming your family can afford the school based on FA, and an EA school is MUCH better in terms of FA offered - which is very doubtful if your EA school is an Ivy).
I would say Yale SCEA and Northwestern ED would be wise, IF and only IF you would go to Northwestern over Yale. Otherwise, do Yale SCEA and other EA as safeties or lower reaches.
Once there is one ED in the mix (and there can’t be more), you have to be 100% committed to going there.
For example, I know someone into Princeton SCEA and just got his Harvard and Yale RD acceptances. He has some thinking to do, but he also has the luxury of comparing FA packages.
Your question oversimplifies the ED/EA question. First, you need to decide what school is your top choice without being influenced by the ED/EA issue. If you’re thinking of binding ED, you really need to run the Net Price Calculator at that school and be confident that the school will be affordable without a need to shop FA offers. Ideally you should also be done with your testing in the early Fall and your scores should at least be in the middle 50%, preferably in the top 25% for that school. If you do all that and Northwestern and Yale are tied in terms of your personal preference, then yes I think you’d have a greater advantage applying ED at Northwestern.
I can also see a student going through this process and concluding, I’d have a shot at Yale but realistically it’s a very long shot,and I’d be very happy to go to Northwestern, so I should apply ED to Northwestern. I think that is a decent strategy as well.
I read an interesting quote in The Student Life (Pomona’s newspaper) from the VP of Admissions at Harvey Mudd about how they look at ED applicants:
Great advice here. That the chances are so low at the most selective schools, makes ED the only “hook” many kids feel they can get. But it’s sad that teenagers are “settling” when this is a time they should take their chances on things that are mere possibilities and very small ones. I told my son this, even as I knew well that the chances for him to get into some schools he was considering so small that they were basically zilch. There are plenty of schools out there that he can like and might like better than a school whose lustre is what is attracting him at the time. And to limit ones self with that one shot app, seemed so restrictive at a time when risks and possibilities, joys and disappointments are to be flavored. So, we took that off the table, even as he was getting word that he should use his legacy"Cards" along with ED for some schools.
But then he visited a school that just hit him exactly right and he just knew he’d be perfectly happy to give up chances (if one can even call them that) to HPY et al. And so he did apply ED, understanding what he was giving up in so doing. For him, things fell into place nicely, as he found another gem that he really liked too, and felt he’d get in there EA, which he did and he decided he’d go there if not accpeted to his first choice. A nice scholrship offer sweetened the pot more.
If you’re sure that your ED school is your top choice, go for it. The college process is very arduous if you wait until the last minute, and more and more schools are filling up their classes with ED applicants. This year, Northwestern had an ED acceptance rate of nearly 50 percent and filled 49 percent of their class with ED applicants. The sad reality is that if you are unhooked, getting into schools like this RD is essentially impossible.
First, make sure you absolutely want to go to that school and it is financially possible before applying ED. f you stat is a bit off, you better improve your score and apply RD or you will simply get early rejection. Lastly, the higher admission rate is at least partly due to recruits and legacy, also those who have strong credential and do not need extra time to bring up their score/GPA. It does not really give a much higher chance to every applicant.
One thing I really noticed this year is that an ED denial or deferral can be a real psychological kick in the face to even diligent students. I truly recommend a rolling admissions or EA (if possible) school 's app to go out at the same time. Also get those other apps ready to go if the ED school does not pan out. When you lose that momentum, getting those RD apps done over the holidays is really putting a pall over that time and they may not be as sharp as they should, could and have to be for admissions at selective schools. Absolutely do not leave them to do in the event of denial. It’s hard to fight the depression when it hits, get those ducks in a row. I saw it very clearly with some wonderful families, how hurt and affected they could get when that accept did not happen and it does make for a dismal app writing session.
Given what you wrote above, I would advise you to apply ED to Northwestern. It will give you a much bigger bump than will applying SCEA to Yale. Also, even if you did prefer Yale a tiny bit more, if you don’t consider yourself to be highly competitive for Yale, then I agree that you might be wasting your early chance there. The reality today is that the early round is more important than it used to be.
I agree with what others are saying…ED is only if you are absolutely sure that is your first choice. My son discovered Harvey Mudd his sophomore year. He had many opportunities to visit it and learn more about the school. By the time he was ready to apply he knew it was his first choice so he did ED. We supported him in this because we knew he was applying to his first choice—not because he felt the need to apply early. When my daughter was applying to college she limited herself to EA with no EDs because she had not yet determined a first choice.
And, of course, if finances are a major factor you really shouldn’t do ED – wait to compare your offers.
@rhandco, someone can’t SCEA to Yale and ED to another private.
To the OP: if you are sure that you’d be equally happy at NU and Yale and the finances work, yes, ED to NU makes the most sense. Apply EA elsewhere as well, however, and in fact, get someRD apps done by the time you finish your ED app, so that you don’t have to motivate yourself again in case ED doesn’t work out.
@billcsho, yes, it depends on the school and the applicant. I’d still recommend the early round, however, as your app won’t be as mixed in with a deluge of other apps in RD. If you’re a high-stats strong-math community-oriented youth orchestra first chair violinist (as an example), you’d stand out more in ED than in RD where there may actually be 15 other applicants with your exact same profile.
My D was what I would call an unhooked high stats white girl whose top choice was a highly selective LAC. It just made sense for her to do ED. We were able and willing to forego the need to shop FA offers. There was nothing about her application that was going to change between Nov 1 and Jan 1 in terms of test scores, GPA, rank, awards, etc. Applying ED gave her a statistical advantage and just made sense. We also felt that she would stand out more in the ED1 round because so many with her stats apply early to HYPS. In fact, I would say that everyone else in the top 1% of her high school applied early to Harvard, Stanford or Princeton.
But as @cptofthehouse says, be sure to have your RD apps ready. Don’t leave them to do in the last two weeks of December. D had all of her RD apps ready to go, except a couple that weren’t due until 1/15.