<p>boymom - I expect them to mail on the 14th or 15th - that has been the pattern in the past. Waiting for the mailman in horrible! With S1 it took 2 days to receive the envelope - 2 days of torture! Last year a friend’s D applied and didn’t receive the envelope until AFTER the call in date - which was about 5 or 6 days later. I really wish they would consider releasing decisions online - with the holiday season, the snail-mail process can be bogged down and somewhat cruel!</p>
<p>I think it might help to “spin” the early admissions process as follows: this is not necessarily a “first choice” in the sense of a favorite–it is a strategic first choice. The total strategy is broader and includes more schools. This is a particularly helpful mindset for SCEA or EA, but it’s probably useful for ED as well. Writing and even submitting other applications before hearing from the early school reinforces this idea.</p>
<p>D2 is 90% done with all of her applications. She is still pushing herself to do well in high school. She knows she may need to keep up her grades until the bitter end, like her older sister did. What D1 did right was she never let foot off the pedal, and we think that´s why she go in all of her WL schools.</p>
<p>We were hopeful that D1 wouldn’t fall in love with one school, but she did. We like the school, but tried to push her away a little, just to protect her a little from the potential pain of a rejection. She discussed ED with her GC who said, “go for it.” Strategically, it was a good call, but now we are right where I didn’t want her to be - just days away from an ED decision with a lot on the line emmotionally. I am cautiously optimistic that she does not seem to stressed. It was helpful that we took a college viewing trip this summer - it completely affirmed her first choise, but it did open her eyes up to a lot of other schools that she previously had no interest in. there are so many wonderful schools out there, that I know she will end up at a good place and be happy, it is getting from here to there that worries me.</p>
<p>S told me that he would be happy if he got into his ED choice, but he wouldn’t be overly excited, and he wouldn’t be crushed if he didn’t get in. It was nice to hear that he has a good attitude about it. Now if I could just get him to finish all those other apps in case he doesn’t get in!</p>
<p>I just keep telling S “If it’s a no, we move on to Plan B, and you will survive.” And keep saying to myself “It’s all part of God’s plan” I’m actually glad it’s Christmastime 
Hoping all your kids get to celebrate an acceptance with their holiday season!</p>
<p>The one saving grace of applying ED or SCEA to highly competitive schools is that when the deferrals came my kids had lots of company. One of my kids applied early to Yale, and he knew 14 other people who had also applied early to Yale. One of those was accepted – and she was such a lovely person, and so unexpected a result (unhooked Asian, not a tip-top student, although very close to that), and from a different school, that he didn’t feel resentful at all. He and his “competition” were all deferred, so apart from the first few minutes he had plenty of company, and didn’t feel terribly diminished. My other child applied ED to Columbia, along with at least 8 other people she knew. Two were accepted – a recruited athlete, and a boy she knew from a summer program, about whom she said, “He’s a better writer than I am, and a really nice guy. I don’t have any problem with coming in behind him.” All of her close friends/rivals, including everyone from her school, got deferred. There was still pain, no question, but having company in her misery alleviated it somewhat.</p>
<p>The other thing that also helped a lot were nonexclusive EA or rolling admissions acceptances that came in around the same time as the deferrals. I am a big believer in hedging bets. Going into the end of December, both kids were disappointed, but they both had really good options in hand, and they knew it.</p>
<p>Hunt - That was our DS’s (Class of 2015) plan last year. His SCEA school was his strategic first choice and he had submitted all his other applications before we heard from the SCEA U. He was admitted to his EA college, but did not matriculate there. </p>
<p>I have to admit, waiting for the early acceptance decision last year was nerve wracking. </p>
<p>Good luck to all Class of 2016 early applicants and their parents!</p>
<p>S2 tells me “Don’t worry, I’ll be fine Mom - I’m adaptable!”</p>
<p>Good luck to all your kids who applied ED. Yes, it is stressful for the kids who have their hearts set on one school. Went through that 4 years ago with my oldest and I have to say I think I was more stressed waiting for Dec. 1 than she was. I counted off the days for a month after she had applied. Never said too much to her because I didn’t want her to know how anxious I was. I paced the sidewalk waiting for the postman the day the letter came and of course the mail was late that day. She got accepted but knowing her, she would have bounced back quickly and moved on if it had gone the other way. Good luck to all!</p>
<p>D2 is currently away on a school trip. This was her dream last night…She tried to log in at 5pm with her pin and pw, couldn´t get in. She then asked me to try, and I also couldn´t get in. She finally called the school to get her decision. The school wouldn´t give it to her over the phone, but promised to send her an email, and the email never came. She is stressed.</p>
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<p>Students also need to remember that some of their friends could not apply ED, even though they may have wanted to, because of their family’s financial situation. It’s important to be sensitive to their feelings, too.</p>
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<p>Guess things have changed. D1’s acceptance from Vandy came in a very large envelope with a huge “CONGRATULATIONS” graphic and Vanderbuilt return address on it. My husband heard me say “YES!!!” all the way in the back of the house, which is a good distance from the front door.</p>
<p>I have noticed lots of students applying ED- both at my older daughters private prep school & at my younger daughters inner city magnet. A lot more than I anticipated.</p>
<p>Neither of my kids applied ED- they needed financial aid & even though my older daughters first choice assured her that ED applicants got good packages, we were still worried.</p>
<p>Both girls were accepted to all the schools they applied & I admit it sure would have been nice to have known before Christmas what their choices were- as well as having more time to visit the schools they had been accepted to ( we weren’t able to do that with all of them before hand), instead of the long wait for RD decisions.</p>
<p>ED is causing me stress. One daughter is vocal about wanting the waiting to be over and the other has not said as much. I have been increasingly – and uncharacteristically – scattered over the past couple of months and have attributed that to the stress of college apps and ED. Part of the stress stems from not having perfect backup plans in place yet, but that is easier said than done, especially with ED notifications imminent. Good luck to all!</p>
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???None of these schools have ED. Admittedly both Harvard and Princeton have single choice EA, but you aren’t bound to attend either, like you would be with ED.</p>
<p>My D applied ED and was deferred to RD, which for that particular school is really a polite rejection. She had one bad evening, then bounced back. Two things have helped. One, we didn’t stop looking at colleges once the ED app was in; we took a college trip over NJEA weekend and she saw three schools she liked a lot, so a Plan B (or C) is in her mind. Two, we had a talk before the results came out. We told her that we really hoped she was accepted by her ED choice; however, even if she was accepted, she should realize that someday, she will be denied. It might not be now, but it will be later; a graduate program, a fellowship, a job. The ability to deal with rejection is an important part of long-term success. Everyone fails at some point; what makes people successful is the ability to bounce back and keep on keeping on. I’m glad we said that.</p>
<p>We had a tough time waiting for ED last year - my S and his friend both applied ED to the same place. Their school is not particularly competitive for admission, but they were applying to a specific selective program. This school did not release all the admission decisions at the same time - friend received his acceptance at least 3 weeks ahead of S. Really ticked me off! S received the decision on the announced decision date, but his friend had heard so much earlier it was very stressful.</p>
<p>Not many kids at our suburban public HS apply ED. We send large numbers to state schools, Pitt, and Penn State, and many of the seniors have already heard from these. Most of the schools my D will be applying to next year have no Naviance data available.</p>
<p>NJSue: I’m sure you daughter bounced back fairly quickly because she took her cues from you. It’s okay to be sad and disappointed but in some situations it isn’t possible to ‘make it right’. You were right to discuss how everyone gets rejected at some point in life.</p>
<p>^I hope so. I should add that we stressed to her how proud we were of her regardless of the outcome of the ED (and indeed RD) bid, proud that she put herself out there and took a chance, and proud that she has made herself a credible candidate for a lot of great schools.</p>