<p>Your sons worked to meet the EA/ED deadlines, and thus gave GCs and teachers plenty ot time to prepare letters. Also, forced to get a few essays done. The early deadline does have real advantages. Mainly, everyone's stress level goes down.</p>
<p>When applying RD, the attitude towards schools change once accepted, and the field is narrower.</p>
<p>ED can be a great thing for students, highschools, families and colleges. The major downside with ED is that it has become the thing to do and there is enormous pressure on kids to pick an ED school, sometimes when the kid has no idea where he wants to go. I have seen panicked face kids looking for the best ED choice when they have not really even thought about a college list but got caught up in the ED hustle. The same happens to the parents. This was not the case many years ago when I applied to colleges. Few kids applied ED and those were the kids who truly knew where they wanted to go. The other major drawback with ED is that those kids who need financial aid or the flexibility to compare financial offers really are put to a disadvantage. As their more affluent classmates bustle around with their ED apps, it can really cause a feeling of being left behind. Single choice EA has been the answer to that situation along with regular EA and rolling admissions.</p>
<p>Jamimon: I think you said it best; there are advantages and disadvantages, and trade-offs and risks with all decisions. The best you can do is weigh all of the factors and try to make an informed decision - one with which you're comfortable. In any case, because I believe that most of our kids (and certainly my D) could be happy at lots of different schools, I sometimes think there's too much emphasis these days on trying to find the "perfect fit." As a number of posters pointed out, what feels like the perfect fit today may not, in fact, turn out to be the perfect fit tomorrow.
DigMedia: No apologies needed. In response to your comments and those of Emeraldkity: We obviously don't let magazines make our selections for us, nor are we picking schools just because of where they rank in US News. My D is interested in a number of the so-called top 20 LACs not because of their ranking, but because of what they offer. Her list, however, also includes schools that don't fall within the top 20, but which also have a lot to offer in areas in which she's interested.
In any case, here's the decision she came to this weekend. She's not ready to commit to a school yet and is willing to give up the legacy (and any other)boost that goes with that decision. She may or may not make up her mind in the next couple of months in which case, she's still considering ED II as an option. If she opts not to go that route, then its RD for her and lots of finger crossing between now and April!
If anyone's S/D went the ED II route, I'd be curous to hear about his/her experience.</p>