My D is a top student 4.0 GPA. AP classes, with 2130 SAT We are also a minority. We are trying to decide whether or not to apply ED or go RD. We have legacy at Wesleyan, and D is doing Discover Swarthmore this week. So not sure its worth using ED at either of those vs. reaching for ED at Brown or Yale. We could do ED2 at Wesleyan, but not sure if that looks as good as ED1…
any advice? D likes all 4… but is leaning toward Wesleyan. Question is do you get marginal benefit of ED at Brown or Yale?
“Please do not assume that your admission chances are improved by applying under the Early Decision plan. The Board of Admission makes the same decisions under Early Decision that it would under the Regular Decision plan.”
First…can you afford these schools? Either full pay or will Net Price Calculator indicates you can?
Remember that colleges like ED (1 or 2) because if you get admitted, you are going to attend…THat helps with their yield (% of admitted students attending).
It helps you because if you are one of the first student with stats like yours, then they are more likely to accept you.
To me ED is good if you know which one of these schools is a top choice.
An additional wrinkle is that Wesleyan is a popular choice among my D’s friends in HS. There are 7 others interested in applying, and a couple will apply ED. D has better grades, scores and is varsity team captain and super involved in ECs. Last year Wesleyan took 2 from her school, seems to me if she applies ED1 at Wes, there is decent probability she gets in. However, she really liked Yale too. Do you get better chances ED (early action) at Yale or is it like Brown and no real bump?
Agreed. Right now its a close race between Yale and Wesleyan. She may move Swarthmore up there after this week’s discover program. As a parent it seems the best course of action is EA at Yale, if deferred then ED2 at Wesleyan. Only hiccup is we know 2 other kids are applying ED1 to Wes from her school. D is superior candidate to the other two, but they are still good candidates. Small competitive HS school. So our thinking is with grades + hooks she is most probable ED1 admit at Wesleyan. But if the school admitted both her friends in ED1 round while she waited for ED2 round, it could become an issue as in the past 5 years Wes has not accepted more than 2 from her school per year.
You really just need to let your daughter choose her ED school based on her top pick. You must be able to afford the ED school. Both of these points have been made.
You are over analyzing this. Your DD’s SAT score is a bit low for these schools. Make sure your daughter’s has some match schools.
While Yale ED will provide you a bit of bump, the other thing you need to factor, and you already make mention in the context of similar Wesleyan candidates, is that given the sheer number of applicants at Yale, is they too, will have similar type applicants from your region.
How it goes, is that ED at Yale, unless you are outright counted-out, then they kick the can down the road, and you are weighed against the regular applicant stacks. So, you mention she is an URM, the other things to consider is how much similar female URM applicants are from your region. Mahor–is she a STEM? She is on the border with a 2130 SAT, and she would be in the lower percentile of those admitted. By way of background, our middle D is in her 2nd year at Y, also a URM, but was also a recruited athlete, and had SAT closer to 2200.
For me, it’s whether you want to play a reach card (Y) or try to get in early on (W), which seems a bit more of a match. My hunch is that she will be deferred, if she went ED at Y, and then compete against the regular admission applicants.
Your daughter should apply early to the college she likes best at that point in time. If she would be happy at an ED college, and if you can afford it, then good luck to her.
Don’t try to talk her into applying to Yale or Swarthmore if Wesleyan’s her favorite.
You have the URM tip at Wes and also the legacy tip. Make sure she will be satisfied if admitted, that she didn’t explore other colleges. Brown admissions does say elsewhere ED doesn’t help after athletes (about 200) and legacies. But last year, for a small sample in RD, 2 of 3 admitted from one school were URM (the non URM had stats in the middle of the other two.)
Thank you for the advice. I think you are right, insofar as its a reach for Yale unless she gets her scores up 50-100 pts, although she has strong EC activities. Financial aid is not a factor, if it was I think I would be pushing for Swarthmore which I hear is very generous. For now I am going to sit back and see what happens over the next 2 weeks post Discover Swarthmore and her overnight at Wes. We are going to definitely do an ED1 school, just trying to narrow it down based on odds vs. the ‘feel’ - agree with other poster that at this age know for certain where you want to go for the next 4 years is a coin toss… still have to consider knowing ED1 decision in December is going to make for a really happy 2nd semester senior year!
Considering how brutally difficult these schools are for even the brightest stars to get in to, we have been repeatedly advised to apply ED both where one is most interested AND the deck is stacked the most-such as having the legacy card to play. I would not necessarily try to use the ED perk (if there is one) to apply to a school with no hook if you have a hook elsewhere. Better to stack your hooks (legacy plus ED). Thats one perspective. Good luck deciding whats best for you/your child.