ED or RD?

<p>I know i am not going to post my stats because first of all, mine are not strong as everyone elses and I know everyone is sick of them. However, I am still debating on whether to go Ed at Cornell. So I always hear ED increases your chances slightly. Yet, if I have bad SAT scores would I have the same increased very-slight chance of getting in as I would if I increase my SAT in Oct. and SAT 2's in Nov. and apply RD with better scores? What should I do? thanx</p>

<p>well im hearing/reading that ED will increase your chances because it shows enthusiasm for the school..and what not. i also hear that SAT scores are heavier for ED because colleges want to take the kids with extremely high SATs so they can better their stats on rankings. butttt...dont take my word for it..im kind of a skeptic when it comes to these things. (i read these things in published books...not out of websites or anything)</p>

<p>about your situation..you can take the Oct/Nov. SAT and send them thruough college board when you find out your score..for the November one..you might wanna use that.. "rush delivery service" or whatever it is. so if u feel like cornell is your #1 school..by all means ED..it wont harm you</p>

<p>hm..what am i saying.. DONT ED.. lol i'll just have to compete with you in november.</p>

<p>lol jk ;)</p>

<p>Hannie,</p>

<p>This is such a big decision. Please take advice from this board with a grain of salt, with the exception of the moderators. None of us are professionals, and to be honest with you, college admissions decisions even surprise professionals. Not knowing your stats, it would be hard to give an educated guess though. I understand that it can be intimidating to post your stats because the students on these boards have such stellar stats. Plus you get a troll once in a while who is not so delicate about commenting on stats. I'm an adult alumnus, but I'm very private and would be shy about posting my own stats if I were your age. There are a handful of students or graduates on this board who give excellent advice, and you might want to private message them (i.e. sparticus, norcalguy, perro, shizz, towerpumpkin to name a few). By the way, the students on this board are the cream of the crop... they do not represent most of the applicant pool. </p>

<p>To get an idea about where you stand in the admissions game, you might want to ask your high school guidance counselor to see your high school profile of college acceptances for the class of 2009. That way you can get a better idea of where you stand in terms of admissions in your neighborhood. If you don't know what document I am referring to, you can view Ithaca High School's profile on <a href="http://www.icsd.k12.ny.us/highschool/studserv/CollegeProfile2004.pdf%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.icsd.k12.ny.us/highschool/studserv/CollegeProfile2004.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>I'm only showing this as an example of a high school profile. Be wary though, because every school is different. Ithaca High is a feeder school for Cornell and does quite well. </p>

<p>Your school's profile should be listed anonymously by GPA and SAT. Also it should list whether or not the applicant applied ED or RD. If you see a low GPA/SAT you can ask your counselor if that student had something extra... i.e. legacy, recruited athlete, etc. </p>

<p>I'm sorry that I didn't answer your question regarding SATs and ED or RD. I think you will be able to make a more informed decision though after viewing your high school profile report.</p>

<p>I would personally ED to Cornell if I really wanted to go there, not if it boosts my chances. Statistically, yes, applying ED does increase chances. However, I would only take advantage of it if I really wanted to go to Cornell badly.</p>

<p>tahoe, the info you've posted is extremely helpful! i have one question: what's the difference between "will attend" and "accepted" and "guaranteed?"</p>

<p>Will attend means that, well, they will attend the college. Accepted means that they were accepted but turned down their offer. Guaranteed means that they have a guaranteed transfer at a later date.</p>

<p>ah, thanks. do you know if any other high schools do this?</p>

<p>Most high schools (public and private) keep these records, but they usually don't publish them for public use. It's mainly for internal records. I've seen quite a few of them, and not all of them are as comprehensive as Ithaca's, but you can gain more insight into what stats the colleges are looking at from your high school. You should all ask your guidance office if you can look at the college profile for the class of 2009 (high school class of 2005). Hopefully, they will show it to you.</p>

<p>thanks for the advice!</p>

<p>thanx tahoe..helps a lot!</p>

<p>You too seichong and sdma! but im still debating.ughhhh!!!! :]</p>

<p>oh, just a thought, if it's not too low that they would reject you when you apply ED, you can get deferred and they would consider you again after you've retaken for RD...right?</p>