ED Screening

Colleges and Universities A-Z Williams College
1

<p>In the same timeframe that other students were notified of acceptance/denial, S was notified his app was withdrawn by Williams as they'd learned of his ED acceptance elsewhere. </p>

<p>Although he's committed to fulfilling his ED commitment, a great deal of thought, time and expense was invested in the Williams application. For the satisfaction of knowing, it would be really nice to learn whether he was on their Accepted list!</p>

<p>Anyone know whether Williams screens ALL applicants against the LAC ED lists, or only applicants that made the cut and are on the tentative Accepted list? </p>

<p>Do NESCAC schools typically follow the same standard practice? A Wesleyan denial came in after that without any mention of the ED, suggesting the screening occurs AFTER the tentative acceptance decision.</p>

<p>Thanks!</p>

2

<p>I understand the temptation to want to know whether S would have been accepted but you agreed to withdraw all those RD applications when the ED acceptance came in. Your son’s app should never have been considered by any of the other colleges. </p>

3

<p>I appreciate your post, @momofzag. </p>

<p>I know that’s the “high road”, and he was advised accordingly. He chose to take a different course of action when a parent of 3 grad school kids (from CA; 2 at HYP Ivies, 1 at UCLA) offered an alternative perspective. </p>

<p>Now with a solid freshman year under his belt he’s considering a transfer. No regrets whatsoever about his ED school, it was still the right choice for him for freshman year, his needs have just evolved. Although he understands many factors influence a school’s acceptance priorities from year to year, (e.g. makeup of the applicant pool changes year to year) he still feels he’s leagues ahead in the process by knowing which schools looked favorably upon him originally. He would not have those data points had he withdrawn before receiving acceptance decisions.</p>

<p>In all honesty, my impressions on the withdrawal timing issue have been evolving. </p>

<p>On the one hand, empathizing with waitlisted/deferred applicants, it feels like “the compassionate thing to do”. </p>

<p>On the other hand, after extensive searching (mostly among schools S applied to, but also generic Google search) we found no mention, anywhere, of a specific timetable mandated for withdrawal. All schools merely declare that withdrawal must happen (no question there). At most, they state “in a timely manner”, but timing is consistently vague.</p>

<p>Consider also the fact that every other applicant gets the benefit of learning their desirability at each school to which they applied. An ED kid invested the same precious time and money, and faced the same risks / rejections. ED kids have essentially handed the college a gift by guaranteeing their loyalty and predictable acceptance via their ED app. Their reward may (or may not) be a slightly higher consideration of their application. That symbiotic relationship feels like an even exchange. Done.<br>
Why should they be penalized by being denied the potential satisfaction (and “selectivity litmus test” data points for future decisions, such as transfers) of other acceptances?</p>

<p>If anyone can point me to a written policy for any New England/NY school that specifies a withdrawal date, I’d be genuinely grateful.</p>

<p>Thanks to all who participate in this forum. It’s been really informative.</p>

4

<p>You’re making this more complicated than it should be. The standard verbiage is that upon an ED acceptance, any other applications will be withdrawn. There is not specific date, as far as I am aware, because ED acceptances can come at different times. But certainly, leaving an application to be considered at Williams well after ED acceptance at a different school is a blatant violation of the rules. Makes me wonder why your son thought the rules didn’t apply to him. (Not to mention the guidance counselor and the parent or guardian that also had to sign off on the ED agreement.)</p>

<p>I don’t know what the Williams website said when your son was applying, but now it says that “Early Decision applicants may submit an Early Decision application to only one institution and if admitted under Early Decision are expected to withdraw all other college applications and to initiate no new ones. First-year applicants who wish to apply to more than one college should apply under the non-binding Regular Decision plan.” Sounds pretty clear to me, and I’m betting that similar language, if not the exact same words, was available when your son applied to Williams.</p>

<p>If your son wanted “the benefit of learning (his) desirability at each school to which (he) applied,” than he shouldn’t have applied anywhere ED. This a classic example of wanting to have your cake and eat it too, and no amount of rationalization will make it OK. In the context of applying to multiple schools, you say that “an ED kid invested the same precious time and money, and faced the same risks / rejections.” No, at least in the case of an accepted ED student. One of the major benefits of being accepted ED is that you’re done with the process; you don’t need to submit any other applications. It’s too bad that Williams, and any other schools that he failed to withdraw applications from, had to spend time considering your son’s application and/or figuring out that he had already been accepted somewhere else ED.</p>

5

<p>Thanks for sharing your perspectives. </p>

<p>Only one ED app was filed – that rule was clear, and of course he honored that.
But there was no guarantee he’d be accepted at his ED school, so of course he had to file elsewhere!</p>

<p>Re: specifying a specific date for withdrawal of other offers, colleges could easily frame their policy as “withdrawal within 3 days of ED acceptance notification” or something like that, but at NONE of his colleges of interest did we find that language. Even in the quote MiddKid86 provided above, the timetable is vague. Of course he withdrew from all other colleges. I still have yet to see a written policy that disallows that withdrawal to happen after waiting for other decisions to come in.</p>

<p>Desires on the part of the community are one thing. Policy is another.</p>

<p>I repeat my invitation to anyone who can share a written policy for any NY/NE school that quantifies a withdrawal timeframe. Any Admissions folks want to chime in?</p>

6

<p>Is the root of this that he is now considering a transfer and wants to evaluate his chances at Williams based on whether or not he was admitted as an incoming freshman? If so, it’s apples and oranges.</p>

7

<p>How about some specifics?</p>

<p>Was your son’s acceptance ED 1 or ED 2?
When was he notified of his ED acceptance?
Was the ED acceptance at a Common App school that uses the Common App ED agreement?</p>

<p>ED 1 applicants are normally notified of decisions in mid to late December. Of course, there is some variation among schools. If your son was accepted ED 1 and was notified of his acceptance in mid to late December, than he did not have to file elsewhere, assuming the RD application deadlines for most schools are no earlier than January 1. Again, needing to file only one application is one of the major benefits of applying and being accepted ED.</p>

<p>If your son was accepted ED at a school that uses the Common App, than it is likely that he, his guidance counselor, and a parent or guardian had to all sign the Common App Early Decision Agreement. The Agreement says in part that “If you are accepted under an Early Decision plan, you must promptly withdraw the applications submitted to other colleges and universities and make no additional applications to any other university in any country.” The words are in bold because that’s how they appear in the agreement. No specific time frame for withdrawing other applications is mentioned, but the word “promptly” is unambiguous. Certainly someone who is smart enough to apply to a school the caliber of Williams understands the meaning of that word.</p>

<p>If your son was accepted under ED 2, different deadlines and circumstances would apply, and submitting other applications would likely be a necessity. But even so, his notification of acceptance would have come in plenty of time for him to inform Williams and other schools that he was withdrawing his applications, before too much time and effort was spent reviewing those applications.</p>

<p>If the school that accepted him ED was not a Common App school or did not use the Common App ED Agreement, it’s likely that a different written agreement with similar language was required.</p>

<p>One of the most telling things for me is that in one of your previous posts you state that your son could have taken the “high road” (your words) by withdrawing his other applications, and he was in fact advised to do this, but he took a “different course” (again, your words - could this “different course” be the “low road”?) when someone offered an “alternative perspective.” In plain English, your son could have done the right thing and was in fact advised to do the right thing, but for some reason he chose to break the rules. And apparently adults (guidance counselor and parent/guardian) who should have taken action to keep your son on the “high road” failed to do so.</p>

<p>Finally, you state that “Of course he withdrew from all other colleges.” Do you mean that he withdrew his applications for other colleges, after getting his ED acceptance? How does that square with your report that his Williams application was withdrawn by the college, and not your son, when Williams learned that he had already been accepted elsewhere under an ED agreement? And if he withdrew his other applications, why did he get a rejection letter from Wesleyan?</p>

8

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<p>Seconded.</p>