<p>pyewacket,</p>
<p>I would advise you to take a stab at the whole list before making the ED decision. "Build the list from the bottom up" is very good advice. There may be a 'neck-and-neck' school where she stands a better chance ED. Might be good to compose the whole list and then decide. </p>
<p>Start with about 5-6 realistic matches. Find some safeties that mimic these schools. Finally, nudge up a bit into higher stat/selectivity schools. Not too high. The problem is, any student in the USA could have Harvard as a "reach" even though only an infinitesimal number of them would even stand a chance of admission. </p>
<p>Make sure your D stands a fair chance at her reaches. If a school is an unrealistic reach/total longshot, it is doubtful that ED alone would do the trick -- a BWRK, with 25% or lower SATs is not likely to be admitted, ED or otherwise. (If there is an extenuating circumstance such as legacy, sport recruitment, or geographic/ethnic diversity, ED <em>might</em> be a good choice even with 25% stats.) </p>
<p>Remember that the 25%-75% figures can be hard to analyze. Imagine a scattergraph of the following scores: 1600, 1600, 1550, 1550, 1550, 1500, 1400, 1300, 1300, 1300. </p>
<p>25% is 1300, 75% is 1550-- but really a kid with a 1300 is actually <em>way</em> low for this school. Even a 1400 is on the low side. 1500 would be the 50% score-- an it is <em>not</em> halfway between 1300 & 1550. So do your homework on the actual spread of scores at the school.</p>
<p>If, on the other hand, a reach school instead is a realistic reach (SATs in 40-60% range at a very selective school) ED might help seal the deal.</p>
<p>So "how realistic is the reach?" is my question. If it is the favorite school and a realistic reach, go for it. </p>
<p>If you really want to be strategic, think about having a #2 choice for an ED2 school and get that one ready if ED1 does not work. Decide in advance how you would want to handle a deferral at the ED1 school.</p>
<p>My D did ED1 and was rejected. (She was maybe 45% on SATs for the school.)</p>
<p>She did ED2 at a school with nearly identical selectivity, stats, etc-- and was accepted. Probably even if she had been deferred at #1 she would have done the ED2 application, as in athletics it is important to commit to the school to get the big push from the coach. </p>
<p>In her mind there were actually 3 schools that she liked nearly equally well; would have been happy at any of the three. It was a bit of a tossup but we felt that ED could really be a help in having her app evaluated more carefully. She is a kid who shines in all the details even if her GPA is not 4.0.</p>
<p>If your D has two or three schools that would all be really wonderful and make her very happy, it might be wise to play the ED card at one where your D's stats match most closely to the mid range for the school. I would only worry about "wasting" an ED app on an unrealistic school. </p>
<p>As my D's experience attests, being mid range + ED is no guarantee at any given school, but it obviously means you have a decent chance.</p>