ED Switch Help

Hey guys, I posted this in the admission and parents forums too, but I am hoping that someone can please help me!

HELP!!! So I applied ED1 to my top choice A and got deferred. I love A and imagine myself there and was DEVASTATED to get deferred.

My second choice is B. I really like it but I would chose A over B if I had the choice. I submitted my app to B in mid-December for regular decision, but after hearing that I got deferred from A, I decided to switch to ED2 for B. I guess I just lost confidence in myself and was desperate.

But now I really regret switching to ED2 and I’m having anxiety and want to get out of it just to see if I have a chance at A. I was wondering if I can switch back to regular decision at B. ED2 decisions don’t come out for another month, so it’s unlikely that they’ve even made a decision on me. Plus, I’m not backing out of the ED agreement after getting in.

My question is: CAN I LEGALLY SWITCH BACK TO REGULAR WITHOUT B BLACKMAILING ME, AND WOULD SWITCHING TO REGULAR HURT MY CHANCE OF GETTING INTO B DURING THE REGULARROUND? IF I CAN SWITCH TO REGULAR, HOW CAN I GO ABOUT DOING THIS?

Thank you so much! I appreciate any advice! I have worked so hard in high school (just like many other students), and I feel like I am ruining my chance of getting into college.

I think you’re not in that much of a situation, just email the admission office of B and ask if you can switch back to Regular Decision instead of ED2. Most schools allow you to rescind before the announcement of the results, but whether to switch you back to Regular Decision is slightly more different from schools to schools.

With all honesty, ED2 is of course less competitive and easier to get in than Regular Decisions. It really depends on which school is A. Research on their previous years’ deferral and admission rates and decide for yourself if A is really worth the wait. The worst scenerio is that you can get rejected from both B (assuming RD) and A (after deferral). Ask yourself if A is worth the rejection from B too.

okay thanks @alafae‌ . Yeah, I’ve completely thought about both sides…Getting rejected at both A and B would be awful…in that case I would want to stick with ED2 at B. BUT I just don’t want to have any regrets with A. My counselor called A, I wrote A a letter explaining why it was my top choice, I got promoted to a higher leadership position at my job (I am an assistant swim coach for a swim team and now I will be starting to also do private lessons), and I recently won 2 awards

It really highly depends on what A is, and of course please check their rates of admission for deferred students. Your counselor calling A might be a good thing and of course you doing follow up works. Promotion and awards don’t make that much of a difference though.

Just don’t do something you will regret. If you’re doubting yourself for B right now, it’s best you do RD. Check their admission rate difference as well. For example, the ED admission rate of Northwestern is 30%+, but the RD admission rate is approx 5%. THEN of course you will want to apply to ED. If it doesn’t make that much of a difference, apply RD to B, give yourself another chance if A still sounds good to you.

Just call school B and ask to be moved to RD. No problem.

@"Erin’s Dad"‌ you don’t think it would negatively affect my chance of getting in RD if I switch??

No, I don’t

I’d be sure to talk to your guidance counselor before calling school 2 as she she/he also signed the ED form.

Basically they are just moving your application from one pile to another, to be read later. None of them are so invested in your application that they would “hold it against” you for wanting to be moved. Seriously. It’s probably a secretary who will do it, depending on the school. It’s early enough that your admissions rep might not even know.