This is my first posting. My daughter, a Senior of a public school in VA, has a plan to apply for some LACs this fall as an international student. Her top chioce is Holy Cross and she wants to apply for ED.
Recently, however, we heard that ED of most LACs is occupied by recruited athletes and students with hook, and that it is probably wast of opportunity for an ordinary international student.
We are still new in this country and I am sorry for asking such a basic question, but is it really unrealistic for a non-athlete international student without any hook to use that opportunity? I made up my mind to raise this here because the competitiveness for internationals is so high and relatively mild selectivity seems attractive.
I’m not sure that ED at LACs rule is true for every LAC. I do know that the admissions director at Williams said in our tour that the acceptance percentage for ED and RD applicants that are unhooked is the same. We didn’t pursue Williams so I don’t know if that is a “about the same” or “generally the same” or “exactly the same.” I don’t know if that can be said for similar LACs like Amherst, Bowdoin, Middlebury, etc., You might be able to tell be the % of students that participate in varsity sports. If it is in the high 40% like Williams it very well might be the case. I hope that makes sense.
Holy Cross and schools like Colgate, Richmond, Lafayette are a little bigger than a typical lac, and so have more room in the ED round for unhooked kids.
First, you make sure she really is in shooting range for an admit to HC. That’s partly stats, but the holistic picture they look for matters very much. Stats alone won’t do it. Every college has a flavor, (not just opportunities, but attributes, strengths, and experiences they look for in candidates) and you want to be that, in their eyes (more than wanting a particular college for X and Y reasons of your own.) If she really isn’t this sort of match, ED is no boost.
But you also make sure this is a college the family can afford.
Your daughter’s international status/background in and of itself should provide a hook/angle in admissions; she’s got something that will help her stand out. Along with solid stats, it could provide a good way to differentiate in competitive pools. Not sure of her stats, but my bet is she’d have a solid chance at Holy Cross. Displayed interest in the school matters a lot at Holy Cross, so I’d recommend reaching out and setting up informational meetings and interviews, and maybe your daughter spending a weekend there (I think they still do that). I graduated from HC in 1992 and can testify that it’s a great “all around” package - exclusive focus on undergraduate liberal arts in the classical sense, grows the “whole person” - academic, athletic, artistic, spiritual, social - beautiful campus, active social life, tight alumni network & successful (in the holistic sense), happy graduates… Students are well-rounded and all-around “good kids”. Good luck!
ED can provide a boost to any application. While students with 'hooks" such as being a recruited athlete or a child of a big donor generally apply in the ED round, other students without such hooks also do apply and get accepted ED. If Holy Cross is your daughter’s top choice and if it appears affordable then applying ED is fine. Just be aware that ED is binding – if she gets into Holy Cross she will be obligated to attend if affordable.
Being international is not a hook. These colleges are not short on international applicants.
And she needs to match what they want. Not just want them.
Generally, though not always I’m sure, when a school with a much higher ED than RD rate says that there is no advantage and the difference is just athletes and legacies, etc., they aren’t being entirely honest. In most such cases (i.e. when the rate is much higher) there is an advantage, the question is just how much. Some schools say this because they are uncomfortable with the idea that they have an easier admission process for ED. A few buck that trend and admit they give preference to ED – Wesleyan and Haverford are two that come to mind who said this. But many perpetuate this myth that there’s no advantage.
This isn’t just my opinion. Someone on this forum a couple years ago demonstrated it pretty compellingly with a detailed statistical analysis for a couple schools that claimed no advantage but for which the data on athletic recruits, etc. was available. Pretty sure one of the examples was one of the HESCAC LAC’s. Also, anecdotally I once had lunch with a former head of development for a highly selective college and I casually brought this topic up in conversation out of curiosity and he straight-up laughed at the suggestion there was no ED advantage and admitted that was a white lie schools told for reputation purposes.
Bowdoin in particular usually populates at least half of it’s final class with ED students. There’s definitely an advantage. The question is how much.
All the after-the-fact data massaging doesn’t replace seeing the process. ED advantages only go to appropriately qualified applicants. If there’s good doubt, some colleges defer. Don’t forget ED is binding, except if unaffordable. It also binds the college to those kids, doesn’t, eg, let them compare a kid in the larger area pool of RD. There’s no one-two assurance you have a better shot.
@Dancingmom518 By learning all you can from the school itself. That may not come from a student tour guide or info session and not always from marketing brochures. Read dept and course info, about prof interests, activities and see what sorts of students they tout. Figure how location matters. (Eg, NYC vs Iowa.) Then try to put it together. Some schools make it more obvious. And different majors can require different strengths.
ED has a definite advantage when the school’s yield is below 50%. Some consultants will say that ED is statistically the same as tacking on an extra 100 SAT points. But don’t waste ED on crazy high yield schools like Harvard…
I would use it strategically in the next 15-20 ranked schools