ED?

Applying to College
1

I am planning to apply ED. But cannot decide on Duke or Vanderbilt (or maybe Brown)
GPA: 4.3 weighted (3.85 unweighted)
ACT: 33 (34 superscored)
Plenty of extracurriculars (varsity sports, all state music, 500+ community service hours, tutoring)

All three schools are exactly what I’m looking for but I have one concern for each school:
Duke: Duke has long been my ideal school but I tend to get very caught up in the partying and the social scene and with the intention to be a bio major, I am worried that I will get caught up in the social aspect and away from academics. And also, I have heard that Durham is not the best town.
Vanderbilt: I have heard that Nashville has a huge southern vibe (which I have never experienced before)
Brown: School spirit is huge for me and compared to Vandy and Duke, Brown is definitely lacking in that category (although stellar in everything else, especially their bio program)

I keep going back and forth between the three and questioning whether I should apply ED and go for the long shot with the lowest acceptance rate (Brown) and sacrifice school spirit or apply Duke or Vandy.

I realize that all three are reach schools and would gladly like opinions or input from current students who go to these schools. Thanks!!

2

It sounds like you are leaning towards Duke. Don’t be afraid of being caught up in the party scene. It is not a phenomenon that is unique to Duke. Vanderbilt and Brown have party scenes as well. Brown may be marginally more selective but Duke has higher SAT scores, more national merit scholars and the best med school placement rate.

3

@NerdyChica and Durham (or lack of a city vibe) is not that much of a problem?

4

My suggestions are:

  1. Visit these schools and see which one you like more. Don’t just count on the data and info available on the web.
  2. Run the NPC of each school to see if they are financially possible to you.
  3. Compare your stat with the admission stat of these schools to see which one you would have better chance.
  4. Compare the ED admission rate of these schools.
5

“@NerdyChica and Durham (or lack of a city vibe) is not that much of a problem?”

Durham is almost twice the size of Providence. It is a city by any definition and it is currently experiencing a resurgence. Most lists of best places to live (as a young college graduate) have Durham at or near the top.

6

There is no reason to apply ED unless your are a recruited athlete, legacy or URM. More and more, the super students are applying ED, so you will be applying into a more competitive pool.

Nashville of the three locations is the most exciting, by far. Providence is a good town for students and so is Durham, but Nashville is in another league.

If school spirit is important then I would consider Notre Dame and Boston College too.

7

This claim is contrary to conventional wisdom of most knowledgeable high school college counselors, and especially those at private high schools. For very selective colleges applying ED gives strong candidates a significant advantage over applying RD. For many such colleges 1/3 to 1/2 of the class is selected from the ED pool. And while legacy typically counts most during the ED round, many non-legacy applicants are accepted in ED. Further applying ED is a big help in the college application process. If you are turned down or waitlisted at ED you can still adjust your application strategy (as for example by adding “less” selective colleges) before the application deadlines.

8

@fogcity The conventional wisdom seriously exaggerates the benefit. You are correct that in some schools a good portion of the class is ED but the pool has a lot of preselected candidates and then very very strong candidates.

People shouldn’t think the schools standards are any different during ED.

My son applied ED last year because NESCAC recruiting is an ED process. Had he settled on Boston College he would have applied RD even as a recruited athlete.