<p>I am applying for a very competitive school and my stats are mediocre/maybe below average.
(The school is Vanderbilt and my SAT is 660CR,800M,690W)</p>
<p>Anyways, when would one apply ED2 and when would it be more beneficial to do RD?
I am set on Vanderbilt. If they accept me, I will be going 100% so it makes sense to do EDII. However, I heard that a lot of the competitive kids who get rejected first round of ED chose to do EDII and that would mean I am placed in a pool with a lot of super competitive kids.</p>
<p>Would it be more beneficial for me to do RD? Or should I just go ahead with EDII?</p>
<p>Would this be based purely on numbers?
because my concern is the type of students being accepted into each. Although EDII has a higher rate, would the students accepted be of a higher calibre than those in RD because there is so many competitive students doing EDII?</p>
<p>Can Vandy see your first semester grades ED2? If not and they show an upward trend, RD might be better. ED acceptances often/usually have lower average stats.</p>
<p>Huh, my entire High school record has been mediocre. I have had a lot of ups and downs.
For exmaple, first sememster of grade 11 i had 58 in french as final. Second sememster, i got 92.</p>
<p>The problem, and i regret, is that i never studied much and all my tests were taken based on what I had learned and not what I forced myself to memorize. In hindsight, that was a bad approach. However, other than that 58, most of my marks are mid 80s to mid 90s. </p>
<p>First sememster marks are gonna be 84,84, 94, 92 or thats how they are looking like. They dont show a clear improvement or fall but yea my “GPA” we dont do gpa in canada isnt great. My GC said im top 10% in the class of '14 at my school though and we are the 2nd best school in ontario.</p>
<p>Vanderbilt has been requiring on the order of an ACT of 33 this year ED, at least according to our HS GC. The kids with a 32 ACT are getting deferred, although that may just be a function of our school’s incredible number of applicants this year.</p>
<p>If you are serious about Vanderbilt and it is absolutely your number one school, do ED2. The competition only gets worse in the RD round, in the sense that there are so many applicants, and if you’re deferred, you’re there anyway.</p>
<p>Almost all schools look at first semester grades or mid-term 1st semester grades. It’s a myth that they don’t look at them. They might even look at midterm 2nd semester grades, or at least it’s a possibility, so don’t slack.</p>
<p>Vanderbilt is an incredibly competitive school. As with most colleges and universities, your <em>best</em> bet (providing your grades/test scores are on par and don’t need much improvement) is to apply early decision. Most acceptance rates for ED are higher than they are RD - even if you get deferred, your binding commitment and interest in the school will be noted.</p>
<p>“Almost all schools look at first semester grades or mid-term 1st semester grades. It’s a myth that they don’t look at them.”</p>
<p>Some colleges might consider mid-term grades if they can see them; some high school districts may actually report them.</p>
<p>If you apply ED there’s no way a college can consider first semester senior grades, so if you know your grades are on an upward trend from junior year, RD might be better.</p>
<p>Virtually every kid I know who applied ED1 got a request (or the school did) for mid-term 1st semester senior grades. Anyone who applies ED2 will likely have 1st semester senior grades available. </p>
<p>If you are applying ED to competitive schools, there is almost no way to not have them look at at least part of your senior year.</p>