Villanova Admissions recently posted an excellent blog post that described the various early admission options, including the newly established ED option. The blog indicated that EA has actually proven (in prior years) to be more competitive than RD. The post when on to indicate that “Early Decision is certainly for students who have Villanova as their clear first choice for college” - but - didn’t give any hints whether they would consider a less qualified applicant (of course within acceptable tolerance) through ED because the applicant “really, really wants to go to Nova.” For some highly competitive schools, ED can be the less competitive pathway to admission than EA or RD for the simple reason that its nice to have the entering class include a few diehards from Day 1. Any sense of how Villanova may approach ED for Fall 2017 applicants? Sort of related is this question: CAS is generally perceived as slightly less competitive than VSB & Engineering. Does it matter to Admissions if the applicant legitimately intends on pursing an “underserved major” (e.g., Classics or Religious Studies) in CAS? Is the intended major in CAS even a factor that Admissions may consider? I realize this is reallly “in the weeds” but your views would be appreciated. Kind regards!
Sorry I don’t have an answer. We are in the same boat wondering with this as well. Since this is the first time they are doing ED, it’s hard to know how they will look at it. Typically (in other schools) I believe ED is less competitive, but who knows how it will work when this is the first time going about it. I’m curious which blog you read this on? Thank you and best wishes!
Hi - Many thanks for responding! The blog may be found at: https://villanovaadmissionblog.com/
I don’t have an answer either. My S also has applied ED this year to Villanova. I guess since it is the first time we will have to wait and see. I’m curious to see how many applications they will receive for the ED round. Applicants with legacies are encouraged to apply ED.
I didn’t read anything in the blog about EA students having a lower acceptance rate than RD. Where is that?
@Andi75 The blog doesn’t specifically state that the acceptance rate is lower for EA than RD. But, it states that the EA round is more competitive than the RD round of the admissions process. Just meaning your application needs to be stronger if you are applying as an EA applicant.