<p>Schools with ED don’t want it to be only for the wealthy, so the financial aid “out” must be provided so that the fear “bankruptcy” doesn’t prevent the non-wealthy from applying. That’s why schools wrote this into the rules:</p>
<p>Exactly. And, since ED schools tend to be schools that require NCP info, NPC’s aren’t going to be accurate for a good number of kids.</p>
<p>sybbie, I wonder how many students are using ED for an admissions advantage rather than because it’s the absolute first choice school. </p>
<p>Saying that schools should be only SCEA or SCED sounds to me like going back in time to the UC admissions system when students couldn’t apply to multiple campuses. You got to choose a first, second, and maybe third choice. Which led to lots of gamesmanship, because if you weren’t admitted to your first choice you would theoretically next be considered for your second choice, but if that was too popular you’d drop down to the third choice. So maybe the kid who really wanted Berkeley but was on the bubble for being admitted would put their true second choice as their first choice, as insurance against having to go to their third choice.</p>
<p>Slithey…my feeling is that a student applying early should not be able to apply to other colleges at the same time. If the theory is that applying early is the ultimate “showing of interest”, then let it stand alone.</p>
<p>Students should be able to have their other applications ready to go in case of deferral or rejection ED.</p>
<p>But at this point, from what I read here…folks are saying “oh we’ll…my kid will apply ED and if WE don’t think the money is there (or our kid changes their mind…we will still say the money isn’t working), we can just walk away from an ED acceptance…no big deal.”</p>
<p>But it is what it is. No matter HOW it is set up, there will be folks who play it a different way.</p>
<p>Many students are using ED for an admissions advantage at the absolute first choice school.</p>
<p>I’m not sure where you got the statistic that 60% of ED kids are hooked. Maybe that’s at a few Ivy’s? Wash U, for example, takes a lot of their class ED, they say it gives you an advantage and I doubt very much that 60% of their ED admits are hooked in any way. </p>
<p>I also don’t know if you can say that kids apply ED to their absolute first choice school. Many kids would prefer HYP, for example, all other things being equal, but wouldn’t waste their ED advantage on a school that they don’t think they have a chance at.</p>
<p>^ That may be the reason HYP don’t do ED. I think most kids are realistic, and decide on their absolute first choice school considering all factors, not just which schools are the most popular (by selectivity).</p>
<p>If financial aid is a family’s concern–communicate with the college’s Financial Aid Office immediately and get their calculated estimate in hardcopy, to see if this is feasible for everyone concerned–prior to submitting for Early Decision. This is what’s best for the college, the parents and especially the child.</p>
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<p>However, their EA is SCEA, where the applicant agrees not to apply ED anywhere, and not apply EA to other private schools in the US.</p>
<p>UCBA…yep. And that is the way it should be.</p>
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<p>Oh, come on . . . just because a student is interested doesn’t mean that he or she will be admitted. So you’re suggesting that all ED candidates should forego all schools with Dec. 1 scholarship deadlines, all rolling admissions schools, and all schools that require an early app in order to schedule an interview . . . just because they “prefer” ED School X? That’s absurd!</p>
<p>If and when the student is admitted ED (and accepts that offer), he or she is obligated to withdraw all pending applications and turn down any pending offers of admission. That satisfies the ED agreement. Expecting an ED candidate to forego all other opportunities before receiving an offer of admission makes no sense at all.</p>
<p>I agree with dodgersmom.</p>
<p>DS applied to an Ivy ED (both because it was his top choice and he thought doing so gave him a greater chance of acceptance), but he also applied to three schools where he’d get significant merit money.</p>
<p>If he hadn’t put in those other applications early on, he would have been shut out from those merit possibilities, should he have been turned down from his first choice.</p>
<p>*Quote:
my feeling is that a student applying early should not be able to apply to other colleges at the same time. If the theory is that applying early is the ultimate “showing of interest”, then let it stand alone.</p>
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Oh, come on . . . just because a student is interested doesn’t mean that he or she will be admitted. So you’re suggesting that all ED candidates should forego all schools with Dec. 1 scholarship deadlines, all rolling admissions schools, and all schools that require an early app in order to schedule an interview . . . just because they “prefer” ED School X? That’s absurd!</p>
<p>If and when the student is admitted ED (and accepts that offer), he or she is obligated to withdraw all pending applications and turn down any pending offers of admission. That satisfies the ED agreement. Expecting an ED candidate to forego all other opportunities before receiving an offer of admission makes no sense at all.*</p>
<p>I agree. You can’t just wait on the ED. </p>
<p>What about all the Calif kids? They CAN’T apply to the UCs and CSUs after ED results. And what about all the kids who may need merit to afford their safety schools…those deadlines are early.</p>
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<p>Unfortunately not practical in many cases, particularly for 2nd choice-on-down schools where there are scholarship deadlines (Oct-Dec, often) and in my S’ case, academic admissions to procure before musical auditions can be scheduled.</p>
<p>They can’t be “ready to go”, they need to be sent in to make those deadlines then withdrawn if the ED school comes through.</p>
<p>One big plus to applying somewhere ED or EA to us was that the big essay work was done for that school and so many other apps were ready to go. If there’s anything to hold onto and wait for an ED decision before sending, I’d say it’s the reachy supplements.</p>
<p>I think the 60% is pretty accurate for the top lacs too. It’s hard to figure out for any one school but I think you may be right: Wash U may have fewer hooked kids. </p>
<p>Wash U does not participate in Questbridge or Posse so that’s not there. Their URM numbers are low: Hispanics (5%) and African Americans (6%) although they have many Asian-Americans (16% of admitted freshmen, 24% of undergrads). I found something that said that 5% were legacy kids. ([Study</a> reveals the importance of family in college admission | Student Life](<a href=“http://www.studlife.com/news/administration/2011/02/11/study-reveals-the-importance-of-family-in-college-admission/]Study”>Study reveals the importance of family in college admission - Student Life)) It does give scholarships for Natl Merit Scholars and I found something that says they have 206, so I guess around 50 each year so that’s another 3% of the class. So that’s only 19% plus recruited athletes, faculty kids and developmental admits. </p>
<p>That said, go through the numbers with the top 10 lacs and be surprised.</p>
<p>Very anecdotally it seems to me that unhooked kids also have a big advantage applying ED. Kids were accepted to a school ED while other, better candidates were rejected RD and the kids who were accepted RD to that same school were better candidates than the ED kids.</p>
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<p>Which is exactly why “anecdotal evidence” isn’t evidence of much of anything! There certainly are schools where applying ED boosts ones chances of admissions. This tends not to be true, however, at the most competitive schools, where the ED round is reserved for recruited athletes, legacy candidates, and a handful of other sought after students . . . and all other applications either get denied outright or deferred to the RD round.</p>
<p>Is Cornell among the most competitive schools?</p>
<p>I actually can’t recall Cornell’s deferral rate. I believe it’s lower than certain of the other Ivies. Brown and Harvard have particularly high deferral rates.</p>
<p>And perhaps I spoke too strongly. There certainly are schools where applying ED can help . . . but there are others where it’s an utter and complete waste of an ED app.</p>
<p>To get stats on hooked kids for Cornell, you would have to add in local kids (since they have preference), instate kids applying to state programs and EOP/ HEOP/ COSEP kids.</p>
<p>At our high school there were only a couple of kids (2 recruited athletes) who got into elite colleges because they were “hooked”. Almost all the kids got in because they were well-rounded kids with great grades, scores and extracurriculers. I question that 60%. It also seemed like kids who applied as legacies were often denied. Every year, the top kids get into good schools based on merit. Even the athletes were very good students.</p>