<p>What's the general consensus on applying ED with a lowish test scores vs applying regular decision with better test scores + first semester grades to help out an unremarkable gpa + more volunteering/leadership? The only reason I see in favor of ED is that doing ED communicates a great level of interest in the school, making my application look more favorable and increasing my chances. All of this assuming my essays and recs. are as good as they're going to get.</p>
<p>That’s one of the best reasons to wait to apply RD – the anticipated boost in GPA/transcript strength/test scores. I wouldn’t focus on the ECs at this point – they’ll be of minimal help. </p>
<p>If you have lowish test scores and an unremarkable GPA then going ED won’t help you much. Better to get the GPA and score boost.</p>
<p>You have described the exact situation where ED is less attractive than RD. Put your best application forward, and better GPA and scores will be more important than the “great interest” shown by ED application. You can communicate your great interest in other ways. If you really feel strongly about it, you could write a brief paragraph in your “additional info” that states that you are confident this is your first choice and you would have applied ED, but you wanted to show them your best and include fall grades and tests. This would convey to me that you are a mature young person who was willing to be patient and work for your goal.</p>
<p>The general rule for ED is that unless you are hooked, you’ll need to be at least in the mid-50% range for the school stats wise to have a chance. If not, your odds are pretty low, so try to raise those stats to get in the mid-50% for RD. That bottom 25% range tends to be reserved for those “special cases” that most students are not.</p>
<p>It’s a mistake to think that standards are lower during ED - they’re actually about the same, they just take more of the qualified kids who apply.</p>
<p>Be sure you have a solid list of matches and safeties and work hard on those apps. If you aren’t competitive in the ED pool, your chances aren’t that great in the RD pool either (just saying). Do what you can to improve your application for this school, but don’t slack on your other apps because odds are very high that you will end up at one of those other schools.</p>
<p>Great advice everyone, thanks a lot… :)>- </p>
<p>I don’t get waiting for RD to improve the GPA. The first quarter is done in about two weeks, and the second quarter is not done until mid-January, at least for my son’s school.</p>
<p>I don’t see the second quarter grades being available for RD.</p>
<p>Our kids’ semester ends at winter break, so not all schools are the same. </p>
<p>Also, remember that these schools have THOUSANDS of apps to review. To think they are picking them all up in January and making final decisions on them isn’t realistic. Most RD schools who are not rolling admissions DO wait for the mid-year report before making a final decision on admissions. They don’t send out decisions until sometime in March… they have time to wait. So mid-year grades can be very relevant. Now… one semester just can’t move a GPA much against the weight of other semesters. But it can verify an upward trend.</p>