Hi, I think you are right. I heard that my school made an offer to an experienced GC a few weeks ago, but somehow that GC decided not to join us. I think it would have been stressful for anyone to take on 200+ seniors and give good advice within weeks. While students understood the dilemma, it was bad news for us. We have had to grope our ways around on our own, and it was too late to retain external counselors as all the good ones were taken already.
Simply put, almost all students are stuck between a rock and a hard place. We do not have enough time to do all the research we need. So you were right, I need to make a decision to ED or not, and am leaning towards spending more time and making a more comprehensive list for RD. I would give up my high % shot but hopefully I will have more choices in the spring. Thank you again for your candid advice!
You will be fine to not ED. Do not be mislead by the ED %s. Many of those are athletes, alumni, or hooked in some other way. The data is not telling the full picture.
Apply non-restrictive Early Action to a few including safeties and matches. Those early acceptances boost your confidence and give your mind some peace.
You are so right about the ED % being misleading. Over the years, I heard that top schools with Division 1 sports commit with a lot of strong athletes during their junior year. It is an entirely different process, yt their acceptances were still reflected in the ED #s.
And D3 athletic recruits are also in the ED round. And all have a coach wanting them and have had successful pre-reads. At some, even major donor legacies have to apply in the early round to get the benefit of their status. So yes, all of these seriously distort the numbers.
I just spoke to an older friend who have direct knowledge of athletic recruits. He mentioned that the Ivies and some LACs dole out a lot of admit letters to lacrosse/hockey/football players from elite prep schools very early.
The general feedback is that things have not been the same since Pepperdine started to take in a group of “Crazy Rich Asians” every year, who throw big parties at their lavish houses in Malibu/Santa Monica, while their parents are busy working back home.