So, some deadlines have passed, and I’m still interested in Vandy. I know that ED gives a boost, and that I won’t get in RD. I would be applying ED II IF AND ONLY IF I don’t get into my top EA choices. Don’t get me wrong, I’m really interested in the school, but I’m not a 4.0/2400 applicant. I have the application ready to submit for January 1, but I’m waiting to hear back from other schools.
Would it be worth it for me to apply ED II and have that binding agreement or should I just risk it all in RD? The reason I would apply to Vandy is that it isn’t my #1, but it’s higher than the safeties/matches that I applied to.
Edit: For anybody wondering, my choices are: UMich (EA)>Notre Dame (EA)>UVA (EA)=Vanderbilt>All others>UMaine
When do you get your EA decisions back? Also, will the decisions for those schools be accept/reject, or can you get pushed to the RD pool? If you get them before Jan. 1st and you don’t like the result, and Vanderbilt’s your next in line, then EDII can only help you. If you don’t get them back before Jan. 1st, then you should probably just apply RD, if Vanderbilt’s all the way down at fourth on your list.
Also, if you can’t get in to UMich or UVA, you probably won’t get in to Vanderbilt either (especially now that EDI is over. EDII/RD are harder pools), so I don’t think there’s too much strategy or gamesmanship to consider: either you’ll get into one of the schools you prefer over Vanderbilt, or you wont’ get into any of them.
It still might be worth trying, because you really don’t have anything to lose besides $50. I just think it’s not really necessary to stress about strategizing.