<p>There are at least 4 people applying ED to my first choice school...what kind of impact will this have on our chances?</p>
<p>First, are we talking a low acceptance rate school?</p>
<p>It will depend on many things, but kids from the same school are compared to each other, your classmates are your first line of competition. </p>
<p>The effect is less if say you're all recruited athletes or legacies. It's greater if some are in those categories and you're not.</p>
<p>At a large state school it matters much less that at a small LAC.</p>
<p>The school is Barnard... And we're from a very overrepresented town (in admissions in general).</p>
<p>At the T10 schools, and some LACs, the number of applicants from your high school impacts your chances of success EVEN IF the other applicants are recruited athletes. There are only so many slots and many constituencies that need to be satisfied. </p>
<p>For the highly competitive high schools, particularly their "feeder" schools, the college adcoms will stack up the applicants and compare them to one another, often reducing the objective evidence, GPA and test scores, to a single number. The adcoms (as well as high school administrations) also keep tabs on the total number of admissions from each of these high schools, since they will often have to justify a decision to take fewer applicants than "usual." In this environment, any addition (even in the form of an athlete with a likely letter) runs the risk of a corresponding subtraction.</p>
<p>Barnard has a high acceptance and is a school very concerned with yield so it should not be a big problem. Columbia would be another story.</p>
<p>hmm...okay.</p>
<p>If you also applied ED and you have a solid application, I wouldn't worry too much about it. If you're applying RD, however, it's another story.</p>
<p>So if we're applying ED (yes, I am too), it shouldn't make much difference?</p>
<p>Well, the stronger your application is in comparison to your peers', the less you have to worry about. But that goes without saying, of course. Barnard will accept the most qualified candidates. I don't think this should be something you lose sleep over!</p>
<p>What if your application is stronger than your peers, but they are applying ED and you're applying RD? :/</p>
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What if your application is stronger than your peers, but they are applying ED and you're applying RD? :/
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<p>It's impossible to say what effect any part of the application will have on the final outcome. The only three things that are for sure the most important in an application (unless the college doesn't require/look at them) are standardized test scores, the transcript, and the essays. Everything else you send along in the application can either help or hurt you, and yes, this includes whether or not there are other people from your school who have applied.</p>
<p>I refrain from giving too concrete of an answer on whether or not one's chances will be totally and utterly destroyed by this one factor, but I will use a personal anecdote —I applied ED to a highly selective university, along with *three other people from my school. But I'm not worrying about this detail. Why? Because it's all out of my hands now. Yeah, I'm just as anxious as the next kid about whether or not I got in, but I can't do anything about it.</p>
<p>I was wondering the same thing. My D applied early action to Fordham. Another student at her school did, too. Both have similar profiles, ec's, GPAs, etc. The other student has a slight advantage in being in an ethnic group that my daughter is not. If they accept the other student, would they not accept my D? We'll find out in two weeks, I guess, but we are wondering. They have already solicited the other student to apply. My D has been to the school twice, though, on visits, and the other student has not. Hopefully they will take both, what do you think?</p>
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I was wondering the same thing. My D applied early action to Fordham. Another student at her school did, too. Both have similar profiles, ec's, GPAs, etc. The other student has a slight advantage in being in an ethnic group that my daughter is not. If they accept the other student, would they not accept my D? We'll find out in two weeks, I guess, but we are wondering. They have already solicited the other student to apply. My D has been to the school twice, though, on visits, and the other student has not. Hopefully they will take both, what do you think?
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<p>This is where people often break down and claim that all college admissions decisions are based on luck, or that the whole thing is a crapshoot. It's not, really. Every decision is made by a highly competent, very experienced group of people — the more selective the school, the more competent and experienced. The reason people say admittances are based on luck is because the reasons for the decisions are invisible to them; invisible to them, not to the admissions committees. In the case of your D, who's to say Fordham necessarily needs more ethnic minorities? Perhaps your D had stronger essays or a better teacher rec. The point is, who knows? We certainly don't. Best of luck to you and your D.</p>
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Every decision is made by a highly competent, very experienced group of people — the more selective the school, the more competent and experienced.
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Hahaha--except not. As certain books by former adcoms show (and this hardly something they have incentive to lie about), many admissions officers are recent graduates and sometimes a majority are recent hires (within 2 years, say). They are competent, I'm sure, but hardly experienced.</p>
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Hahaha--except not. As certain books by former adcoms show (and this hardly something they have incentive to lie about), many admissions officers are recent graduates and sometimes a majority are recent hires (within 2 years, say). They are competent, I'm sure, but hardly experienced.
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<p>This is why I said "the more selective the school, the more competent and experienced."</p>
<p>I guess I'll just wait and see what happens in a couple of weeks. I just hope this doesn't have any effect...</p>
<p>These would be very selective schools like Wesleyan and Dartmouth.</p>