Wondering if this is more of an issue at smaller colleges
Yes, many ED applicants are athletes or otherwise hooked. Some schools only give legacy preference to ED applicants.
So do you think there is no benefit to applying ED if you are not a recruited athlete or have a hook? @twoinanddone
You asked if spots go to them, and they do. Not ALL spots go to them.
The stats for the ED round may also be lower than the RD round, and that could be due to the hooks in the ED round. It doesn’t mean that a non-hooked applicant will get in with those same stats. Some schools do admit a good portion of their class in the ED round because they want students who ‘show interest’ and what better way to show interest than to commit in ED?
yes, hooked, but you still have a better chance at the ivies in the early round based on numbers. At small LACs however, you are likely to be deferred to the regular round if unhooked, because as you state there are such few seats, and they are waiting to see the rest of the applicant pool. At LACS, the early in’s are mostly legacy, recruited athletes, URMs who go to the flyin programs and the like.
Yes, it can help. It can help at a school trying to fill out its foundation, and if you’re a strong candidate, they’ll be happy to have “one like you”. And it can help if you end up on the WL - I suspect their process goes better when they call kids who have a very strong interest in being there. But you are right in assuming that all the ED spots are not available to unhooked applicants.
@preppedparent You mention ivies and small LACs. I know at some small LACs 30% of the students could be recruited athletes. Do you think ED would be different at larger LACs or small unis? Assuming your stats are at least in the middle of the range? Thanks to you and everyone for your feedback.
Your chance is still about more than whether “numbers” show more are admitted early to an Ivy. It isn’t first come, first served.
After athletes, they can review with a finer comb. ED may show you’re willing to commit, but doesn’t mean they’ll commit to you if all your ducks aren’t lined up. You still have to carefully vet your match and show it. They still want students who meet their standards. If you don’t, Early is no boost.
@citymama9 , I think the size of the school definitely matters in this regard. A small school with 20 teams, and each coach allowed 5 recruits, will eat up 20% of a class of 500. And if the school fills half its class ED, 40% of that pool. And if it participates in QB match, those are ED as well.
Changing the total class size without substantially changing the number of recruits opens many more spots to "regular " applicants.
My D with no sports/no legacy/no hook applied ED to her LAC and we believe that it boosted her chances for admission (and she got in, attended, loved it so no regrets). The commitment to attend is viewed as a plus for many LACs. I believe her LAC (Lafayette) takes about half of its students in the ED round so it is not limited to athletes/legacy.
I went to a D1 college’s info session and someone asked if ED is reserved for athletes. The AO said no. Actually quite the opposite – since D1 athletes already signed the NLI and committed to the college, they usually come in through RD. Obviously D3 will be different since no NLI.
At very small, very competitive schools with robust sports programs (ie; Amherst, Williams) the ED boost may be diminished for non-hooked applicants. But there are many schools where applying ED will provide an advantage.
Thanks so much for all your responses. It’s been helpful to read your comments.
ED will definitely help at MOST colleges but there are a few that it makes little of no difference, make sure that the college you’re applying to gives a significant boost for applying ED.