<p>I found this article very interesting, not just because it mentions how ED applications are again on the rise, but because several of the things mentioned of it hit home with my daughter's experience --- especially the part of getting too tired of looking at too many colleges for too long and just wanting to get the process over with, as well as her dramatic change from believing that she had an "absolute-dont-want-to-go-anywhere-but-Earlham" decision in September to not even ending up applying there and choosing a totally different college in January. It would have been a shame if she'd locked herself into ED just to get an admissions boost.</p>
<p>I thought, therefore, that this article would be particularly useful to next year's crop of seniors.</p>
<p>Carolyn, I remember your earlier post about ED for Earlham after your D spent summer camp there. So what do you think had happened to change her mind?
I have been watching my D grow tremendously over the" application" period of time.
Many values shifted. Local college she applied only because it was easy application gave her nice $ merit money and picked up her interest. She visited it after acceptance, connected fabulously well with faculty and students and now it is one of her top choices.
Thankfully we never considered ED due to need to compare financial packages.</p>
<p>thanks, Carolyn. But, as parent of a successful ED'er I guess I have become a big fan of ED. In Son's case, he's had only one top choice for more than two years; all the other colleges, were "I like it, and could see myself here for four years, BUT...." Fortunately, it worked out for him.</p>
<p>Another parent who is a fan of ED, although I would acknowledge it's not for everyone and financial aid considerations play a huge role in this. My son is a very happy freshman at his ED school - he was sure a year ago and still sure now.</p>
<p>ED worked for us. To me, its a matter of weighing risks. There is never a ZERO risk situation in the college application and acceptance cycle. The lowest risk scenario would be only getting one acceptance and happily matriculating there. But even then there are other risk-prone options available in the event of the one choice being not a good choice. Deciding to apply ED is certainly a risk financially: would you get better financial aid elsewhere? A lot of families are in no position to consider taking this risk.</p>
<p>Deciding not to apply ED is also a risk: are you passing up your best shot? Is it the only way to get a jump on the 10 other superstars from your high school who will be applying RD? There is also the risk that youll fall out of love with your ED choice or that you might have been better served elsewhere. (Same can be said for an RD matriculation, though.) Even applying EA (or SCEA) implies risk, not a safe plan if your first choice school is an ED school or if your chances of getting into the SCEA school are slim.</p>
<p>I hate risk taking like all get out, especially when my childs happiness is involved; however, I accepted that ED offered a calculated, reasonable and productive risk.</p>
<p>ED worked out for us also, but FA was not a consideration. Daughter had a reachy "dream school" and was accepted. She is much more relaxed now that it is all behind her. Three in her class applied ED to this school and two were accepted. At least a dozen more well qualified students applied in the RD round. Most of these kids averaged ten or more apps to top schools and will decide after acceptances where they want to go. Knowing this, she'd really be stressed waiting for RD results.</p>
<p>I'm curious how many of you have heard about kids who have gotten accepted ED somewhere and yet don't go to that school for nonfinancial reasons. What happens? My son is delighted with his ED choice, but at least one of his friends got an offer to play soccer that put a monkey wrench in his ED plans. He accepted the soccer spot and apparently never told the soccer coach that he had applied ED to another school. When the ED acceptance came in, he apparently just ignored it. I have been shocked by the number of kids (and their parents) in our area who didn't seem to think the ED decision was really binding and took a very cavalier attitude toward the commitment.</p>
<p>My daughter didn't apply ED because she had no clear-cut front runner school and UC applications are due before ED notifications are sent. My daughter's first choice school changes from day to day, although the top three remain consistent.</p>
<p>I think that it is interesting that all of those who are in favor of ED had kids who were accepted. I'm curious what the feeling is among the other groups.</p>
<p>No ED here - there was no way daughter could choose between her two favorites (her ideal situation is that one will reject her RD so she won't have to choose). We also want to look at financial aid. Yes, it really pains me that we couldn't ED, but she's not looking at "top of the top" schools.</p>
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I think that it is interesting that all of those who are in favor of ED had kids who were accepted. I'm curious what the feeling is among the other groups.
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<p>I can't speak for the others, but if my daughter was rejected or deferred, I would have thought it sucked. ;)</p>
<p>I think that the positive ED experiences were in response to the earlier assertion, that ED can be dangerous because kids can change. We, like others, did not experience that--once accepted, S was on top of the world, and enjoyed relaxing well all around him, anxiety was the norm.</p>
<p>If he hadn't gotten accepted? Would have gone with Plan B, already accepted to his second choice school, an excellent University (and my alma mater :)). Would have been disappointed, but not lethally so, as he knew it was a major reach.</p>
<p>The ED school was a reach; thus, if it turned into an early deferral (hopefully, not painful rejection before the holidays), S could then focus on Plan B - a couple of other privates, and the UC's -- knowing that he gave his #1 school his best shot.</p>
<p>Our S had been accepted rolling admission to another school about a week before the ED came in. Because we considered the ED school a reach, we put a lot of energy into getting fired up about the other acceptance (which is his Dad's alma mater). In retrospect, that could have backfired into making him feel less excited about his ED choice. That didn't happen for him, although dad may still be a little conflicted. Another unexpected side effect of ED was that while we initially had targeted about 8 schools, we were so emotionally committed to the ED choice that we didn't have anything left for other applications. In fact, he passed on sending an app to a previously highly desired match UC school with a Nov. 30 deadline because we would be hearing 12/1 on the ED school and didn't want to go through the work if it would be for nothing--which it turned out would have been the case. But if he been deferred ED, he might be kicking himself now on that app. It's a tough process for sure.</p>
<p>Carolyn ~ My son had a similar experience with CMU. He always planned to go there, it was the number one school, and then he lived there for a summer program and it all reversed: he did not even apply. Instead he took what he learned and made (I hope) more informed decisions about what he wanted form his college experience. Does that sound like your D's Earlham transformation?</p>
<p>My neighbor wanted to go UPenn, but dad's fear that he would not be admitted lead to his applying ED to Washington U in St. Louis. He was admitted at WUSTL ED. I felt badly for him b/c he did not even give his first choice a chance, for fear of rejection. He is just happy that the process is over, but it was so anticlimactic according to his brothers.</p>
<p>"If he hadn't gotten accepted? Would have gone with Plan B, already accepted to his second choice school, an excellent University (and my alma mater ). Would have been disappointed, but not lethally so, as he knew it was a major reach."</p>
<p>That is what I would have expected, but I was just curious to find out if this is what actually happened. Obviously we didn't do ED with daughter #2, but #3 is waiting in the wings so I am storing information away for future reference.</p>
<p>My D's Ed choice was her first and only choice. Yes, she had 10 other applications lined up, but I shudder to think what would have happened had she not been accepted.</p>
<p>klm, I do understand that. What I think was still good info from S's experience is having an early acceptance from a place he really wanted to go to (to the extent that, once it came through, I asked him several times if he was sure about ED, since it would elimate the other school). Before the Ed decision came, he knew he was going to one of two schools, both of which he loved. It made a world of difference, compared to the kids who get the ED rejection and then have to keep fingers crossed until April.</p>
<p>What a long strange trip it has been for you and your D!>></p>
<p>Mstee, I thought so too, until I re-read my trip report of our visits to Beloit and Earlham last spring. Re-reading her take on both schools, I realized that even then she'd had inklings that Beloit's curriculum and course offerings were a better fit for her. I'd also forgotten how knocked over she was by her interactions with the Beloit faculty on our visit, in a way that she never was at any other school, and how similar she'd thought the student bodies were. She loved Earlham - still loves it (in fact, I've heard her telling her younger brother that he should visit and think about applying), but it wasn't until late this fall that she was able to admit to herself that, as much as she loved Earlham, she would probably be frustrated with Earlham's brand of art and its limited creative writing classes. So, she applied EA to Beloit instead of ED to Earlham, and the rest is history...</p>