Is applying Early Decision "expected" in the Northeast?

Parents Forum
1

A friend told me yesterday that kids from the Northeast take a “big hit” (her words) if they don’t apply early decision, because of the level of competition, and that colleges think that if the kid didn’t apply Early Decision to their college then they probably applied ED to another college and therefore have less interest. How can the Northeast be different than the rest of the country? I asked her this and she insisted that it was, especially in the wealthier towns.

We aren’t really in a position to have our kid apply ED and this is worrying me. I know that percentages of acceptance are much higher for ED than for RD so what she said makes some sense, but I don’t understand why the expectations would be different in my part of the country. Can anyone give some input on this?

By the way, this same friend told me that girls only compete with other girls and boys with other boys for admission to colleges, so we shouldn’t worry about how many boys from our kid’s HS might want to go to the same college, just how many girls. Thoughts on this? Sorry if I sound naive. Thanks.

2

There are absolutely regional differences in college application and admission. In the NE there are many, many private colleges and those colleges tend to have greater percentages that have ED and Regular cycles, but there are also many that have EA choice which is non-binding. The midwest is home to desireable powerhouse public universities and those universities primarily have rolling admissions and/or an early admissions cycle. Less now than ten years ago, but the general public tended to think there was something “wrong” with your kid (in the midwest) if they were applying to small private colleges. The south and the west each have their own “flavor” but yes, there is more ED action in the NE because there are more private colleges and because the private colleges rightly or wrongly are perceived as “better” than the public universities.

3

It’s definitely true that there’s regional differences in the application process but do NOT feel obligated to apply ED. If you’re not in a financial position to do it, and there isn’t that one school that your kid is totally absolutely committed to, it doesn’t make sense to do. Colleges aren’t going to think that she’s not interested because she didn’t apply ED; I know plenty of people who didn’t, I didn’t, and we were all fine.

4

Just look at the sheer numbers of how many kids apply ED vs RD - there is no way the admissions officers could think that b/c it would be absolutely ridiculous on their part. Especially if there isn’t a clear choice for your kid or you need to weigh financial options, then you absolutely shouldn’t be applying ED. Could be the concentration of wealth in the NE where there are plenty of full pay folks, but if you aren’t full pay and your child is not 100% sure, that pretty much should knock you out of ED. Now EA on the other hand, I would encourage your child to apply as many EA schools as possible b/c you get early results, it IS a way to show interest and commitment, you are not obligated to attend, and you can start weighing financial options early (most will give you your financial aid package, or at least a tentative one).

5

There are some schools in our county where a third of the kids apply somewhere ED or EA. But that means two thirds aren’t. Both my kids had EA schools, but not ED. Our GCs do encourage kids to at least find EA schools and they like ED. (Maybe because it’s less work for them? :slight_smile: )

6

What I saw in our local NYC-suburb HS this year: Students applying to super-competitive colleges absolutely should think about applying ED. For students applying to colleges that are not in the most competitive category, it matters a lot less. In fact, the B, non-honors students did very, very well in the admission process often getting into 8-12 colleges along the lines of Muhlenberg, Union, Syracuse, Elon, U Delaware, SUNY Binghamton, U Pittsburgh. My observation was that colleges in this category love the students from highly competitive NE high schools who do not have the stats for the most selective colleges.

7

It seems like that lately.

8

IMO it is a mistake to use ED as an admissions ploy. ED should only be used if a college is an applicant’s definite first choice and if there is no need to compare financial packages between colleges. We are from a very competitive NE high school. My S did not apply anywhere ED – my D had a definite first choice and did use ED. Both had great outcomes.

9

IMO it is not necessarily a mistake to use ED as an admissions ploy. One of my kids had no clear favorite from among several similar universities. She chose one of them, applied ED for the admissions advantage it provides, and got in. (There was no need to compare financial packages.) She considered it a great outcome.

10

At fancy private schools in this area (Southeastern PA), close to 100% of kids apply early (ED, EA, SCEA) somewhere, and are definitely encouraged to do that by their counselors. In the public schools, especially suburban ones, the kids who look demographically like the kids in the private schools – relatively affluent, highly educated parents, educationally ambitious – behave like the kids in the private schools when it comes to college applications. My kids went to a large, urban public academic high school, and only a small percentage of the kids did early applications, but the rate among students in the top 10% of the class who were interested in going someplace other than the nearest public university was probably at least 75%.

So, yes, regional differences. And the kids here apply early to colleges in the Midwest, South, and West, too.

I agree with Marian, by the way. Early Decision doesn’t have to be True Love, it can be cold, logical calculation. I’ll use my daughter’s example. She applied ED to her second-choice college, for two reasons: (a) She thought she got a bigger admissions advantage applying ED to #2 than applying single-choice EA to #1, and she thought #1 was not that much more desirable than #2. (b) If she applied ED to #2, she could also apply EA to her third-choice college, which she also liked a lot, but she couldn’t do that if she applied early to #1. She ultimately was deferred and then rejected at #2, and rejected RD at #1, but she was accepted early at #3 and was more than happy to go there. So, also a good outcome, although not as good as Marian’s daughter, but good enough. (Not to mention that, in hindsight with a lot more knowledge, she is very grateful she went to #3 rather than #2.)

I also disagree that students who need financial aid “can’t” apply ED. It’s true that students who want to comparison shop for the absolute best value shouldn’t apply ED. But, at least at the high-prestige end of the college spectrum, there are a number of colleges where families can get an excellent idea in advance of what their financial aid will be, especially if the family’s financial situation is not complex. If they can accept that there’s no reason to give up ED. Also, a student can turn down an ED admission for financial reasons – if the ED college’s financial package isn’t good enough, the kid will not be trapped. That can be emotionally wrenching, and you can’t be assured that you will get a better deal elsewhere (although under some circumstances you may be able to get a peek before you have to say yes or no to the ED college), and you can’t go back to the ED college and say I’ll come here after all. There’s effectively a buyer’s remorse out if you are willing to close the door on a favored college that has just said yes.

11

I think it is important to differentiate between Early Decision and Early Action as the OP asked about Early Decision. I would encourage kids to use early action but early decision has strings attached so a family considering early decision requires a different level of commitment and thought. Kids apply early all over the country but there is a difference between the two that is important to understand

12

I think this can only be expected in very wealthy towns. I live in a fairly affluent suburb, but people are still dependent on aid packages and use those in their final decision making. The girl across the street just turned down an ivy for a large university that gave her full tuition. If you apply ED, you are saying that you are willing to pay full price if your EFC shows you can, or if you do have need, you are willing to accept whatever they may decide is appropriate. I don’t know many people who are willing to do that. We are refusing to let D apply anywhere ED or SCEA. We want her to apply EA to a variety of schools to see what merit she may attract, and then follow up RD as necessary.

I only know of one family that has had their kids apply ED and they seem to live in an alternate universe. They are convinced (based on 2 kids in college now) that all colleges cost $30k per year. The expensive ones just give you merit to get down to $30k. I guess that this happened for both their children so they scoff at the idea of $60k colleges and say that that isn’t real.

13

ED only makes sense for rich families and poor families. It doesn’t make sense for upper middle class families that are pursing merit aid, or middle-middle class families that need to compare FA pkgs.

14

I think ED makes sense if a family is pretty clear about what their costs will be and it’s an ED school that meets need, it makes no sense if the family can’t afford their Profile expected family contribution or families that are cash strapped with relatively illiquid assets (like farms, land, rental properties, etc.) and are looking for the lowest possible cash outlay. You could be ‘wealthy’ on paper yet have a large amount of assets that aren’t liquid. So there are two decisions: is this absolutely the place the student wants to attend and is the family fairly certain that it fits their cash outlay situation. The benefit is primarily to the college - to lock in kids early, the secondary benefit is to the family - to lock in the decision making early. I’m not sure the admissions boost is as great as some think and the potential for being deferred into the regular round and lose the EA advantage and early scholarship advantage at other colleges is a very real risk that must be weighed against any slight boost in admissions potential, especially for a medium credentialed candidate who may be a desirable candidate for an EA college. As far as this college “stuff” goes I’m grateful I live in the midwest.

15

I agree with #7 - happy1.

Often on these threads I say, “ED - Just Say No”. (It occasionally makes sense. But IMO usually not.) Nonbinding EA is OK not so restricting.

16

Or, maybe they don’t want you to know how much they earn :))

17

And I often support the opposite opinion.

If your family is willing to give up the opportunity to compare financial aid packages and if your child is 100% willing to attend the ED school if admitted, I say go for it.

Note that I said 100% willing, not 100% in love. This is not marriage. This is college. And ED is (1) the ultimate way to show demonstrated interest and (2) for at least some colleges, a way to substantially enhance your likelihood of admission.

18

Another option is rolling admission. If a student can get into ‘just one’ school with a rolling admission, then he has the luxury of applying to others EA or regular admission, comparing FA packages, with the security of having somewhere to go and knowing he has somewhere to go. I know a lot of kids who were just happy knowing they were going somewhere - and most often they went to that school. It feels good to be wanted.

19

In my experience, the net price calculators have been very accurate. And that’s for one kid ED, and the other RD. There were no surprises once we locked in via ED. YMMV.