<p>Hey! So. I suppose I'm your typical preoccupied-with-college junior; just began visitng colleges, anxious about the end of the year, and even <em>more</em> anxious to get this process over with! After visiting a number of places in the past couple of weeks, however, I've come to the definitive conclusion that Swat is the place for me. I went into the visiting thing <em>comletely</em> sure that I wouldn't fall in love with any schools so as to avoid setting myself up for failure, but I couldn't help myself! I adore this school.</p>
<p>So. That being said, I'm seriously considering applying EDI. Is there an advantage, statistically, of taking this route? Or is it essentially the same, because this applicant pool is largely self-selective?</p>
<p>I'm not looking for "chances," but my scores, grades, and extra-curriculars are in swarthmore's range. and of course, i'll work my little tail off on those essays of theirs :). I'm just looking to know exactly how much of an advantage it is to apply early, as I'm relatively new to this process and am just getting the hang of the oh-so-wonderful world of college applications.</p>
<p>I have been told by the Swarthmore admissions people that the ED pool is significantly stronger than the RD pool, so that it is deceptive to look at the raw statistics and conclude that it is any "easier" to gain admission to Swarthmore by applying ED. But if Swarthmore is your clear first choice it is not a bad idea at all. Remember that virtually all financial aid at Swarthmore is need based. And Swarthmore will meet the entire amount of need, at least the amount of need that they calculate. So the usual caveat about not applying ED if financial aid is an issue may not apply.</p>
<p>To another anomaly, I'm a senior who's gotten decisions, and I hope this helps you: Swat was pretty much my dream school, the school I felt was the "perfect match". I wanted to apply ED, but my dad discouraged it for financial aid reasons, and I was easily persuaded, thinking it wouldn't make that much of a difference. Now I'm waitlisted and I'm kicking myself for not applying ED. There's nothing to say I would have gotten in, but I regret not giving myself that chance. Right now, I'm staying in contact with the Admissions Office and hoping to get off the waitlist, but my chances are slim to none. I think if you're absolutely sure, you should definitely apply ED.
I've become completely jaded by the process, but good luck to you.</p>
<p>If you are solid Swarthmore applicant, there is a significant advantage to applying early decision for a number of reasons.</p>
<p>Statistically (SAT scores and junk like that), the accepted ED pool is identical to the overall enrolled pool. It would be hard for it to be much different because the overall applicant pool is statistically very close to the overall enrolled pool to begin with. Stats get you into the pile of apps for consideration, but acceptance letters are usually based on other stuff.</p>
<p>Swarthmore's admissions is strongly driven by the ability to communicate an understanding of the unique qualities of the school and a good fit as a likely contributor to the campus community. The ED applicants are "stronger" because -- as a group -- they do a better job of knowing the school and so forth. They are the most excited applicants and that is communicated in their good applications. </p>
<p>Plus, of course, they are slightly more likely to be full-fare customers! As Jim Bock says, the college just magically ends up with about 50% full pay customers each year. Magically...and I've got a bridge over the Delaware River for sale!</p>
<p>We see it every year hear on College Confidential. The ED applicants get accepted at astonishingly high rates. The RD applicants at much much lower rates.</p>
<p>I do want to emphasize that ED does not turn a so-so candidate into an accepted student. What it does is improve the odds for well-qualified applicants. At the very least, it gets your app read when the pile is small and the admissions readers fresh. There's a lot to be said for that!</p>
<p>sunflower:</p>
<p>I don't think anyone should kick themselves over college application results -- unless you didn't get into any schools. It just isn't worth it to second guess. Also, there are legitimate financial reasons to apply RD.</p>
<p>"So the usual caveat about not applying ED if financial aid is an issue may not apply."</p>
<p>That is not true. Although applying ED may not affect the amount of aid you get from Swarthmore, you'll never know what you could have gotten elsewhere...</p>
<p>The question about ED vs. RD for financial aid revolves around the ability to compare financial aid offers. Much of that comparison will involve colleges that offer merit aid (scholarships). Since Swarthmore awards essentially no merit scholarships (according to the CDS only 11 students out of the total enrollment of 1484 who had no financial need have non-need based financial aid), that is not an issue. One could have a $20,000 merit scholarship from college X, and Swarthmore will not be interested in trying to match it.</p>
<p>For need-based financial aid, Swarthmore promisses to meet full family need. Of course you may think that what Swarthmore determines your family need to be is too low. I'm not sure how effective comparing other need-based financial aid offers with Swarthmore's would be. But I do have the sense that Swarthmore will look carefully at any objective information applicants and their families can provide to document their family financial situation.</p>
<p>So if 1) you are not concerned about getting merit financial aid, and 2) you trust that Swarthmore will calculate your family's finacial need objectively and fairly, then I think there is no financial aid reason not to apply ED to Swarthmore.</p>
<p>Swarthmore gives two types of need-based financial aid--grants and loans/work study. Maybe they mix and match too. I don't know how they determine who gets the grants package and if ED students get them. If you need financial aid and want to compare packages, you cannot rely on any one school however fair they seem to be and Swarthmore is quite fair--each family's individual situation is different and each school calculates 'need' differently.</p>
<p>I applied to Swat ED because I knew Swat was my number one school and because, although I had everything in the median range of Swat stuff, I was basically hookless. I showed an insane amount of demonstrated interest, finally cemented by my ED1 commitment of applying. My only drawback was that I did need financial aid, and that almost deterred me from applying, but I'd heard Swat had good aid and I went for it. I got in - I don't think I would've had I applied RD, for a number of reasons. (They gave me a slightly higher family contribution than I could pay, but we negotiated and it's quite a bit better now.) </p>
<p>In many ways, it is "easier" to get in ED - if you know Swat is your number once place, and you're willing to put your financial aid situation into their hands, definitely apply ED! Your year will have even more applicants than this one did, making it even tougher...therefore, being in a smaller applicant pool, no matter how competitive, should help you out, particularly if you demonstrate a lot of interest. You're welcome to message me if you want more info about how it was applying ED1! :]</p>
<p>Same, same. They're both ED. More people <em>seem</em> to apply ED1, but maybe not...either way you get about the same chances. A pretty big advantage.</p>
<p>Now I didn't go ED, but when I visited and asked kids how they chose swat and when they applied, etc., a large portion of them credited their acceptance (in part, obviously) to applying early. Before I could finish my sentence
"So do you thinking applying early-"
(With big eyes) "Deffffinitely. No dount."</p>
<p>My family has mixrd experiences with ED (not Swat, but similar schools). My D was deferred, but eventually accepted and my son was deferred and rejected but accepted into an equally competitive school RD. One thing deferrals allow you ton do iss build up relationships with ad coms so supplementary material is carefully evaluated. My D's school actually said her aid award was larger when they calculated it for ED. However, with two kids gaining acceptances into six very competitive need-blind schools that each promised to meet 100% of need I can asure you that aid packages varied at the most $2,000 on substantial packages. The differences were not enough to base a decision on, so I say go ahead and apply ED.</p>
<p>I have no personal experience with it, but I read many many posts dealing with having surprisingly different offers of need-based aid from different schools that were supposedly based on the same financial info submitted by the student. Bargaining with the first-choice school based on offer from another comparable institution sometimes (though far from always) resulted in a better package. </p>
<p>Swarthmore, from what I've heard, is relatively generous with aid, but there were students on this board that got better packages from other similar schools.</p>
<p>
[quote]
But if it isn't enough, they will free you to look elsewhere. (Though you lose your Swarthmore acceptance then.)
[/quote]
It's true, but you'll lose your acceptance to Swarthmore before knowing what you would be offered elsewhere, and may end up even worse aid-wise.</p>
<p>Swarthmore's Common Data Set says that demonstrated interest is "considered," in the same category that talent, the interview, alumni/ae relation, geography, racial/ethnic status, etc. So it is probably not huge, but can be important. Someone applying ED will be expected to demonstrate particularly well that they understand the unique characteristics of Swarthmore and can convey in their application how and why they feel that Swarthmore is the best place for them and what they will bring to the college community.</p>
<p>Applying ED is usually the final step of demonstrating interest. You should really show them you're interested in as many ways as possible, and if you're interested enough to apply ED, to make that big of a commitment, it's a pretty big show of interest. :] As I've said many times, if you're a perfect student, having only a little demonstrated interest might be enough, but if you're "just" good like most of the rest of us, you're going to want to do all you can. :]</p>
<p>There's a bit of a chicken and egg thing happening with Early Decision. In most cases, a student applying Early Decision to Swarthmore understands what the school is about and enthusiastic about Swarthmore's style of education. It is almost impossible for that knowledge and enthusiasm to not shine through every aspect of the application. Let's face it: an application to your gung-ho first choice school is probably going to be more vibrant than application number five (or whatever) in the stack of applications due on the RD deadline.</p>
<p>When you are looking at an applicant pool that is uniformly qualified, that little bit of ethusiasm by osmosis in the application can make the difference between an acceptance letter and a waitlist.</p>
<p>Here's my take: If you are a credible, qualified applicant and Swarthmore is your clear, well-researched first choice, then applying ED is a significant advantage. However, it would be a mistake to think that ED will turn an unlikely applicant into an acceptance letter. It just doesn't work like that.</p>
<p>The financial aid aspects of Early Decision are difficult to generalize about because they depend so highly on individual circumstances: do you need to compare aid packages with merit aid schools? Is a few thousand dollars a year going to be a make or break deal?</p>
<p>Generally speaking, apply Early Decision if you are prepared to attend with a reasonable financial aid package, even though you might not get every last dollar you could get in a competitive bidding environment. Or, conversely, a student who simply cannot attend without a full ride deal may be OK applying Early Decision, too. In that case, if the money is not there, it's not there and you'll know before the RD deadlines. But, please don't take my general advice as the gospel. It all depends on your individual situation. Only you and your parents can figure out the finances.</p>