<p>Some of you may recall the difficulties my daughter was having in deciding whether to apply ED to Wash U or to Pomona or Scripps (all of which she claimed she liked and could see herself there) but none which stood out as the obvious first choice. We visited Wash U this weekend and although she liked it, she didn't love it enough to give up the Claremonts. Distance from home and subjective "feel" seem to be the factors involved in her decision. She now seems to think she likes Scripps the best but would still prefer to apply RD. </p>
<p>New information has led my daughter to discover that 3 other students from her high school are also applying RD to Scripps. They are all full IB diploma candidates and more or less similar to her in academic standing. She probably has more distinguished EC's, but I don't know how they compare on the SAT's (Some of you may remember, my daughter's total SAT was 2120, but lopsided: CR: 740, Math: 610, Writing: 770). Two of the other applicants have significant tip factors: one is African American, the other is a very strong multi-generational legacy with considerable ongoing ties to the college. Neither of these applicants consider Scripps their first choice (hence the RD). I can't imagine Scripps accepting 4 students from the same school and given the URM of one and the legacy of the other, my daughter is likely disadvantaged for RD. Question: given this information, should she apply early decision 2? The stats for Scripps are kind of strange: 40% acceptance on ED, 49% acceptance on RD. The application due dates are the same: January 1 and the date which the applicant is informed of admission is about 2 weeks apart.<br>
Any thoughts or opinions?
Thanks.</p>
<p>I think she should apply RD. If she is accepted ED, she is BOUND to go there. Too much opportunity for her preferences to change as she grows and ruminates over the next several months. So many of us have seen that happen.</p>
<p>40% acceptance on ED.....that includes ED and EDII? Is that what you are saying? When you say you cannot imagine Scripps accepting 4.....what is the history of acceptance at your HS? You could probably get a feel for that from the college counselor or asking around for anecdotal......what kids are at Scripps from your HS now? That would tell you the last 3 or 4 years.</p>
<p>It sounds to me like opting for Scripps ED doesn't help much statisftically; from what I remember of your daughter she should be able to get into Scripps anyway. Definately do not ED to a school that you aren't absolutely sure you want to go to. If she's SURE that she would go to Scripps if she got accepted, then ED will give her app a tiny boost. </p>
<p>From what I understand, ED acceptance of 40% includes both ED1 and ED2. The number of enrolled students from the freshman class who applied ED is quite small though: 12%. (88% of enrolled freshmen were from regular decision). Based on a freshman enrollment of 203 students, that would mean only 24 accepted students come from ED. My daughter's high school is out for the next week for Thanksgiving, but I'll try to contact the counselor when we return. I'm not aware of anyone from our high school attending Scripps in recent years. A few have gone to Pomona, and Pomona seems to accept one or two a year from the school. (They reject quite a few, I'm told). I've spoken to 2 students from our region (but not IB and not from our high school) who have gone to Scripps. They did not seem as strong a candidate as the IB students, but I don't have the specifics. I don't think our high school has cultivated a relationship with Scripps, but it's a large public high school with overworked counselors. Like I said, I think my daughter is a good candidate for Scripps, but she's disadvantaged in the RD if she's competing with similar students who bring URM or legacy to the table. By the way, the yield at Scripps is about 24%, so I'm guessing they accept more knowing they won't get everyone they accept. However, last year, their yield increased and they had to make triples out of doubles (housing) for the first time ever. I understand they plan to be more conservative this year, especially since they were deemed "hottest women's college" by Kaplan.</p>
<p>Final question......so legacy advantage is granted through out the entire application cycle? At some schools it is only granted during early application. I'd say in view of large public HS, over worked college counselors, limited relationship w/ Scripps at best, I'd use the ED for sure. The chance that she got deferred into RD, I should think, makes her choosing the early appear more eager to attend. I think that the early cannot hurt you. I'd do it. I'd also make certain that since your college counselors are burdened that you keep close contact with an adcom. Best of luck to you.</p>
<p>Thanks hazmat, good advice! I don't know if legacy advantage is given throughout the process- I guess I didn't even know that it typically isn't. (Always new stuff to learn on these boards!). OK, I'm going to pass this info on to my daughter. She's already submitted her application since she applied for the Scripps Scholarship (they invited her to apply, but I think they invite most interested students to apply) which required an entire application due November 1. So everything was sent November 1 already. Too bad we couldn't get to Wash U before this weekend, given the clarification of this visit, we would have submitted Scripps ED 1. Oh well- I don't suppose they'd move her into ED 1 now since we passed the deadline, do you? They have her entire application on file since Nov 1 anyway.</p>
<p>Shojomo: Scripps accepted three girls from my daughter's high school last year. All three were full IB students and all three are attending Scripps this year. All three applied regular decision. So, there does seem to be a possibility that Scripps could accept several from your daughter's high school as well. You should also be aware, however, that Scripps had 45 more students accept last year than they had planned for. So dorms are a little more crowded this year, more singles turned to doubles and more doubles turned to triples. Extra classes were added to accommodate the increase, so other than the dorm situation, I don't think it has been much of an issue. I don't know if this will have any impact on how many they accept for 2006. I think that Scripps may place a high value on demonstrated interest. The fact that my daughter and her friend were the only two girls to make it to interviews scheduled during an ice storm in Portland,OR left an good impression on the adcom. She knew they were really interested in Scripps. Both were admitted. The other girl had legacy status, so that probably helped her. I know your daughter visited campus which should help. I assume she interviewed as well. That should help. She should continue to show interest by e-mailing any new info to her adcom after she applies. I can't really advise on EDII vs. RD since we didn't go that route. Good Luck.</p>
<p>My plan exactly. I'm going to call first thing in the morning. The worst they can do is say the deadline is fixed, and roll her current RD over to ED 2. Amelia, did any of the students you know get the Scripps scholarship? Yes, I heard about the over-enrollment, and I think it'll continue to be a popular choice among students this year too. It hardly made the radar on my daughter's high school in past years, and this year we already know of 3 others who are applying! Oddly enough, hardly anyone knows about Wash U even though it is much better known on the East Coast. Most kids say they get promotional material from Wash U, but don't really explore it thorougly. The adcom from Wash U has been trying hard to get students from our high school to apply and attend.</p>
<p>WUSTL has been on a major recruiting drive.....with massive amounts of mailing and promotional visits.....application numbers show it. Many students get post cards, phone calls, email.....and tons of junk mail as I call it. They have engaged a huge marketing machine in their drive up the ranking charts. They also use merit money to buy in good stats.....lots of it.</p>
<p>Wash U really lacks name recognition in our community in Northern California. When you mention Wash U, most think you mean University of Washington in Seattle. Not really sure why it has had a hard time breaking into the market here, but it's not for a lack of trying.</p>
<p>It has big name recognition in the midwest.......not too many from New England but I know that some East Coast kids seem attracted to it......nice experience away from a city and merit money....there ya go.</p>
<p>
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My plan exactly. I'm going to call first thing in the morning.
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shojomo, one recommendation: have your <em>daughter</em> call tomorrow morning. If she has classes this week, suggest she take the number and try to make a call during lunch or a break earlier in the day. It'll mean a lot more coming from her than from her parent.</p>
<p>Shojomo:
Yes, one of the students did receive the JES scholarship, my daughter. One of the other students applied but was not awarded the merit scholarship. She did received a generous need based package tho.</p>
<p>We also have received a ton of mail from Wash U for our d1 and Scripps and d2 now going thru the application process. In both cases they were turned off by the unending stream of mail.</p>
<p>Note for those looking at this thread for general purposes, not just Scripps: hazmat's statement that Legacy usually only helps for EA/ED does not ring true to me. I have never heard that before. I have only asked this qx at one school, Stanford, where I have legacy status and it certainly is a plus factor there no matter which app cycle the student uses.</p>
<p>One of my D's best HS friends was accepted RD to both Wash U and Scripps last year. She chose to attend Scripps for a couple of reasons: the Claremont College consortium, the great weather in SoCal, and having my D nearby in Pomona. Also, she received a substantial scholarship--I believe half of her costs.</p>