I believe all seven colleges have ED, but none of them has ED 2. Their Common Data Sets don’t have the percentage calculated, but they would provide the data to let you figure out the percentage of the class accepted ED, if the colleges choose to make their CDSs public. Most do, but not all colleges. The CDS has the total number of applicants accepted and enrolled, and separately the number of applicants accepted under a binding Early Decision plan. It doesn’t tell you if any of those people backed out or otherwise failed to enroll, but that shouldn’t be a large number.
@3 puppies- Amherst and Williams have only ED1. All the others have both ED1 and ED2.
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These are some of the best colleges in the world, and I think it is wonderful that students can increase their chances by applying early.
The students accepted early to Williams this December come from a wide range of socioeconomic levels, races, geographic regions, etc. These schools are trying hard to increase socioeconomic diversity by reaching out to schools and organizations that work with students with fewer financial resources.
And it does benefit applicants, both by reducing stress and expense and by providing better admissions odds. After the experiences of people I know this fall, I am such a fan of ED. I know three students from our local public high school who were accepted ED to these and similar schools this past fall who were completely unhooked applicants of middle class backgrounds, and statistics placing them in the bottom half of the college’s eventual class. They are thrilled with their acceptances and financial aid. And for some other ED students I know, they might have been accepted RD or might not have been, being strong applicants statistically, but RD is so much harder that it is quite possible ED made the difference. ED is an advantage well worth the early commitment. You need to commit somewhere eventually!
The unhooked SCEA and EA kids I know did not get into reaches. Many got into matches and safeties EA.
It doesn’t sound like they are sharing names until after acceptances go out I really don’t think it advantages or disadvantages anyone. If a student has a #1 favorite then it is a great way to flat out say that it’s your favorite college. The only people that don’t like ED that I can tell are the families that want to price shop and get the lowest price and there is no requirement that students must choose and apply to a first choice college right now so in no way does ED restrict them and take away their ability to price shop. The fact that colleges accept kids at a higher rate during ED makes sense, they know those kids have that college as a first choice and want to attend. Maybe what we need is a system where every kid has to specify a “first choice” and see where that gets us
But what if it is other colleges & universities (as opposed to individual applicants & their families) which are the ones that do not like the binding ED admissions at the elite schools ?
Isn’t ED making the rich schools richer ?
I don’t understand the continued insistence that “most people” can’t afford to apply ED. These schools have very reliable net price calculators. If an applicant is accepted ED and the offered financial aid package deviates from that calculated net price, the applicant is permitted to withdraw.
Truth be told, I have a child currently at an Ivy with a generous financial aid package. She applied ED after the net price calculator indicated that it would be affordable. In fact, we even “negotiated” a bit after the initial aid offer because it did not incorporate one specific piece of relevant information.
It is a misconception that only rich kids apply ED.
To me, what is most informative is what the current Justice Department chooses to investigate and what it chooses not to investigate. Regarding college admissions, in another effort in which they are currently engaged, they are focused on elite colleges’ selection on race/ethnicity but not worried about those colleges’ selection that favors legacies.
My main concern - each case pursued is another case NOT pursued. THIS Justice Department is spending our tax dollars worrying about elite college ED. I hope it is worth it.
It is pretty obvious to see why the info sharing practices among this group of LACs would get investigated.
Arguably, this group of colleges have formed a cartel. They all agree not to compete for each others best customers (i.e. ED admits). And the mechanism they use to enforce the cartel rules is the info sharing. Which can be seen as a form of collusion amongst competitors.
Pretty textbook example of a market division or market allocation scheme. But plenty of market restraints are ultimately found to be legal after investigation. Because they are found to be reasonable and have pro-competitive effects.
For example, ED applicants arguably get the benefit of increased admit chances to their preferred school from the arrangement. And these schools (who typically fill half their seats via ED) still compete intensely against each other in the market for attracting ED applications. If you got rid of the certainty that comes from the ED/SCEA round, then schools would compete less for kids at the early stages of the process.
In pro sports, the teams agree not to pursue the draft picks of the competing teams. If Google and Amazon and Facebook, for example, tried to divide programmers among themselves in that way it would be clearly illegal. But a sports draft is legal because it is made part of the player union collective bargaining agreement (which provides an AT exemption).
@northwesty: Great post. But investigations/information gathering/discovery has a way of leading into other concerns. For example, what is the effect on competition when the 3,000 plus other colleges & universities are considered. How does this practice (ED apps & ED info. sharing) affect the higher education marketplace from a competitive standpoint ?
And, of course, we do not know who complained to the Justice Dept. initially & what concerns were raised, and what concerns led the Justice Dept. to initiate the investigation.
And I repeat what I wrote upthread: Since FERPA forbids sharing of non-directory student information by a college the student attends retroactively to the point of application, such sharing amongst the members of the cartel is problematic from that side, as well.
GCs are the only gatekeepers. At many HS (mainly publics), they’re overwhelmed and some are, frankly, less than experienced. Since ED agreements are not legally enforceable, they create moral hazards.
EA would similarly reduce stress and expense without limiting applicant’s choice academically and financially. ED odds are better because of lower standards but ED also reduces RD odds for everyone else. If an ED applicant doesn’t get into his/her ED school (still a very likely scenario), his/her odds in the RD round will be similarly reduced.
NPCs are not always accurate. Some are more accurate than others. Different colleges consider different factors that may not be in simple and generic NPCs. Some colleges may even offer better FA for some scenarios than their NPCs would indicate but an applicant won’t find out unless s/he applies.
No, it’s not just the rich kids, but on average ED applicants are wealthier. Their parents are able to help them with their selections, to take them to visit the colleges, to make sure they start their applications earlier, etc. all without having to compare FA offers.
For the college that I am familiar with, they have around 50 regional admission counselor. Each of them know most of the few hundreds high schools they covered pretty well after so many years working with them. I am sure most of the other colleges have similar arrangements.
For all the people saying that NPCs eliminate the ED problem of students not being able to compare financial offers (and thus disproportionately benefiting the wealthy), pray tell how NPCs are going to give a proper estimate for those seeking competitive merit aid (or even noncompetitive but variable merit aid)?
Well, the schools mentioned in this case (except for Grinnell) don’t provide merit aid anyway so…
He may have meant merit aid from other schools not included in the initial stages of the Justice Dept. inquiry.
@northwesty : This situation is nothing like a pro sports draft, or an illegal conspiracy by tech companies to divvy up programmers. In each of those cases, the player/programmer is only allowed even to negotiate with one employer, and the player/programmer does not choose which employer that is. In the ED situation, no applicant is required to submit an ED application anywhere. Applicants can apply to as many or as few colleges as they wish, and can compare offers from colleges that accept them and negotiate to their hearts’ content. If, however, they enter into an ED agreement, they waive that negotiation right (but only to some extent) and agree to negotiate only with one college they have chosen, provided that college accepts them. And even then, if they don’t like the college’s final offer, they can walk away from the contract without penalty other than giving up their chance admission to that college before they have an effective ability to shop the offer to other colleges. Except for not being able to apply to one college, they are in the same position as if they had never entered into any ED agreement.
In the real world of employment, arrangements far, far more restrictive than that are contracted every day. Companies cannot acquire exclusive bargaining rights to specific prospects, but once an employee is hired in most states he or she can be required as a condition of employment to enter into significant restrictions on his or her ability to leave and to accept subsequent employment or even to work on his or her own in the same industry. What’s more, if Company B tries to lure away one of Company A’s employees who has entered into such an agreement, Company A will not hesitate to (a) inform Company B of the terms of the contract, and (b) sue Company B in court for tortious interference. Similarly, suppliers and clients of a company may be required to agree not to solicit or to hire the company’s employees with whom they deal.
That’s every day employment law for high-skill nonunionized (and management) employees. And it can be even worse if they are partners or shareholders.
What stuck with me after the information session for one particular, top 20, college was the admissions rep stating, and repeating in no uncertain terms that if you applied ED and “didn’t come” they would come after you. We all chuckled but there was no mistaking that he was serious. So, he said, if you don’t think you can commit then don’t apply ED. We walked out saying to each other that we believed they shared info with at minimum the other top 20-30 schools if not more. Just a hunch.
Unfortunately, the NPC does not accurately work for all folks…certain tax/employment situations require a more complex review. Even with a “meets need” school some are not able to do that when “meeting need” results in the school loaning you $50,000 a year…technically they meet your need but is the difference between grants and loans. Not everyone, many I would venture, can not take that chance.
Being admitted ED at a top 20 means they really, really want you. They would most certainly come after you to try to convince you to come, to find out what it would take.
@vonlost maybe! Our take was ‘no buyers remorse’. btw…your cat is adorable!
@JHS: My assessment of the situation is quite different than yours. But using your scenario, what if students feel compelled to apply to an ED school in order to increase their chances of admission to a top ranked school ? How does that affect the higher education marketplace ? What if ED admission rates to these schools are higher than RD admit rates ? What if “meets full financial need” is all loans & is determined by the school ?
Also, with respect to no compete agreements, enforcement is tough & limited when court tested.
Loans for “meets full need” can be only federal student loans, low cap. It is determined by the school (the only way it can work), but the high proportion of students receiving aid means it’s affordable by many (most?).