<p>When a college asks for more information from an EA applicant, ie 1st semester senior year grades, do they mean if your grades are good, you'll get in? Or does that mean you are being deferred until you are compared against regular admission applicants?</p>
<p>My S was so disappointed with this response but I thought it was very positive from a reach school. His grades are solid in challenging classess. The semester ends next week.
He also raised his SAT by 100 points, when he took it again in December.</p>
<p>Is he truly "in charge of his own destiny"? If he ends the semester with great grades, could they still reject him? That would be so harsh. Why ask for more information, if even the best response is not enough?</p>
<p>No, getting good grades during the semester guarantees nothing. He is simply competing against RD applicants now, and for most schools, his profile will get a full review. Applying ED does show a significant interest in the school though.</p>
<p>Usually when a college asks for more info, they are just seeking more information to support a candidate's case. I would only think that your S would get such a request if his case is relatively promising- but they did not get a sufficient picture of him in the EA round to be used for comparison in the RD pool. If the school was already set on rejecting him, they would not waste their time or his by requesting additional info. In that case, getting good grades will definitely increase his chances of admission.</p>
<p>Is the college asking the same information from all the deferred EA applicants or just your S? Maybe this is so that they can evaluate EA and RD applicants on the same footing since RD applicants will submit their mid-term grades via the Mid-Year Report.</p>
<p>I would guess that every student who was deferred was asked to provide more information but I don't know this for sure. It does not appear that the application will be thrown in with the new, RD apps. It says, "Once we have received the additional information, your application will be reviewed again and a final decision rendered." But maybe I'm just parsing the sentences too literally. It just would be so illogical (and mean) to say, "well, you got great grades but it didn't matter, anyway." But a lot of the application process is a mystery to me!</p>