<p>I am surprised by the number of applicants who apply binding Early Decision or SCEA to multiple private schools. I am even more surprised by how shamelessly they & parents discuss it on CC-- there's a kid on the Essay forum boasting his credentials as a capable essay reader on the basis of being deferred by Stanford but admitted to Yale.</p>
<p>Do colleges really not sanction kids who do it and high schools that enable it?</p>
<p>Don’t the schools and guidance counselors know about this underhanded behavior?</p>
<p>What i’m noticing is that a number of kids were accepted ED but then did not withdraw their apps from other schools (thereby, letting other kids in)…if asked, the justification is that they are waiting for the financial package…and will withdraw from ED unless they get enough. I guess i see the logic there…you can’t go to a school you can’t afford…but I also think it’s a loophole that’s getting bigger by the day…unless the family is very wealthy, its a relatively low-pain way out of any agreement…i know stats are likely not published on this trend but my (uneducated) guess is that more kids are becoming looser with these promises and playing the field…again, only a guess…</p>
<p>No penalty for doing all kinds of things against the rules, against the law, including murder, IF you don’t get caught. If the GC, someone reports you, a college , anyone finds out, you can be out of all of the colleges. There is most always a benefit to cheating when one doesn’t get caught. It’s a risk. </p>
<p>The better school have diligent GCs who monitor these things as a rule and because their students don’t tend to pull these kinds of shenanigans, it’s a part of why they get some benefit of doubt, some edge in selective college admissions. </p>
<p>Someone said on another thread that the Common App does not let you apply ED to more than 1 school. Do not know if this is correct. In the school’s I am familiar with the college counseling office would not allow you to do this - they would not release transcripts and recs unless you were within the rules. In larger schools perhaps they cannot monitor this and it happens.</p>
<p>The Common App prevents one from applying to Stanford and Yale simultaneously SCEA. Any GC concerned with his/her reputation and that of the HS would not prepare 2 SSR’s for SCEA/ED. There is apocryphal information floating about that Ivy League schools share the EA/ED admit lists (yes I know Stanford is not an Ivy).</p>
<p>Whether there are more applicants attempting this route, I doubt the data exists. I would say from my own POV, that I have seen an increase in the number of under-the-bridge-inhabitants, of which the essay reader in the original post, I suspect, is one.</p>
<p>@SouthernHope: Other kids will get in (through the waitlist or otherwise). If a selective college wants an entering class of 2000, they’ll get a class of 2000.</p>
<p>To the OP: I’ve heard of punishment by the colleges but also of non-punishment by the colleges. The colleges definitely can enforce SCEA/ED more easily on the prep schools and other HS which they have relationships with.
If you think about it, the system is kind of like OPEC. On the whole, the colleges have an interest in forcing kids to play by the SCEA/ED rules, but each individual school has an incentive to “cheat” (not punish a kid if it’s someone they really want).</p>
<p>Maybe that’s why MIT, Caltech, and UChicago just say “screw it” to that game and offer only EA instead. It definitely has not hurt UChicago as they have rocketed up the rankings.</p>
<p>In some cases, it gets crazy monitoring all of the SCEA and restrictive EAs and exceptions. Along with ED2, etc. Yes, I can see how some people don’t read all of the rules carefully. We can see this with the many questions on this forum easily answered on the college website or any summary of the school’s policies. And you have to check each year. I was looking at BC for EA for my son–my older kids did apply there EA along with other EA schools. No more. Changed to some restrictive form of EA, so off the early list it went. But you gotta check. I thought I knew, but things had changed. </p>
<p>In our area some years ago, a young woman was accepted to two schools SCEA and ED. It somehow came to light, and she lost both acceptances, which was a tough blow but it did sent a message around here at least for a while that the schools mean business if they find out. The claim was that the student/family had misunderstood, did not realize that the one school was SCEA, but the schools didn’t budge. The high school was also put on notice that they had failed to monitor this properly. So it’s a risk you take when you don’t read the rules and apply to schools when you should not. Maybe you will get away with it, maybe not. If you show up on the ED accepted list which is circulated among those schools that take part in it, and a SCEA school happens to see this, you could lose your acceptances. This is one area that some of the highly selective schools do share info. </p>
<p>But it is also possible not to get caught. Not worth the risk, IMO. </p>
<p>My hs guidance counselor was put under tremendous pressure to do this this year for an “important” kid. She refused, and the parents gave her A LOT of abuse. The principal joined to pressure her to do it. She didn’t, because she’s ethical. Kid was rejected at his one ED choice. She said this is the first year this has happened, and she was asked to do it for more than one student.</p>
<p>Can you please explain the scenario? I dont get what you are saying?</p>
<p>What’s there to explain? The kids want to fare better in the game of elite college admissions so s/he applies to more than one allowed school early round (ED or SCEA). It’s shameful, but it will never change :-w </p>
<p>Edit: Of course, the GCs who are supposed to be the first line of defense against these applicants either are incompetent or coerced into doing so. </p>
<p>It absolutely is shameful, and I fear it is yet another example of the “anything to get ahead” expediency and a/immorality that seems to be far more prevalent within America’s current “upcoming” generation. Last week, for example, there was an intense CC thread, in which several youngsters vehemently attempted to justify academic dishonesty, with the long discredited rationales of “it’s commonplace and everyone does so” and/or “it’s theoretically wrong, but necessary to be competitive.” I don’t mention this to “re-open that can of worms;” rather, I suggest it’s highly likely that there is a common root-cause, and all of these ethical failures are merely manifestations of that insidiousness. </p>
<p>Concerning the prevalent “non-argument” re adequate FA, EVERY potential ED applicant has the RESPONSIBILITY painstakingly to execute the NPC for his intended ED institution. If the NPC is comprehensively and accurately completed AND the university’s final FA offer does not equal the NPC’s estimate, that would likely be a “normally releasable situation.” On the other hand, if the school meets or exceeds the NPC’s estimate, the student would be expected to honor his ED commitment and to attend. Were he not to do so, both the individual and his secondary school should be penalized. Fairness and accountability seem to be concepts that are not appreciated among far too many youngsters (not to mention their parents, GCs, and others). </p>
<p>^I was following the thread rationalizing cheating as a means to obtain an edge. To be tempted and do it once in a while is one thing (although it is just as wrong), but to publicly champion the use of it is on a whole new playing field. </p>
<p>Those same students will grow up to be self-serving, do-anything-for-profit people in our society. </p>
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<p>Why should the high school be penalized for the student’s actions in this case?</p>
<p>In particular, it is sometimes said that the penalty applied to the high school is the auto-rejection of future applicants from the high school, so that future innocent students are being penalized (often without knowing in advance that applications to that college are a waste of time an application money due to the high school being on the college’s auto-rejection list).</p>
<p>Right or wrong, exerting pressure on the HS’s is one of the most potent ways to enforce the ED/SCEA system.</p>
<p>Perhaps a better way to handle the ED situation is for colleges offering ED to do the following for ED applications:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Require the NPC to be run, and save the results. Then the actual financial aid application and offer can be compared with the NPC run afterward.</p></li>
<li><p>Require that the applicant pay the enrollment deposit in addition to the application fee up front. The deposit is refunded if (a) the applicant is not admitted ED, or (b) the actual financial aid offer is less than the NPC result, and the same financial parameters were used for both the actual financial aid application and the NPC.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Not a bad idea, but that would also discourage a lot of less-than-full pay kids from even applying ED and it already has the reputation as the rich kids way to get in. Also, financial circumstances can change and sometimes people who thought they could afford a school suddenly genuinely can’t</p>
<p>I suspect a lot of the cheating and playing the insufficient FA card comes from families who know they don’t qualify for FA, they just use it as an excuse. Probably the best solution, and I imagine it is used by most schools, is that FA problems, other than a change in financial circumstances, are resolved well before any RD results come out, so schools can’t be “used” as a safety. Also, in order to be released from an ED commitment, the new school should be notified of the release. That would prevent someone from turning down say, Carleton because they can’t afford it, but can suddenly afford Yale.</p>
<p>Finally, not everyone here is honest in their posts. I wouldn’t believe every story you hear on CC about multi-ED/REA/SCEA applications. Stories from GCs, yes, but some posters, especially new ones, like to play games.</p>
<p>I completely agree @SouthernHope - I have been reading so many posts of kids who have not withdrawn their pending applications even though they were accepted ED. What is the reason? Ego? Curiosity? Post-traumatic stress? As for financial aid, I was under the impression that you had a pretty accurate estimate going into an ED agreement of what the FA would be and that usually the packages were very close to that estimate. I hope that kids will read this thread and take note. There may not be repercussions for not withdrawing their applications (although it sounds like in some cases there might) - the bottom line is that it is really just poor form. </p>
<p>As long as they withdraw them by mid-January, there is really no problem. Many kids have finals right now and filing the withdrawals isn’t high on their priority list.</p>