<p>I'm applying to a lot of selective schools but I'm feeling really insecure about my stats (especially after seeing so many CCers with way better credentials get rejected from my top choices.) </p>
<p>I know that applying ED boosts your chances so I'm tempted to apply ED somewhere out of fear that I wouldn't get accepted anywhere really good otherwise, but no school has really stood out as being "the one." I'd love to make my decision after going all the admitted student visits in the spring, but I'm scared that my options won't be good. </p>
<p>"I know that applying ED boosts your chances "</p>
<p>This is your first mistaken premise. Admit rates are higher b/c the quality of EA/ED applicants is higher. </p>
<p>Secondly, ED or EA your top choice. Sure you may get rejected but that’s the same with your first choice as well. The key to not being set up for failure is to apply to a range of schools that you would love to attend and can afford. If you can’t research and assemble a good list, you have no one to blame for your nervousness but yourself.</p>
<p>Don’t apply ED unless you love the college you are applying to and happily would go there even if you find out in April that people with stats similar to yours got into better colleges. Make sure that you also can afford the ED school.</p>
<p>I agree 100% with Northstarmom. Also, there are LOTS of good schools. Most accept most qualified applicants. Just because your next-door-neighbor hasn’t heard of the school doesn’t mean it isn’t worth going to.</p>
<p>It’s not that the ED applicants on the whole are more qualified, it’s that this is when those with a hook often apply. So the weight of the boost can be misleading. Yet at some schools (not HYPS) it is a significant boost.</p>
<p>And while it might be a boost at other top colleges, it’s a boost for those with the stats. Let’s say a college gets 2000 applications from very high stats Asian males from CA and they only plan to take 22. A student fitting this description would be wise to apply ED. They know they will yield the student who might otherwise go to a competitor in the RD round.</p>
<p>Go below top colleges to schools that have an under 30% yield and that’s where ED can become a huge boost and they might accept slightly lower stats from the unhooked.</p>
<p>IMO, using ED as a strategy is OK. At some top private schools with strong college counseling, the majority of every class applies somewhere early.</p>