We just counted my son’s essays- 23 for 17 schools! Wish him luck! He’s starting with EA/ED and will see how far he gets by end of Aug.
He has 4 schools under consideration for ED. Here’s the dilemma. How is your child picking ED? What would you do?
Pick the ED school that might actually be attainable due to its ED boost? (Many kids get in ED from his high school.)
Apply ED to another school that doesn’t offer as much of an ED boost, but is quite prestigious? (Some, but not many get in from his Hs and there’s barely any ED boost)
Choose the ED school that is clearly the best fit BUT has least chance of acceptance? (This college seems to absolutely hate his high school.)
The final school is a definite reach and may not be the best fit. (But high school does have (local) added benefit here.)
All things considered, he would be happy at any of them. Just curious how you’re dealing with ED
My daughter went ED in the 2020 admission cycle. She had a clear first choice school that she really wanted to attend that we knew we could afford. She got in, never second guessed the applications she pulled after receiving her offer and loves her school.
I know it is really tempting to try to ‘game theory’ a possible ED application but I truly believe you should only apply ED if you have a strong first choice school. If you have 4 schools you/your son are thinking about, there doesn’t seem to be a strong first choice.
If you really want to use the ED process, maybe wait until your son has completed the essays/applications for all 4 schools under ED contention and then figure out which application spoke to him most/made him most excited when completing it. That might be a way to figure out which school he actually likes best.
That makes a lot of sense. He has formed some opinions and is really down to a final four All 4 are currently on an equal footing and he’s proclaiming indecision, so probability does weigh into the equation.
LIfe is a little more complicated. Not all students have a “clear first choice”. I’d argue that most students don’t. It’s quite common that many students may feel they can fit well with a group of colleges instead of just one. Colleges that force students to choose are lookng after their own self-interest, not students’.
I would (and did) posit that ED doesn’t make sense unless the student has a clear first choice. I agree most students don’t have that clear first choice, so in my opinion they shouldn’t apply ED.
I think many, if not most, students may feel “they can fit well with a group of colleges instead of just one”. Yet another reason not to go ED (as I suggested).
I also agree that ED is often much more beneficial to the colleges rather than the students. Again, in my opinion that makes ED a poor choice for most students, and I wouldn’t recommend it for students that don’t have a clear first choice, and don’t know if they can afford the school.
I have two more children who will be going through the admission process in the next couple years. I don’t foresee either of them going ED; I think most students probably shouldn’t because so relatively few actually have a strong preference and/or can financially afford to lock themselves in. My other two children aren’t nearly as sure on what they want in a college experience as my oldest was (and still is).
I’ll be happy if I can get my kid to develop a better defined college list - I don’t see ED in his future unless something changes between now and early November. He’s still unsure of what he really wants to do which seems to be slowing the process (oh, and of course, the procrastination).
Don’t anticipate doing ED with any of D22’s schools. Maybe EA, though. She’s not very excited about the application process right now and we are not very far along.
@LostInTheShuffle Not sure if anyone answered you on this. I’m also a bit unsure about how to list activities but I would definitely list awards and activity separately even if it’s for the same “activity.” For S22, we plan to list Track as an activity since it was a ton of practice time and commitment, then his Regional placement as 2nd in the 1600 m as an “Award”.
Anyone else have any thoughts on this? Is this the way to list activity and awards?
Thanks, @Evie800. I came upon a SuperTutor YouTube video and she says that no item should appear in more than one category; that way, a student can fit more stuff in. Just passing on info, as we don’t know what we’ll do.
The awards section of the common app is for academic awards. All other “awards” or achievements should be in the activities section. The awards section is under “Education” so those are the types of awards that go there (Deans List, NMF, etc.) If your son has athletic awards, you mention them in the activities section when describing that sport.
Glad I’m not alone. Not a lot of enthusiasm here. Honestly think it is partly due to the after affects of covid and being isolated and not having a typical school year.
I think so too. She was only in person at school for the last quarter and less than half the students were there. I think if it had been a regular school year and her peers and teachers and guidance counselors were talking about college she might have more enthusiasm, but she’s just not feeling it right now. She is doing a pre-college camp in a couple of weeks so I am hopeful that will spark a little more interest.
Ditto for little interest. My wife created a list of all schools ranked from #30 Florida to #133 Oklahoma. Florida is a great OOS value but a reach. Then cut some expensive privates where we wouldn’t get aid, like Pepperdine, NEU, Tulane, Case, etc.
I asked where his best friends are applying and all I get is Rice/Florida, OU/Arkansas, AFA/? and “Dad, I don’t know. Nobody cares.”
D has a list of 7: 5 target schools, 1 “safety” and 1 gentle reach. It’s a small but very reasonable list, both in terms of probable acceptances and in terms of manageability. She is now working on her common ap essay, finally coming up with a topic that she is excited to write about. We will revisit two schools on her list to determine if she is enthused about any enough to go ED, but I doubt she will be sure enough by November to make that decision.
No ED for us either. D22 has 6+1 list of schools (with 1 being MIT at my request). Other 6 are all EA schools. She actually showed more maturity that I have during this process. I was running around her in circles about the admission process and very calmly said she will be absolutely fine at any school on her list, so I should not worry, she will be OK. I think I calmed down after that and feel like we can just enjoy the process We will visit one more school on this list, just to make sure she should apply (we only did virtual visit before). But any other visits will be after acceptances.
S22 is planning to apply ED. He has a clear first choice, and we can afford it. He is hoping that he doesn’t have to do more applications (although he is doing 2 EA applications).
He has not started on his applications yet. He is in a summer math program right now. Also his fall ELA class focuses on college essay writing.
Nice to see Oklahoma mentioned here. I am from nyc area but looking to go out of state to a big, spirited school. OU seems to fit that bill and has generous merit scholarships for non residents. What is the reputation of OU(don’t know anyone from area who has gone there so I can’t say myself) and is it a school where an OOSer could thrive in? It seems to be very Greek heavy so wondering if not being a legacy would hurt with the social scene.
We will visit one more school on this list, just to make sure she should apply (we only did virtual visit before). But any other visits will be after acceptances.