Don’t know how many, but know at least one. One of my DS’s friends got into P SCEA but took an RD offer to H instead. Money wasn’t the reason. Just decided that they liked H better by May 1st.
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And if the OP wants to apply to WIlliams after getting into Princeton, they can. The more likely scenario if the OP EA’s to Princeton is that the OP gets into neither, and wonders all spring if they should have ED’d to WIlliams.
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yes, precisely afraid of that.
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Try to think if you have something that stands out and will capture the adcom’s eye at Princeton (as that is the more difficult school to get into). If your not confident you do, then apply to Williams, really you won’t be disappointed if you do get into WIlliams.
Everyone in your position has the same fears… but it all works out.
thank you. this is regarding my d. she is very interested in princeton bc strong music/instrumental but feels education at williams more personsl and better suited to her.
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If your daughter would like an education that emphasizes personal relationships and classroom discussion, she can consider other schools from this survey-based list, in which both Williams and Princeton appear: https://www.princetonreview.com/college-rankings?rankings=great-classroom-experience.
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@Cloudybay23, Parent of a Williams grad here. I can’t make a comparison to Princeton, but I can comment on the experiences of my son and some of his classmates.
Several of my son’s close friends at Williams were serious musicians. They majored in other disciplines and chose careers not directly related to music, but music was and still is an important part of who they are. As you may be aware, Williams hosts several ensembles, including the Berkshire Symphony and encourages non-majors to participate in their multiple performance opportunities.
My son majored in humanities, but again several of his friends followed the pre-med track to medical school. Williams has excellent advising for careers in medicine and other health professions.
https://careers.williams.edu/sciences-health-professions/
Graduate and professional school advising along with recommendations are an important part of a Williams education. The professors know their students personally and are incredibly generous with their time and counsel. Post-Williams, my son and all of his close friends attended top choice graduate/professional schools, ultimately leading to satisfying careers.
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thank you! that’s great to hear.
How so? SCEA isn’t binding, unlike ED. An accepted student can still “shop around” and look for a potentially better (academic, financial, etc.) fit. More importanly, s/he has more than four months to make that determination, likely with events like admitted student days/weekend that s/he didn’t have before, and opportunites to speak in-depth to relevant professors and others at the colleges as these colleges are now focused on getting her/him to commit.
I’m not sure how long ago your kids applied. Mine did apply there as his only safety (the other five are all super reaches). I don’t think he received Rutgers acceptance until early Jan (he received Rutgers’ Presidential scholarship so I assume he was among the most competitive).
I know that, but if you’re holding a Princeton admission in one hand, how many kids are going to apply to other schools? Throw a Yale/Harvard/Stanford app in to see if you would have made it? If you really wanted to go to Harvard over Princeton, wouldn’t you have EA’d there?
I know Princeton EA is non-binding…but this idea that kids wouldn’t take that acceptance in December and just look forward to next fall in Central NJ is silly. A kid who EA’s to Princeton isn’t shopping alternatives. Since you can’t apply early at a competitor, EA at Princeton is as close to ED as you can get without calling it ED. And as we all know, ED isn’t mandatory. A fair number of kids get out of ED if necessary.
As for Rutgers, it was 6 and 3 years ago. My recollection is that applications opened Oct 1…and they both knew before applying anywhere else on Nov 1. Maybe they’re just lucky they weren’t offered a Presidential scholarship?
There’re a number of situations that I can think of where a student may apply SCEA to Princeton but wanted (or later wanted) another option (e.g. s/he is legacy at Princeton). Having more options is always a good thing and these options may be valuable.
My S applied to Rutgers 4 years ago (in late Sept or early Oct). My point is that there’s no guarantee a student would receive a quick decision.
I think a lot of people SCEA to Princeton but also have applications in at UVA, Michigan, UNC, the UC schools,
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Princeton’s historical yield is around 80%. For Class of 2025, it was 81% (1,345 matriculated of 1,647 who were admitted). We don’t have the detail broken out between SCEA and RD. So, 302 of 1,647 students chose to go elsewhere and clearly were “shopping alternatives”…maybe they chose a preferred school, or maybe they couldn’t afford Princeton (lots of families can’t afford their EFC), or maybe they received a better financial offer elsewhere. Remember, we are also dealing with teenagers…the preferred school from fall might not be the preferred fall in spring…for no reason at all.
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It is not just the big name publics. When my DS was at a summer program his RA turned down an SCEA acceptance from P for the big NSF scholarship at Alabama. His friend that I talked about earlier that is at H instead of his SCEA to P also had one of the big scholarship offers to Vandy. Don’t know if he would have picked P or Vandy.
Many schools (like my kids’) require you to treat SCEA acceptance as an ED acceptance and not apply elsewhere.
Pretty much, yeah. There’s the occasional student who turns down Princeton for, say, the University of Oklahoma, but it’s relatively rare. The most selective universities like Princeton tend to lose students only to comparable universities.
An admissions report from Stanford a few years ago revealed that HYPM accounted for 75% of the cross-admits that did not matriculate at Stanford.
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Very information article.
Regarding music, all Williams students can take music lessons free of charge regardless of major. Many, many student ensembles and music groups for all students.
Thinking that ED at Williams is “easier” because they accept 33% of ED applicants is flawed. As a D3 school, that includes all recruited athletes, who have already had their apps pre-read and are pretty much guaranteed admission.
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