Did they request your quarter 1 grades after you applied? I’m really worried cause my grades have been slipping to a lot of B’s. Will that make a big difference? I’m in IB and my grades in the past have been very good.
Actually, this upcoming year is the first time Fordham is doing ED. Unfortunately, I don’t know what they ask of you. Sorry. 
Complex question. Yes, Fordham is doing ED for the first time. They also have EA.
Generally, they asked for EA applicants grades for first semester primarily if they are on the bubble and being deferred. They look at your gpa, SAT and go from there.
They ask for ALL your senior grades in June to make sure nobody got senioritis and flunked and blew out. That is very rare.
So in short semester grades are more important than quarter grades…so do your best to pull up and finish well this semester. If you are deferred, send them in and see what happens.
Getting in ED or EA is harder than people realize as they typically take the really top students and defer the bubble kids and reject the ones that wont get in regardless.
And it depends if your grades are in AP courses or in something soft…indicating a lack of work ethic.
Good luck.
As noted this is Fordham’s first experience with ED. My sister applied ED to another school and they did request 1st quarter senior year grades so I’d guess Fordham will do the same. How they use them is anyone’s guess since ED is a new program, but I would think that if the grades are requested, that they will be considered. Having a challenging schedule is a factor in your favor.
Lots of schools have ED. Many of them, if not most of them dont ask for quarter grades. Often because they are unreliable and inconsistent, meaning, some schools have mid terms and some dont and what constitutes a quarter grade is often homework and quizes and the final grade for the semester is heavily weighted for the final exam. Again, they are most often requested for bubble students.
Some schools may request them. I have no clue what Fordham will do overall, or for individuals they are considering. ED is a tough way to get in, because its heavily weighted for the really top students (who are also offered scholarships), and that is mostly about the SAT score anyway.
I tell kids often that if they are bubble students then DONT apply EA or ED and work instead on getting their grades up, and then apply RD. Being a deferred ED or EA student and accepting a place on the deferred list for RD I dont think really helps your chances…in the sense of being a repeat application…it only helps in the sense that if the RD pool is less competitive (fewer uber stats as they are often already accepted to their number one school in the EA or ED rounds) then you may be better off. I am a firm believer that SAT weighs more heavily than gpa on most applications. There are exceptions. The rigor of the transcript and the reputation (rigor) of the high school also is examined closely. A transcript full of fluff and from a less rigorous school wont carry the weight, even if its a high gpa, as a really strong transcript from a school with a really rigorous reputation.
^^^I disagree. Of course nobody knows what will happen with a new program at Fordham, but for most schools there is a distinct advantage to applying ED and it typically gives students with a slightly lower profile than the norm for that particular college the highest chance of being accepted. My HS guidance dept. strongly encourages that students take advantage of ED programs when available for that very reason (assuming the student has a definite top choice and has no need to compare financial offers). The payoff for the school is that the student is 100% committed (assuming the school is affordable) to attending if accepted. Virtually every school I know of that has ED asks for first quarter grades for every applicant, not just “bubble” students. It is a way to confirm not only that the student is not slacking off senior year, but that the courses listed on the application (self-reported) are actually the ones the student is taking. Whether or not a first semester report is required by Fordham is not worth debating as I"m sure it will be laid out for you as part of the ED requirements/forms.
The scenario for EA applicants is different since there is no commitment on the part of the student to attend, so for that reason the students accepted EA are generally only accepted if they are above the school’s typical profile.
Spirit you are certainly free to your opinion and to disagree. But having worked a great deal in college admissions processes for many years, visited many many high schools, and college fairs, and having put my own kids through school, and spoken directly to admissions officers at Fordham and other schools, its generally the case that schools pick a smaller cohort of applicants and generally pick a cohort with higher stats, and defer the bubble kids to RD…or even defer kids who otherwise would be admitted and will be admitted to RD. Now there will be exceptions and so forth, but its a general rule of thumb. The bottom line is that if you are on the bubble, that is, not substantially above the median scores, you may well be deferred in the ED pool, and even the EA pool. It doesnt hurt to try and get in then, but one should brace for deferral if they are not substantially above the median scores. Fordham did this for years in the EA pool. I am not saying kids who get in RD are lower scores than kids who get in ED. I am just saying that Fordham and most schools can be much more picky and selective overall in the ED round, and do so. My kid got in RD because she didnt apply EA to Fordham…she was “waitlisted” and “deferred” at her top choices before the RD round (WashU ED1 and Vandy ED2).
Nor should kids be discouraged. You are NOT your SAT score. Though it feels that way.
And oh, btw, you can get a stellar education at schools that arent top 30 or Ivy…often as good as the elite schools.
My hope is to be helpful here and fairly straight forward to people. Maybe even blunt. Though I dont work for Fordham admissions and make no decisions (nor does anyone here), and opinions will differ on a variety of topics.
If Fordham is a reach school for you, applying ED or EA wont help you. If its a reach, its a reach, and they will do whatever they will regardless if you apply ED or EA or RD or both. Its nice to tell them through ED that Fordham is your number one choice (and binding.) They like that. But they wont fill up the class with all ED or EA applicants. They have a matrix how many they will accept in that round and leave the residual to RD. And they have to estimate their yield. People they know will go elsewhere even if they are admitted to Fordham.
Good luck to all.
Yes, we will have to agree to disagree. ED and EA are treated differently because the nature of the two programs are very different. I did email my HS guidance counselor who confirmed that my comment above reflected her belief (my HS is very college oriented) about the ED process. The ED advantage is different college to college – a noticeable bump at some schools and smaller at others. My sister’s college actually publishes admissions statistics for ED and RD in the class profile on their website and there is a noticeable difference. Again, how Fordham treats ED will likely evolve over the next few years. If you google ED advantage you will get threads like this:
http://inlikeme.com/admission-statistics-acceptance-rates-early-vs-regular/
http://www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/applying/applying-101/articles/2009/09/30/colleges-where-applying-early-action-helps
But again, we are way off the OPs question. So I will end my comments on this thread here.