<p>I will say this right out: I am not an overachiever. In fact, I'm sure my stats are some of the lowest on this site (3.75 unweighted GPA and 1770 SAT first sitting, but plan to take 2 more times) I have great (at least in my opinion) extracurricular/volunteer hours. I would like to apply early decision to a top 50 national university, but when I suggested this to my guidance counselor he said, "No way, early decision is not for you. It is strictly for the students with top SAT scores and GPAs." He said one way or another, I do not stand a chance and I will heartbroken right before Christmas when the decisions come out. Is this true? I have heard that ED will help your chances, especially if you are a borderline student. This is my absolute first choice school, and while I know my chances are slim, I am willing to take the risk. So the ultimate question is: Should I listen to my GC or do what I think is personally best for me?</p>
<p>ED can help chances somewhat, but applying ED won’t get you into a school that you are not qualified for. If you want to give a long-shot school a chance, that is your right. But I would strongly suggest that you don’t get your heart set on a school that is a big reach and put in other applications to schools that are rolling admission or non-binding EA where you are a strong candidate. If you go to your guidance counselor with this attitude, he/she may support your decision to give one reach school a shot ED. </p>
<p>And don’t be discouraged by the posters on this site, your stats should qualify you for many fine schools. Get a college guide book and do research online. And if the standardized tests don’t go up you can also look into some test optional schools.</p>
<p>What colleges were you thinking of?</p>
<p>@dlcor1026, thank you for the response, I understand the school is a reach and I will be researching more schools so that I will end up somewhere</p>
<p>And I want to apply to Brandeis University in MA</p>
<p>Brandeis is a pretty selective school. Many schools give a boost to ED applicants, but if you’re really far off on stats, it may not help at all. That being said, your SAT score is outside of their middle 50% range- while it’s not a deal breaker, it surely doesn’t cast you in the best light.</p>
<p>^I believe I am in the 22nd percentile, so do you think it is ultimately pointless for me to try ED?</p>
<p>How far off the stats can you be? My GPA is really bad (like 3.6 unweighted), but my SAT is above 2300. Could I conceivably get into MIT ED? I don’t think I will get in but I don’t want to waste the gift that is ED either…</p>
<p>Applying ED is for someone who is absolutely sure they want to go to college X over all other offerings. In return for pledging to commit to a school that early, the colleges will be a little more forgiving of your stats so long as they are in the ballpark. An application that might be wait-listed for RD may be a lock for ED, for example. So 3.75 GPA unweighted is still in the park but the test scores are probably a little on the low side but not necessarily an ED-admisisons killer. You plan on retesting, so that’s good. </p>
<p>But what kind of bothers me is your guidance counselor advising you not to take a calculated risk. Sure you may get rejected, or maybe you’d get deferred, but that’s for you to decide, not for the GC to decide to wrap you in cotton balls to protect your little psyche from disappointment. You can always have a bunch of safeties and matches in process for RD should you not get into Brandeis. The only thing I’d consider is the affordability of the school should you actually get in but then find out that the financial aid package is not enough and suddenly you realize can’t afford it and then you have to go through the messiness of backing out of an ED. Not a pleasant thought. If your parents can do full-pay then that wouldn’t be an issue.</p>
<p>Many schools have much higher admit rates for ED than overall. Check the common data set for the school(s) that interest you. I just checked one school of interest to my son where the admit rate is 47% ED and only 25% overall. Clearly at this school, it makes sense to apply ED.</p>
<p>Your stats, esp. SAT, are slightly on the low side but still reasonable for Brandeis. However, I don’t see a big bump in percent admitted for ED versus RD in the common data set (below). It’s 40% for RD and about 42% for ED if I did the number right. Also, not sure if you’re looking for FA and how that works at Brandeis for ED.</p>
<p>[Common</a> Data Set | Institutional Research | Brandeis University](<a href=“http://www.brandeis.edu/opir/institutionalresearch/cds.html]Common”>http://www.brandeis.edu/opir/institutionalresearch/cds.html)</p>
<p>^ Apparently last year Brandeis accepted 50%ED and 17% from RD (I went to the info session). What SAT score should I aim for? I have a reasonable amount of time to study this summer. I was originally aiming for an 1860-1900 but should I aim higher?</p>
<p>@LakeClouds thanks for that data, I must be deaf because I heard totally wrong!</p>
<p>Bump!
10 char</p>
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</p>
<p>This is absolutely not true. </p>
<p>I couldn’t find Brandeis’s ED and RD admissions rates on the NY Times list of ED/RD statistics, but given what you were told at the info session yes, it does look like there’s a bump. The two bigger questions are 1) how much can your family afford to pay for your college education? and 2) have you visited the campus?</p>
<p>The cost factor is really important. If your parents have said that they can afford to pay full freight anywhere ($60k a year or more) without needing to take out enormous loans, then you can ignore the rest of this paragraph. 
If you’re going to need financial aid, you need to have your parents use the Brandeis Net Price Calculator to see how much Brandeis will cost you a year. If it’s going to be unaffordable, applying ED is going to be futile. You may stand a better chance of getting in, but it will be much harder to negotiate an affordable FA package during ED. For the best advice on this, ask on the Brandeis forum or the Parents forum for people’s experiences with Brandeis FA.</p>
<p>Visiting the campus beforehand is really important, because there is no backing out of being accepted ED (except for not getting enough FA to make attending affordable for your family). </p>
<p>If you do end up applying ED, be sure to have all of your other applications ready to go before Brandeis ED results are announced. There is nothing more depressing than having to write essays for other schools while having a broken heart from an ED rejection. You don’t have to submit the applications before the ED decision (except for places that have earlier deadlines, or where you’re applying Early Action). Just minimize the work you have to do if you’re rejected.</p>
<p>Best of luck!</p>
<p>I disagree with your guidance counselor. There is nothing wrong with applying ED to a reach school. But you must go in knowing it is a bit of a long shot and be prepared to move on if it doesn’t work out. Have other good options in mind, interview with some other schools, and have other applications ready to go just in case. I would apply to a couple of match/safety schools that are rolling or non-binding EA so you should get an acceptance or two in December.</p>
<p>If Brandeis is your top choice, be sure you have “demonstrated interest” through a campus visit, interview, maybe see if you can shadow a student for a day or whatever else works.</p>
<p>^thank you both! My parents are able to pay full tuition. I visited the college when I went for the info tour and also interviewed with an alum who works in the admissions office. We got along well and had a nice conversation so hopefully that helps demonstrated interest.</p>
<p>OP, being able to pay full tuition at Brandeis may help. My info may be a couple years out of date, but the school did go to a “need-aware” admissions policy. They guarantee that they’ll meet need for everyone accepted, but their financial aid budget wasn’t quite large enough to manage that. So, they admit the vast majority of the class without caring about who needs aid, up to the point when they run out of aid money. From that point on IIRC they will only admit those who aren’t asking for need-based aid. Maybe it’s changed recently; check with the Brandeis forumites.</p>
<p>But if that’s the case AND your parents are on board financially with this then yes, applying ED is a good idea. An ED application tells them that they are your first choice; not applying for aid means that you are telling them that if admitted you will absolutely attend. No guarantees, of course (fill out those other applications early!!!).</p>
<p>^Sounds like a good plan to me!:)</p>
<p>
I’m not so sure of this. When a school admits with FA at ED time, the school likely really, really wants the student to attend, not only because of a strong application, but also for the love the applicant shows for the school. This could be the time that additional financial data can help.</p>