Should I Apply ED?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Smith College
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To start, I know that this is a decision I need to make for myself. I know that no one can make it for me. This is partially to get my thoughts down and partially to receive input from people hopefully more experienced with Early Decision.

Just to give you an idea of my background, I am a Latina planning on majoring in computer science. My family has pretty high financial need (they can probably contribute max $10K plus my self help and stuff).

This past weekend (Friday to Sunday), I attended Smith’s Women of Distinction program. I’ve been to three other fly-ins (Harvey Mudd, Hamilton, and MIT) and have also visited the other Claremont colleges (while staying at Mudd), Bryn Mawr, Swarthmore, UPenn, and Rutgers. I loved a lot of the schools I visited (Mudd, Scripps, Bryn Mawr, and Hamilton also secured places on my list), but Smith felt different. I feel like I could be happy at any of those schools, but when I left Smith, I had this burning desire to be a Smithie that I hadn’t experienced at the other schools. That isn’t to say that the moment I stepped onto Smith’s campus I had this epiphany and knew it was where I belonged, but it kind of clicked some point on Saturday.

When I got home, I brought up the idea of Early Decision to my parents. I think ED is a good option for me because I feel like I belong at Smith, we would be able to afford it (according to the net price calculator), it might help me get in, and I kind of want to be finished with the college application process ASAP. My mom seemed okay with it, but my dad said something along the lines of “You’ve worked so hard to have options, and Early Decision would be taking away those options.” We came to the agreement that I should talk to my guidance counselor and reevaluate once the initial excitement has worn off. This morning, I met with my guidance counselor (I’d already had an appointment set up prior to visiting Smith), and brought up Early Decision. She seemed to think it was a good idea as long as I know that’s where I want to go. She also understood that Smith is a hard school to get into, and even though my application is very strong, this could help me get in, something that my dad didn’t really get.

The agreement I came to with my guidance counselor is to talk to my parents again, call the financial aid office and discuss some more uncommon aspects of our financial profile, and get my application together while still doing overnights and visiting other schools (I wouldn’t submit until a day or two before the deadline).

Does anyone have any input? Maybe their experience with ED? How understanding is Smith when it comes to backing out of an ED agreement due to insufficient aid?

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^^
There will be no issues if you decline admission due to insufficient FA

FYI

http://cs.smith.edu/BayStateFellowship.php

N.B. Maintaining a 3.6 GPA is difficult.
Why not EA at MIT and ED1 or 2 at Smith?

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I’m glad you had a great time this past weekend. I’ll give you my opinion and it’s strictly an opinion not based on anything but hunches and intuition and a general conservative viewpoint regarding college admissions but I think any student that has a large need for financial aid should not do ED. You just give something up that you don’t need to do. I think you are a strong enough candidate that you don’t need the ED boost to be accepted but of course what do I know in that regards. Basically I think you could end up getting a FA offer that will be just close enough that you’ll end up taking it when you may have gotten something better if you didn’t apply ED.

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But since it’s need-based aid then it wouldn’t differ from ED to RD (they use the same formula), so if I can’t afford Smith ED, I wouldn’t be able to afford it RD either.

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They have various merit scholarships that they could package with need.

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I would assume (though frankly this is purely my speculation) that if you’ve been invited to their fly-in program that your chances of admission would be very high. (Why would they invite someone who they were not interested in?).

And certainly, being accepted to so many fly-ins makes me think you are a strong candidate for any school. So while I understand the “I just want to be done with this” reason, I don’t think you have to do ED to increase your chances.

And, yes, if there are merit scholarships, you may be missing out on those (I suspect there would be no reason to entice an ED candidate with a scholarship.) On the other hand, if your EFC is so low and they meet need, then it probably doesn’t matter to you.

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Agree with above. Since Smith meets 100% of need (based on their definition of need), they use merit to lure the top applicants. I suspect that if you apply ED, you remove the incentive for them to offer you merit aid. Figuring out your EFC is the issue though. If you can correctly determine how they will determine you EFC, you might not need merit. And ED will be worth it.

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STRIDE merit awards not offered to ED admits. There are ~ 200-250 STRIDES awarded each year
~50 STRIDE recipients matriculate.

FWIW-

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Go with your gut. Sounds like you love Smith. You could do worse. Applying ED does give students significant advantage. Don’t dwell on what if? If you love Smith, it will love you back, and you’d be off to a flying start. Focus on the bird in the hand, not what could be if you apply RD to other colleges.

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@CrewDad Can you source that info about STRIDE (and I’m assuming the Zollman Scholarships as well)? Smith website doesn’t say anything about not offering them to ED applicants. (Although I could see why they wouldn’t.)

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The source is the Office of Admission. Feel free to call. They’ll confirm that ED admits are not awarded the STRIDE or the Zoll. However, MHC does award merit aid to ED applicants.

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@CrewDad when did they tell you that? Because when I was there for Women of Distinction they said that ED applicants are still eligible for merit scholarships (although they’re probably less common)

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Last year. I called and spoke with admissions and they claim that ED applicants are now eligible. Sorry for the confusion.

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That makes a huge difference when considering applying ED.

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^^
Let’s see how many ED admits are actually awarded a STRIDE :wink:

Until this year, the STRIDE was used as a yield tool.

Excerpts from an article published in The Sophian. The article was published before the increase to $20,000
Italics added.

N.B.

[quote]
For admitted STRIDE students receiving financial aid, the award first replaces the loan part of the aid package. Merit awards cannot be added on top of student’s federally determined need, meaning that the increase in the STRIDE award will not affect the total amount of aid packages for students receiving more than $15,000 [now $20,000] in financial aid.

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My daughter is a first-year at Smith. She will probably double major in Computer Science and Math. She is black (actually bi-racial), and also needed a lot of financial aid. She had a similar experience to yours; after visiting Smith, she felt that Smith was her school. We were assured that applying ED (which she did) upped her chances of both getting in and getting priority for financial aid. In our process, we even appealed the ‘final’ financial aid decision and got more. Lauren is extremely happy and comfortable at Smith. If you want to communicate with her directly, my email is janeoeasley@gmail.com. I can connect you to her. (Jane)

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My daughter was admitted ED1 to Smith this December and was awarded a STRIDE Scholarship so it does happen.

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I worked with two young women who applied ED to Smith. Both had significant financial need. While neither received a STRIDE, both received grants that almost covered their entire COA.

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Hey @CrewDad , nice to see you on the Smith boards-What’s the connection?

Anyway, DD will have to apply ED because she wants to play softball-loved Smith, coach, faculty, campus, etc but is also being shown interest by Yale, Brown, and several of the NESCACs. A merit scholarship would certainly be enough to tip her over the edge, as it is extremely unlikely we will have recognized “need”. What’s your advise(or anyone else’s) on this tricky issue. She has a 97 average in IB, ACT of 34, and plans to major in science(not a pre-med), so seems like the stats for merit


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@OldbatesieDoc, Hey, it’s been a while. It’s great to hear from you. My wife, daughter and numerous friends are alumnae. I thought you were aware of that. Any chance you can convince your daughter to change her sport to rowing? :slight_smile: The contract to build a beautiful new boathouse will be finalized in a few days.