<p>I was looking at tip top schools before I messed up my junior year. Should I hold off on ED-ing to Brown or Columbia if I'm confident that I will have no more than 1 B in my senior schedule after first semester?</p>
<p>These are my grades-</p>
<p>Freshman year:
Honors Bio A
Honors English A
Honors World History A
Honors Geometry A
Honors Earth Science A
Art A
PE/Health A
Spanish 1 A</p>
<p>Then I moved from my crappy north carolina school to the number one school in ohio.</p>
<p>Sophomore year</p>
<p>Algebra 2 A
Spanish 2 B
AP US History A
AP Bio B
Honors Chemistry A
Honors English A
Public Speaking A
Debate A</p>
<p>This year:</p>
<p>AP Chemistry B
AP English A
AP Economics A
Honors Physics CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC
Spanish 3 B
Precalc A
Psychology A</p>
<p>Next Year's schedule:
AP Government
AP English
AP Calc BC
AP Euro
AP statistics
Spanish 4</p>
<p>how’re you taking… Ok, as for a lot of students calc AB and calc BC take two seperate years, do NOT assume you’re getting an A in that class. Even a B can be hard. Calculus is a different beast than other maths. For some it comes easier, for some who’ve never seen anything but an A on a test, calc AB leads to Cs and Ds. And if you got a B in Spanish 3, it’ll be a lot harder to get an A in Spanish 4.</p>
<p>That being said: apply early decision if the school is your top choice school. The schools WILL see your first semester senior grades, or at least a report about what those grades are expected to be. However, if you think you need the extra time to showcase your true abilities, hold off. Either way, if you can’t get in ED you probably can’t get in regular, and if you didn’t get in regular, you probably wouldn’t get in ED. For the most part, either applying ED or not would only change your percentage chance of being accepted by a very small amount (like from 14 -> 16%), unless you end up bombing one or more of your 1st semester finals.</p>
<p>I’m more worried about spanish than I am Calc BC. In fact, I’m extremely worried about spanish. and a bit about euro. A bunch of my friends took calc bc this year and found it to be easier than precalc (our precalc curriculum covers most of the calc AB curriculum, so BC is only a bit of added material)</p>
<p>As far as showcasing my ability goes… most of my clubs and stuff don’t compete until spring so my awards list isn’t going to get longer. I’ll be leading my MUN club to its first out of state conference in early 2010 if that counts for anything. But, I think the only thing that would change somewhat significantly is my grades.</p>
<p>ED is ONLY for students who are absolutely certain that their family can come up with the money to pay for their education after that college/university chips in whatever IT feels is the right amount of financial aid. If there is any chance at all that you will need to be able to compare aid packages next April, ED is not for you.</p>
<p>Sit your parents down at the computer with their financial information, and run the financial aid calculators at [College</a> Calculators - savings calculators - college costs, loans](<a href=“College Board - SAT, AP, College Search and Admission Tools”>How Much Will College Cost – BigFuture | College Board) Once you know whether or not they have the means to cover your EFC for the next four years, you will be able to decide whether pursuing ED is even an issue for you.</p>
<p>Oh my God, one C! Hang up your hat right now! You will burn in community college hell forever!</p>
<p>Or not! That one C in physics won’t ruin your chances forever of getting into Brown or Columbia, particularly with your very strong transcript (many AP and honors classes with great grades in everything). Everyone has a weakness. Mine was chemistry. Yours is physics. Don’t let one C bring you down. You still have an excellent shot about both of those schools, even with ED admissions.</p>
<p>My main concern is that neither of them seems to be a clear #1 choice, and Early Decision is for students who have a clear #1 choice and have for several months or years. I don’t like the idea of students who are clearly torn between two schools that they love basically shutting themselves out of one or the other because they think they’ll get a slight nudge in admissions. Not to mention losing out on the opportunity to compare aid packages. You have a very strong record overall, and you are a strong candidate for RD, too. Of course, in the end, it is your decision.</p>
<p>Calculus was easier for me than other previous maths – I don’t know, calculus just clicked for me, even though I didn’t do terribly week in pre-cal. A lot of that had to do with my teacher – I had a pretty bad pre-calc teacher and a really, really good calculus teacher. Then again, a lot of people say that pre-calc is harder.</p>
<p>If you can pay, I’d definitely apply ED. I don’t think your grades will hurt that much and the college WILL see your first quarter grades with your application. Just be sure first quarter senior year is really strong if possible. It is clear that you weren’t slacking because the B/C’s were in difficult classes, but it’s always nice to show improvement.</p>
<p>What’s up with all these people that say “If you can pay, apply ED.” Brown and Columbia both have very specific Financial Aid policies. If you make under a certain amount, you’ll be paying a certain amount. If you make below $100,000 yearly you should be fine applying ED. It’s just above that where it gets a little tricky. Use the FA calculator and see how much your EFC is, and then if your parents are willing to pay that apply. Simple as that.</p>
<p>When you apply ED are you forgoing any chance of scholarship? I mean the school is not going to offer you money when they know you are obliged to attend…</p>
<p>There is something to consider as well, though you would not be getting anything like that anyway.</p>
<p>AminAS, they will still offer you financial aid, the issue is just that there are no guarantees. It is possible that the estimate could be off and you could be left unable to pay and have a difficult time getting out of the ED agreement to go somewhere else.</p>
<p>Applicannot, if you have a clear first choice and a relatively secure financial situation, definitely apply ED. It is SO worth it if only to remove the stress (and cost) of other applications and months of waiting.</p>
<p>Well, that’s the thing. I don’t have a clear first choice, but I’d be extremely happy at any of my top four choices (and they are all very similar). Three of those choices are 100% need, no loans schools at which I’d get a fantastic financial aid package, guaranteed. Applying ED would increase my chances (although I already have okay chances), alleviate a lot of stress, and save me a lot of time and money. I’d love to do it and I don’t think I’d regret it, but I feel hesitant. I guess I’m worried about getting rejected and then having to deal with the regular application season. But honestly, as I get closer and closer to application season, I’m starting to think ED is a good idea…</p>