Switch. It sounds like the what ifs will likely haunt you. You are already assured admissions at some great programs. Unless Wash U is a clear first choice, you want to maintain your optionality for school and money.
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Wasn’t too long ago:
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I think you need to understand one thing: if you get accepted ED2 to WashU, you MUST withdraw all of your other applications. The ONLY real reason to withdraw is because you can’t afford it and you essentially agreed to pay full price when you didn’t apply for financial aid.
If you have any thought in your mind about taking advantage of the merit money offered at the schools where you have already been accepted, or you want to see what happens from the ones you haven’t heard from yet, you do not have any choice. A WashU acceptance means game over.
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Take a minute and imagine you get into WashU ED2 - how do you feel withdrawing all the other outstanding applications ? Happy or ?
You have a lot of applications still out there including in the UK. Big list and you have had success already and know you have choice. Are you ready for that choice to go away. I know nothing about your counselor - but I hope they are counseling you on best fit and not just prestige.
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Thanks for the insights everyone. Like I said, I’m probably going to switch to RD. I’ll have a meeting with my counsellor soon and talk things over with her. I’ll post updates
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When does Wash U release ED2 decisions?
Feb 14 according to this link.
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WUSTL probably needs to manage its yield, and so switching from ED2 to RD would be interpreted as signaling lack of interest and less likelihood of matriculation. It doesn’t have anything to do with the quality of the school, but more about making sure they enroll the correct number of students to satisfy their budgets/etc.
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Did you apply for financial aid at WashU? Is net price going to be a factor in your decision?
Managing yield is different from protecting yield. Managing yield means keeping yield stable. In fact, a school will have an over-enrollment problem if its yield turns out to be higher than predicted. Rejecting an applicant solely on the basis of its suspicion that the applicant may not be fully committed is beyond yield management.
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From what I see from where you’ve applied. Do you want to go to Wash U over Harvard over Hopkins or any of the many schools you applied to (you underestimated yourself by applying to so many schoosl and if your counselor advised this they were wrong).
D22 was in similar situation with similar schools in the mix, ED/EA deferred from several of her top choices into similar ones as you. Had planned ED at one of her remaining top choices advised by her pvt/school counselor ( take what the pvt counselors say with a grain of salt since they just want you to get into a “good” place to make them look good - its business)
But when I asked her before she pulled the trigger on ED2 if there was any chance she still wanted to go to her deferrals or those other RD schools ( especially her ED1 deferral) she said yes (Even though the possible ED2 may have been her second choice).
ED1 or 2 are binding. If you get into Wash U ED2 great. If you get deferred to RD and get in but also get into lets say Harvard or another top school and Wash U will you still go to Wash U? If the answer is yes then ED2 if its not 100% yes then just because your chance of getting in ED2 is maybe a few % higher is it worth it to not see what could have been. With so many applications and already into some good schools you will likely have many choices if you are patient.
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D22 decided not to ED2 to a top school on her list. When I asked her if she would choose that school over every school on her list including her deferred ED1 she said she would be happy there. But that wasn’t the correct answer for an ED/ED2 commitment. A simple yes is the only right answer to make an ED/ED2 committment. She didn’t ED2. Hopefully it was the right decision.
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I didn’t apply for financial aid but I did apply and write essays for a scholarship(Danforth). Net price won’t be a deciding factor but it could possibly make a difference
Yeah, and I’m pretty sure WashU is known for protecting their yield and rejecting even fantastic applicants if they feel they will enrol elsewhere, so I don’t fancy my chances too much if I switch
@SamSB if you re looking at majoring in biomedical engineering, and you have been accepted to GTech, I do not see any reason to consider any other college, unless it make more financial sense. Since it is highly unlikely that WashU will be any cheaper than Gtech, I don’t even see that you should consider it.
Moreover, CWRU with $20,000 >> WashU with no financial aid. In many ways, overall CWRU > WasU in biomedical engineering. In fact, of the colleges which you are waiting for, only JHU is a better choice for biomedical engineering than the colleges to which you have already been accepted.
In short, change your ED2 to RD. It will most likely be rejected, but, on the off-off-off chance that you will be accepted with some money, switch, rather than withdraw altogether.
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As you yourself have said, withdrawing the ED2 from WU is probably prudent. For biomedical engineering, I’d pick GaTech over WU, and Purdue is a very strong school too. Besides, you have several even better schools you’re going to hear from. Potentially getting hitched to WU under these circumstances seems to be too big of a risk to take.
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If financial aid is not a factor, I would agree that GTech is the best option. I would suggest to withdraw from the ED2 agreement. Once you do this however, note that your chances in the RD round are close to nil.
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Why would you say CWRU is a better choice than washU? From my research (and counsellors’ opinions) WashU is a much better college for me
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Would the way I frame the email requesting a change make a difference with that?
Unless you base the email on a financial aid issue, I doubt it will matter. But you already said that finances are not an issue, and that you did not apply for financial aid.
So I would suggest just to keep it brief. Tell them that you are still very interested in WashU, but would like to move to the RD round for personal reasons.
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