<p>@ucbalumnus I know. I’m not committing to either…I’m going to mull it over some more, since there have been a lot of valid points in this thread, and then decide sometime between now and the tenth. There’s no real advantage to doing the ED, minus a slightly larger chance at getting accepted (by way of smaller applicant pool), so I’ll probably RD…I’m just…unsure.</p>
<p>Is there actually any admission advantage at CPSLO to applying ED? CPSLO does not consider “level of applicant’s interest” that applying ED signifies.</p>
<p>The logic is that smaller applicant pool = less competition (more elite, I know) = more likely to seem better/be accepted just by virtue of small pool…and it’s a parental pressure thing as well…</p>
<p>CPSLO appears to use a point system based on criteria described here:
[Freshman</a> Selection Criteria - Admissions - Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo](<a href=“Cal Poly Admissions”>Cal Poly Admissions)
<a href=“http://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1014&context=statsp[/url]”>http://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1014&context=statsp</a></p>
<p>It does not look like ED would affect the ultimate decision. I would not be surprised if they gave early admission only to those who are clearly above the range of RD thresholds that they are expecting to find in the overall applicant pool (others being deferred, or rejected if they are clearly below the range of RD thresholds that they are expecting).</p>
<p>I don’t understand your parental pressure either. If cost is a concern, they should want to see all options on the table in order to choose the cheaper one, rather than eliminating potentially competitive or cheaper options before seeing them.</p>
<p>I think you are misinformed about SLO as an obscured engineering school vs UCSB as well known. I didn’t even considered UCSB for engineering eventhough it gave me Regents scholarship due to comment from a friend of my family who graduated from UCSB years ago, he said he was not too impressed about his undergraduate educationand still unemployed after 12 years with an EE degree from UCSB.</p>
<p>I think that if you applied ED to cal poly, you will definitely get in. Although, your GPA and SAT are enough to get you into Davis and SB, probably with some kind of financial aid. You also have high enough statistics to get into Cal Poly RD, so there is no need to bind yourself with ED. If your essays are good enough, your GPA could possibly get you into Berkeley. Even without a scholarship, Berkeley graduates make enough money that the investment is worth it if you get accepted.</p>