Swarthmore ED Applicants For Class of 2018!

<p>Houston95: Amazing! still hope… so where are you from?</p>

<p>kotbala,
Yes, his grades from this semester will absolutely be considered. Have him send a letter to his regional representative re-stating that Swarthmore remains his absolute first choice school. He now goes into the pool with the rest of the RD applicants and will be considered equally with them. As you know, the odds of getting into Swarthmore generally aren’t too high, so just make sure that he has a number of very good alternatives to apply to.</p>

<p>Thank u for the information. Do the odds of getting decrease in regular decision. Andd does seeking financial aid play a role in their decision for Ed. I know they say its need blind but I am not too sure if they would rather admit a student with lower grades but pays full or take a student whose grades maybe slightly better but seeks lot of aid.</p>

<p>Yes, I would say that the odds of getting in RD do decrease, not just for Swarthmore, but for every college with an ED round. </p>

<p>No, I honestly do not think that applying for FA enters into an admissions decision. Swarthmore continues to be one of the relatively small number of truly need blind schools where admissions decisions are made independent of the information in the financial aid office. I’m not up-to-date on whether this applies to international applicants.</p>

<p>Besides sending a letter of continuing interest and the mid-year grades, your son should obviously update Swat if he receives any awards, honors, leadership positions, etc.</p>

<p>Hey guys thanks for all the help! Letter finally came today and I was accepted! Well worth the wait!</p>

<p>btermite,
Congrats! That’s great!</p>

<p>Hi everyone! I will be applying to Swarthmore College RD.</p>

<p>Momof3sons
Thank you for wonderful advice you give. Appreciate your efforts and selfless service to the students</p>

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<p>@kotbala: At Swarthmore and elsewhere, the percentage of students accepted in the ED round exceeds the corresponding percentage in the RD round. For example, you might hear that 30% of applicants are accepted in ED at college X, but only 12% in RD. Many people conclude that it is harder to be accepted in the RD round. What people do not tell you is that the pools of applicants are very different. Perhaps the biggest difference is that the ED pool has most of the recruited athletes. They have already given their GPAs and test scores to the coaches. For applicants who get through this first screen, the acceptance rate is very high. So, the acceptance rates for non-athletes who apply ED could be way below 30%. At Swarthmore around 20% of the entering class comprises varsity athletes and they have a big impact on the ED acceptance rate. </p>

<p>Your question raises yet another issue, and it cannot be answered using ED and RD acceptance rates. You are asking for the chances in RD for an applicant who was deferred in ED. In principle, the answer could be anything. At one school, a deferral may be a consolation prize that confers virtually no chance of ultimate acceptance. At another school, it may mean that the applicant has an excellent chance of acceptance in the RD round, but the admissions office just wants to see the RD applicants to be sure. Only Swarthmore admissions can give you an informed estimate of your child’s chances. (And past performance is no guarantee of future results.) Take everything you read on CC with a grain of salt.</p>

<p>Coase
Thank u for the insight. I had no clue that liberal arts div 3 schools would take so many athletes in ED. Swarthmore continues to be my sons first choice. Hopefully RD will show a better result.</p>

<p>kotbala,
Allow me to respond with actual facts. In the class which entered in the fall of 2012:
575 students applied ED and 180 were admitted for a total acceptance rate of 31.3%
6014 students applied RD and 755 were admitted for a total acceptance rate of 12.6%
Thus, the overall acceptance rate was 14.2%</p>

<p>These are the most recent numbers available. Again, best wishes to your son and have him follow up with his regional rep.</p>

<p>@kotbala: Here are some data on athletic recruits. The numbers are a few years old, but they give a sense of the magnitudes involved. </p>

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<p>[Bock:</a> Early Decision admissions ?works in the context of Swarthmore? | Daily Gazette](<a href=“daily.swarthmore.edu domain has changed”>daily.swarthmore.edu domain has changed)</p>

<p>As I mentioned above, there is a first screening that occurs when the athlete provides the coach with information on GPA and test scores. This step removes many from contention. So, the 40% acceptance rate does not necessarily mean that athletes get a large advantage. (I happen to think that there is an advantage, but the question is how large it is.) </p>

<p>Many coaches strongly encourage recruits to apply ED, so athletes comprise a much larger share of the ED pool than the RD pool. That means they have a greater (positive) impact on the ED acceptance rate than on the RD acceptance rate. </p>

<p>As for the question of whether a student is hurt by being in the RD pool, we have one answer from the Swarthmore admissions blog:</p>

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<p>[To</a> Apply ED, or Not to Apply ED? | Parrish Beach Patrol](<a href=“http://parrishbeachpatrol.■■■■■■■■■■■■■/2012/10/22/to-apply-ed-or-not-to-apply-ed/]To”>To Apply ED, or Not to Apply ED? | Parrish Beach Patrol)</p>

<p>Of course, this does not speak directly to those who were deferred, but here is a thread that provides both advice and hope:</p>

<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/swarthmore/1047572-deferred-ed-swarthmore.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/swarthmore/1047572-deferred-ed-swarthmore.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Anyone (international) out there still didn’t receive anything mail or email?
Now I’m sure that I’m rejected, but I mean, I still want to get a letter…</p>

<p>I’m sure that being an athlete, and committing to the ED process improves the chances of an applicant…but when you look at the results of the teams, it’s obvious that SWAT isn’t overriding the process to build sports programs. If you’re a top athlete with good grades and scores, I’d suggest you stand a much better chance of overriding an Ivy admissions process than the one at a top D3 liberal arts school. To build a great program, you need multiple kids with the same athletic abilities (ie Princeton’s NCAA championship in Field Hockey). You’ll never get that within 1,600 kids at such a competitive school.</p>

<p>Missfloratang,
You should contact the Swarthmore Admissions office before they close for the Christmas holiday.</p>

<p>Although a deferral is disappointing it kind of validates that my son has a legitimate chance to get admission at a very good school. All the above stats r very interesting. Let’s see how the process plays out. Every enjoy the time off</p>

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<p>Ouch.</p>

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We agree.</p>