That’s probably also a factor. IIRC Hamilton was one that I saw when D21 was applying, it was a consideration for ED2 if she didn’t get her ED. So those numbers would have been for the HS class of 2019 or 2020. I took a guess at athletes and other hooked applicants (athlete numbers are pretty easy to guess at a NESCAC school) and it looked like the percentages were similar.
I’m sure some of those were kids who overshot in ED1, and dropping down just a few schools on the selectivity scale wasn’t going to make a major difference.
Maybe have your daughter do another visit to villanova if possible? We went to villanova the last week of October bc it is one of my daughter’s top 3 schools. She loved the visit and the school so we asked if she wanted to make an Ed decision and she said she did not want to. She has stats that appear to be above the Villanova average and firmly feels that she does not wants to go to a school that only accepts her with going Ed. She feels like she will get in on her own accord if it is meant to be. To be fair, she also had just found out that she had gotten into another of her top 3 with merit (which is ranked better for her major) so she did not feel pressured but she is definitely a believer in fate and things working out like they should. I think Villanova would be a great fit and she would very well go if she is accepted ea but she just wasn’t enjoying the pressure of making an Ed decision after a visit. Good luck with your decision.
I don’t know what the answer is for your D23, but I can share what our S22 did and how it worked out. Going into his senior year, he did have a front-runner school. His stats were in range for this school, but because of its very low admit rate, it was still a reach. We knew that ED might help his chances, but he decided against ED for a number of reasons including the following:
His interests had changed before, and could possibly change again. A place can seem like a perfect fit in the fall, but not be a perfect fit by spring.
Cost. We are a full pay family (and no merit possible at the top school) and could have swung it, but sure could find other things to do with that money!
Didn’t like feeling that choices were limited. Whether schools pressuring students to ED is “fair” or “strong-arming” is a personal opinion, but in the end it does limit your choices.
Opportunities. Highly ranked schools may have more of certain resources, but at the same time a student may just be “a little fish in a big pond” and so may not benefit from those resources. This includes clubs and other ECs too.
Kind of cynical about the hype. On one hand, admission to a top-ranked program might be a “reward” for all his hard work. On the other hand, when you have to pay $86,000/yr COA for this “reward” is it actually a reward or more like Tom Sawyer tricking you into painting his fence?
So, in the end, he didn’t apply to anywhere ED. He ended up getting into his “reach” school anyway, but by that point it was no longer a clear favorite anyway. He ended up getting huge merit (well above the typical “discount”) at a school that hadn’t even been on our radar a year earlier --a solid school, with great opportunities, but is not exclusive (it admits plenty of B+ type students.) He also got into a number of other schools that would have been decent fits, and which offered various amounts of merit. Also got wait listed at a school I haven’t yet mentioned, that he might have gotten into ED, but by the spring he had better options, and didn’t stay on the waitlist. He ended up at the big merit school, is having a terrific time, has tons of opportunities to do all his ECs. All’s well that ends well in our case.
Thank you, that is great perspective. I know what you mean, part of me feels like ED is buying her way in because we can afford to pay the full price, so I feel a little icky about that. I think If my DD’s stats were above the average I would feel more secure about remaining EA. Just curious knowing that Nova gives virtually no merit, if your daughter got in why would she choose it over her other top 3 option over the one that gave her merit and is ranked higher?
Love that story, your point # 4 is something I hadn’t even considered, while Nova is a smaller school she will be competing for leadership on clubs etc with a very selective crowd which may limit her opportunities. I am glad that it worked out so well for your son. From a parental perspecitve, paying the $80K year is definitely not a reward! Another great point. The reward would be for her to go to her safety which has already offered her the maximum merit.
Good question. She is coming from a Catholic school and would ideally love to continue at a Catholic college. Some of the Catholic and service clubs she is currently involved in are offered at Villanova. So she thinks it would be a nice continuation and an environment that she would feel a part of. If this wasn’t so important to her, I would definitely be leaning towards pushing her to the other school. But I can see why she is conflicted.
Ah makes sense. We are catholic too, she did catholic grade school, public high school, so having her want to go back to her catholic roots for college is one thing that makes me favor Nova, its just so costly. Of course, she didn’t like other catholic schools like SLU as much, where she also applied. I am sure they will give her merit.
I wanted to update everyone who was so helpful as we pondered whether to apply EA to Villanova or switch to ED2. We decided to remain EA to see if DD got in and keep her options open. She was deferred, at least not rejected, so nothing lost we still have until 1/31 to switch to ED2. We are revisiting this week to confirm it is her #1 choice and if so switching. She did get into U of Richmond which had 15000 applicants this year in EA alone and was very selective so that took away some of the sting, and of course still has Butler as well. Thanks again you all helped more than you know. Best of luck to all of your DD and DS. It is a very tough year as you know.
