<p>Hi, as early decisions I are coming out, I received a rejection letter from Williams.
So far, the second college I want to apply the most is Carleton College, for ED 2.
However, since both of them are highly selective colleges, I really don't see myself getting in Carleton even though it has a higher acceptance rate than Williams. Should I choose another school I like but not as selective for ED II?
My question is that does the acceptance rate matters at all?
Here is a simple view of my statistics</p>
<p>SAT II- US history 790 Math II- 790
SAT I- Reading - 720 Math- 740 Writing- 710
Toefl- 113 (English Second language)</p>
<p>GPA 6.07 out of 7, weighted. About 3.7 out of 4.0
Goes to rigorous boarding school (does it even matter?)
School does not rank
AP US exam- 5
AP Mandarin- 5</p>
<p>Took two aps in junior year, 4 aps currently in Senior year
Senior year:
AP English
AP Bio
AP Calc ab
AP Government
Spanish III H. ( I have consistently received B- throughout my high school career for spanish, does it hurt a lot?)
Senior Thesis
Drama Tech
I received all As or A- for all of them except spanish</p>
<p>EXC Activities
YMCA Camp counselor for 4 years
Three varisty lettered athlete
National spanish examination honors
Honor grade for junior and senior year
Science club- vice pres.
Mandarin CLub- Officer</p>
<p>Simply put, is Carleton about the same with williams in terms of selectivity? If i get rejected from Williams is it more than likely that I will be rejected from Carleton? Of course, Carleton may like something that Williams does not see, but I doubt it. Give an honest answer.
Thank you, and I will return the favor.</p>
<p>This worries me a little. There can definitely be an element of strategy to ED applications since acceptance rates are usually higher than they are for RD. Make sure you don’t focus on this strategy so much that it outweighs the obvious condition of an ED app: when you apply to a school ED, you promise to attend it.</p>
<p>Now that you’ve received your Williams decision, is Carleton hands-down your first choice? If so, you should apply ED II. Is another school (that offers ED II) your first choice? If so, apply there. But if you can’t say that for certain about any of the schools on your list, I’d advise applying to all of them in the RD round. It’s slightly more competitive, but there’s no danger of regretting a decision to apply ED somewhere because of the acceptance rate boost and not because you loved the school.</p>
<p>Also: I’m sorry to hear about Williams. CC can be an unfriendly place for students who didn’t receive the decisions they wanted, since users are much more likely to post about a positive decision than a negative one. Don’t feel guilty if you need to take a few days to regroup before diving back into the application process. It will work out! Several of my friends in high school didn’t end up at their first choice college for one reason or another, but they have all had an awesome four years at the school they chose.</p>
<p>Williams is somewhat more selective, so I wouldn’t despair. If Carleton indeed is your first choice at this point, I’d say go for it. Good luck!</p>
<p>You’re a solid candidate with a good chance of acceptance ED 2. RD admissions are always much, much more unpredictable, a veritable crap shoot. Carleton, like most top LACs, takes very seriously the molding of a diverse freshman class that really wants to be there. With ED there’s never the problem of having to prove how seriously committed you are, it’s an obvious given. </p>
<p>While the entering class academic profiles for Carleton and Williams are similar (e.g. by SAT and ACT scores), Williams is a measurably more difficult application with historically much lower acceptance rates. The Northeastern LACs have traditionally drawn a much larger group of applicants than LACs in the state flagship dominated Midwest (true of most of the rest of the country for that matter). And Williams has significantly more carve outs for “hooked” candidates, especially athletes in a school that takes its NESCAC competitions pretty seriously. </p>
<p>Thanks for the responses! My original top three choices are Williams, Carleton, and Claremont McKenna. I realized both three are very competitive, although multiple counselors at my school told me that with my statistics and well diverse EC, I am more likely to get into CMC. I visited all of them and cannot decide between anyone of them. I really want to apply to ED II with the most chances of either getting into CMC or Carleton. I would be extremely happy with either one of them. I heard the Carleton is harder to get into despite it’s “high ed accept. rates” and because it places a heavier emphasis on academic grades than CMC. I am also an asian, if that plays a role in admissions. I am afraid that if I applied the more selective one I would ended up being rejected from both colleges by April. What are your thoughts?</p>
<p>I think that’s a decent way to go about your college search. As long as you know you’d be happy attending Carleton, I don’t see anything wrong with applying EDII.</p>
<p>For what it’s worth, I think you definitely look like a competitive candidate. Admissions at top schools are notoriously unpredictable, and I don’t think you should take a rejection from Williams as a sign that you will also be rejected from Carleton. Carleton is slightly less-selective on account of receiving fewer apps each year. Geographics may also play a role - if you’re from the East Coast, you’ll be more unique as a potential Carleton student than a potential Williams student, purely on a numbers basis, because Carleton gets fewer apps from that region.</p>
<p>If you’re truly set on being able to attend Carleton, then I would apply EDII. I think that you have a good shot at getting in, and while I can’t speak to the Spanish grade, as I’m not an admissions officer, I do think that your other grades, scores, and ECs would be competitive. Still, because you find out later, whether you pick CMC or Carleton, you should still apply RD to the other to be on the safe side.</p>
<p>And for the record - I was waitlisted at both Williams and Amherst but accepted at Carleton as a William H. Carleton Scholar and accepted at several other Ivies/schools of the same selectivity. It’s really hard to predict the outcome of admissions, so I wouldn’t base all of your thoughts around one rejection. :)</p>
<p>I think that admissions at Carleton might not seem as selective on paper, but it is a heavily self selective school from what I’ve gathered. I’d honestly just choose one to apply to early decision though (Claremont Mckenna or Carleton). I mean, if you applied regular decision to both there’d be three possible outcomes: you’d get denied from both, in which case you’d kick yourself for not applying to one ED, you’d get denied from one, which would be about as much chance as choosing one out of a hat for ED and having two less months to stress, or you’ll get into both, and you’ll eventually have to make a decision anyways, and you wouldn’t have to waste more money visiting again.</p>
<p>Obviously you lose nothing at all by applying to Carleton for ED2. You wisely avoided the trap of applying to CMC just because it’s seen as an easier admission for you. CMC is quite different from the other two colleges, with its very specialized curriculum.
Sent from my ADR6410LVW usingC</p>
<p>Guylord, I concur completely with other posters. If Carleton is your second choice, don’t doubt yourself and go for it! My own son just started there this fall and couldn’t be happier. I don’t think he’s ever had to work harder or had more fun doing it in his life. He didn’t think he had a chance at Carleton, but, thankfully, he didn’t doubt himself - and neither should you! Remember, however, ED II is a commitment. If you get in, it means you’re going. Don’t apply ED II unless it’s your serious #1 at this point. Good luck! Whatever school gets you will be lucky!</p>