<p>Could you be experiencing panic? It is normal to have some self-doubt and paranoia during this tense waiting period. But, you should take some deep breaths and ask yourself: do I want to know if I would have gotten accepted by Vandy and WUSTL? Will I always wonder if I sold myself short?</p>
<p>Now is the time to take the risks, reach for your dream school, and not jump ship too early. Best of luck!</p>
<p>I agree that it would be far better to go for your reach schools instead of settling for a match when you might always wonder “what if?” If it’s a match school, you don’t need ED anyway because you’re likely to get in.</p>
<p>Vandy and WUSTL were not ideal reaches for me though… I applied to them because they didn’t require 2 SAT II and had an undemanding supplement… I have even visited them… If I had had more time I would have applied to different reaches</p>
<p>I don’t see the point of applying ED to a match school. If it’s a match, you’re likely to get an acceptance without ED. All that you’d be doing is hearing about an acceptance early while prohibiting yourself from having other options.</p>
<p>And are you sure that you can afford to go to Lafayette? If finances are any concern (and they are a concern for most people), it would be unwise to lock yourself into going to an ED school because that may keep you from being able to consider better financial offers.</p>
<p>We all have doubts. You’ve got very good numbers. If your other materials (essays, ECs, etc.) are as strong, I would wait to hear from your reaches. Why go through life thinking, “What if I had waited?” Also, if will help that you don’t need financial aid. That’s never been more true than in today’s economic environment.</p>
<p>Ride it out my friend. Just looked up Lafeyette on college board and you should most likely be admitted. While Vandy and Wash U are reaches, there’s still a possibility that you get admitted, and it’s better to have more options, just in case your heart changes.</p>
<p>if i were you, i would definitely wait and see if i can get in those reaches. if you panic, spend your time doing research on those school and decide if they would be a fit for you.</p>
<p>nevertheless, tis’ your life. the choice is in your hands.</p>
<p>My friend’s son just went through it. He applied to Penn, Cornell, Georgetown and JHU. His stats were on borderline acceptance level for those schools. One of the coaches offered to give him a push if he would commit. The school wasn’t his #1 choice, so he went through a lot of “what if…” At the end they took up on the coach’s offer and he was accepted. He is relieved and happy with his decision (so far).</p>
<p>It doesn’t sound like those 2 reaches are your dream schools. You only applied there because of their rankings. The question to ask is if you would be happy to go to Lafayette and if it was one of your top choices (doesn’t matter it’s your match school). If the answer is yes, then I would go for it.</p>
<p>I also don’t believe you are competitive for those 2 schools.</p>
<p>agree with oldfort: and would like to add something additionally; what is your safety alternative? if you are happy with that, you can “ride it out”…</p>
<p>Otherwise, I do not think that your RD’s are reasonable unless you come from a school that they both take ALOT of kids from with your stats…and if you are from NJ (as your screen name suggests), and from a public school, you have to know that Wash U waitlists an enormous # in RD…and Vandy probably took alot of NJ kids ED…</p>
<p>Lafayette instituting rolling ED (like Muhlenberg) may have changed the % of their class that they take ED…you may want to find that out before you assume that it is a “match” RD…not so sure about that…if they take 50% of the class ED as a target, RD is going to become extremely competitive…</p>
<p>Are you in the top 10% of your class? Your GPA is low for your reach schools and unless you have something in your application that makes you stand out, you are unlikely to get into either Vandy or WUSTL.</p>
<p>However, I noticed from previous posts that you had applied to a number of other schools, including Lehigh, Case Western, Bucknell, Union and Syracuse, schools which you do have a decent chance of getting into. Do you prefer Lafayette above all of those schools? If Lafayette is your top choice from your other schools, then you should consider the ED option. I think that you and your parents should sit down and look in depth at the admissions statistics for your reach schools and discuss the positives and negatives of Lafayette before making a final decision.</p>
<p>and for those of you who think he/she jumped ship, you have no idea how different admissions are from an over-represented state like NJ…the OP really didn’t have a safety that they loved…</p>
<p>Good luck. The fact you felt good about it tells you something. I would have advised my kid to do the same. I don’t think you are leaving too much on the table.</p>
<p>My nephew was a legacy at Dartmouth, Stanford was his first choice, but he didn’t have that special something for Stanford. He applied to Stanford SCEA, was out right rejected. He then applied to Dartmouth RD and was also rejected. He was accepted to a T15 at the end, which clearly showed he had very good stats. My advice to him was to apply Dartmouth ED because as a legacy it was use it or lose it. His chance of getting into Dartmouth ED as a legacy was a lot greater than RD. But he had this, “what if…”</p>
<p>My daughter was waitlisted at 2 schools where her GC thought were her matches or low reaches. I am not a believer of taking uncalculated risk when it comes to college admission.</p>
<p>@rodney “Good Luck!! let us know how it turns out!!”</p>
<p>Ok… I switch my decisions to ED at Lafayette about a month ago and got in a week later… :)</p>
<p>I didn’t withdraw my application from the other schools I applied to until a few days ago… so I was notified today that a decision had been posted online about my WashU application… I WAS WAITLISTED! After being convinced that I would simply be flat out rejected, it is defiantly a confidence booster. I’m sure I would have never gotten off the waitlist with my stats but it great to know that they would have at least given me a chance.</p>