<p>I’ve heard of U. Michigan as a good EA school. I second Pitt.</p>
<p>You can see a full list of which common app schools have EA here, by looking for entries in the EA column:
<a href=“https://www.commonapp.org/CommonApp/docs/downloadforms/common2009_Grid.pdf[/url]”>https://www.commonapp.org/CommonApp/docs/downloadforms/common2009_Grid.pdf</a></p>
<p>Some EA schools that jump out at me from this list:
Colorado College. Dickinson. Goucher. Notre Dame. Northeastern. WPI.</p>
<p>BC and Georgetown are also EA.</p>
<p>UMD-CP has Priority Decision – apps are due 11/1, but we didn’t get decisions this year til Jan. 28th or so. No news on merit $$ til mid-March.</p>
<p>Forgot to list Pitt as another school S2 considered. For UMich, the key is to get the app in EARLY.</p>
<p>Stats Eval did not have school website/profile info. I gave them some context for each S’s school and college results, but that is not something the Stats Eval folks have on hand. If you have access to Naviance, though, you can get a pretty good idea. Armed with Naviance, StatsEval, CC, and two kids who were willing to actively participate in this process, we felt we could do the legwork ourselves.</p>
<p>SlitheyTove, I called the schools my kids wanted most the “target” schools. Not because they were a match based on stats (for both of them, the targets were reachy, but not impossible), but because the schools “spoke” to the kids in specific ways, each S could identify a niche he could fill there, and each S was able to write with enthusiasm and passion. For S1, this was Chicago, Harvey Mudd and MIT; for S2, it was Tufts and Chicago. Both my kids had the high scores/great APs coupled with lower GPAs at selective admit specialized public programs. S1 had a lot of serious hardware/awards that helped, too.</p>
<p>Nice to have some other possible EA thermometer schools for others to consider. Two others would be Bard and Caltech.</p>
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<p>That’s D1. Georgetown seems to care more about grades than does U of C, which makes it a thermometer for kids closer to the 3.6 than 3.3. Plus, they were deferring the EA kids into RD like mad this year. No Naviance at D1’s school, but the counselor(s) do know which colleges love the school, or at least understand GPAs in context. That’s why I’m hesitating over StatsMatch; I’m not convinced they’ll offer more insight than what D1 is getting through her school. </p>
<p>I very much like the idea of redefining and using the “target” terminology in terms of fit. </p>
<p>I seem to recall reading that UMich was going to eliminate EA next year in addition to going to the Common App. I’d be happy to be wrong about this. :)</p>
<p>MIT is also EA, but like Caltech it would be the really unusual 3.6 kid who would have any chance at all. My older son had some sort of priority application at RPI that let him know by Thanksgiving that he was in. U of Vermont has EA, but I’d say it’s a match if not a safety (depending on scores) for most kids in this range. </p>
<p>Ah - here’s something much more useful a link to colleges where EA helps: [url=<a href=“http://www.usnews.com/education/articles/2009/09/30/colleges-where-applying-early-action-helps.html]Colleges”>http://www.usnews.com/education/articles/2009/09/30/colleges-where-applying-early-action-helps.html]Colleges</a> Where Applying Early Action Helps - US News and World Report<a href=“Though%20I%20don’t%20know%20why%20Chicago%20isn’t%20on%20this%20list.”>/url</a> Also some colleges claim that their EA pool tends to be stronger than their regular pool which would not surprise me.</p>
<p>Just to clarify – my kid who applied to MIT EA had a GPA above the parameters of this thread, but still relatively low for MIT (3.76 UW, 4.56 W).</p>
<p>SlitheyTove, Georgetown does not reject in the EA round – they accept or defer only. S2 was deferred EA, but we suspected his odds weren’t good. (Geography was not in our favor. Georgetown is seven minutes from my office.)</p>
<p>We know someone whose GPA and scores were in this range who is absolutely LOVING Colorado College. Just be aware of how they schedule courses. It’s not for everyone.</p>
<p>just FYI, though Univ of Vermont has nice EA, they dont give FA info until 4/1 which is a long wait for those needing aid to make a decision.</p>
<p>Colorado College gives FA estimate at the same time as EA decision - VERY NICE info to have</p>
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<p><understanding dawns=“”> 
Thanks. More food for thought for D1.</understanding></p>
<p>Based on what Georgetown said in their letter this year, they accept at a rate equal to their overall acceptance rate – so ~19% got in EA, the rest deferred. There is a little variation within the different schools, with SFS being the toughest admit.</p>
<p>Georgetown was one of those schools on Naviance where S2 was on the far right end of the chart for SAT scores, but in a totally blank space by GPA. No rejections, no acceptances – just nothing. Noone with stats like his applied. S figured if nothing else, he’d be a useful data point for next year’s seniors. ;)</p>
<p>Nothing like taking one for the team :)</p>
<p>We don’t have Naviance here - small rural town. We’ve been honest with ourselves that for a lot of these schools it’s a plus that we’re from a town (and state) that’s usually underrepresented! I think it did help D1, and we’ll see what happens with D2.
I’m finding with this GPA and her equivalent ACT score, everything’s a “kind of reach” or “pretty much a safety”. Hard to find spot on matches - even ones where the “average” GPA is around a 3.4-5 you wonder how many higher-stat kids are going to apply and go because they get money, or they just like it there, or want to be a big fish. They’re entitled, of course. So I don’t feel like our matches mean much. She will apply EA or rolling to as many of them as possible … really to all schools as early as possible (only one school is an option for ED - her top choice theater BFA, which is probably not a good idea to rush applying and auditioning for - need to look at that more closely).</p>
<p>We’ll just see what happens. Her confidence goes up and down, hourly sometimes. But that’s just being a teenager (or a human being?). Getting school done with will be a very good thing.</p>
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<p>Great advice from Countingdown for anyone requiring financial aid. We did just that. My son had a long list of schools and one would be surprised at how many were taken off the table because they were not affordable. Fortunately my son still had a number of schools to choose from.</p>
<p>^^^Even with keeping an eye to the schools’ FA policies and merit $$ when applying, the person I was helping still did not have many financially feasible options once the FA packages arrived. This person got merit $$ at every school that offered it, too. By December, as the student became more savvy about FA packaging and the parents’ ability to pay, several other schools came off the list because there wasn’t much chance the FA would work.</p>
<p>The worst package <em>gapped</em> by an amount equal to the parents’ EFC. </p>
<p>This student applied to 11, accepted at seven, got feasible FA at three.</p>
<p>^^^Even with keeping an eye to the schools’ FA policies and merit $$ when applying, the person I was helping still did not have many financially feasible options once the FA packages arrived. This person got merit $$ at every school that offered it, too. By December, as the student became more savvy about FA packaging and the parents’ ability to pay, several other schools came off the list because there wasn’t much chance the FA would work.</p>
<p>The worst package <em>gapped</em> by an amount equal to the parents’ EFC. </p>
<p>This student applied to 11, was accepted at seven, got feasible FA at three. That’s my point about applying to enough schools – until you have the FA award in hand, you just don’t know how the $$ will shake out.</p>
<p>SlitheyTove – S2 figures his lonely little green triangle will offer hope to some, and the red triangles some reality (or at least a bigger data set for the LACs) than the high school currently has in Naviance!</p>
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At our school there is a small green cluster of students with both better scores and better grades than my son, and another green cluster with similar grades but scores a good 100 points lower. My son’s score just added to the many red x’s in the middle. My suspicion is that the set of lower scorers all play basketball.</p>
<p>My S was also in that white area to the right at some schools. </p>
<p>At the schools where he was in the area where waitlists/acceptances were running 50/50, or worse, I figured he really didn’t have much chance, since yes, there were kids with lower stats accepted, but they were probably ‘hooked’ . S would have to skew to the higher end of the range due to his lack of hooks and the competitive major he was applying for.</p>
<p>Our school does not use Naviance and when I asked the counsellor said she’d never heard of it. My D is in the IB Diploma program and therefore has no AP classes. Her weighted GPA 4.25, which I think means her unweighted GPA is 3.6 (maybe?). Is there a way to use Naviance outwith school?</p>
<p>Hello everyone. This thread has not been too active recently, but it seemed like the right one to ask for opinions. DS recently switched his senior year English course from a set of college prep writing classes to AP English Literature. DS is not an English kid. He strongly prefers math and science. All the college majors that he is considering are tech oriented. I asked him about the switch and he said that he thought that the class would be easy. Im wondering if that is true. With an AP designation, I wouldnt think so. School is out so I cant ask his teacher.</p>
<p>DS will have three other AP classes in math and science along with a time intensive EC and college applications. He struggled a bit in AP English Language this year, but was able to pull it together at the end. I am trying to figure how much effort to put into seeing if there was another reason for the switch or if he is willing consider another class. DSs school has about 15 English electives to choose from senior year. I could just leave it alone. But Junior year was very intense. I would hate to see that level of intensity combined with trying to get college applications and scholarship applications done.</p>
<p>Is it the same teacher as AP Lang? Presumably they are at the same level of difficulty. Our HS only has AP Lit, and it has a lot of writing, as well as the obvious reading assignments.</p>
<p>Why did he switch? I don’t think colleges would insist that every class be AP, especially if he’s definitely a math/science person. If he’s heading for the most selective colleges, I can imagine that he might have been told to go for the “most rigor possible.” Or maybe he wants to take more AP tests so he can get a particular distinction? Who is giving him advice?</p>
<p>Thanks for posting on this thread. It’s where my D’s overall GPA lies, too.</p>
<p>Our AP Lit class is taught by a teacher who assigns a ton of work, but it doesn’t have to be that way. If you are concerned I’d ask students who have taken the course in the past how it compares with other courses at the school.</p>
<p>Both my kids got into great colleges without taking AP English. It was a little risky, but they both really enjoyed their senior English electives.</p>
<p>Thanks for the feedback. I will definately pursue this and try to talk to some parents and recent seniors. The teacher will probably not be the same, but we won’t know until late summer. FWIW she did have to approve the switch. The level of difficulty will probably vary by teacher - this is what we have seen before. I think that assuming that the course is at the same level as the junior AP class (which was good, but difficult) is a good start. I will also see if I can find out if someone suggested the switch. It would not have been his GC, but there are a few adults and some of his friends that are aiming at the most selective colleges that could have talked about going for the “most rigor possible”.</p>
<p>I like the idea of him enjoying his senior year English electives and think that there are choices that he can make that will not impact his chances with the colleges/majors that he is looking at. We will be doing some visits over the summer and we may try to get an informal read on that as well.</p>