<p>Yes, it adds a real boost. The estimate us that it’s worth the equivalent of about 100 SAT points-- some say more. There aren’t lot merit awards out there for regular smart kids, by way. You are committing-- so doesn’t work unless you have first choice, and if need to compare FA offers. But otherwise, advantage. Berkeley USA different issue-- great school, good tuition-- but be able handle huge school classes…</p>
<p>The only way you can back out of an ED is if the school doesn’t give enough aid for you to feasibly attend. However, they may well offer you an aid package that is enough but still not ideal, in which case you wouldn’t be able to compare it to any other schools without having a binding decision already made.</p>
<p>RuralMama, read the different policies carefully. Some SCEA (single choice early action) schools allow students to apply to only one private college in the early round. They may, however, apply early to public schools which have rolling admissions.</p>
<p>I think ED only makes sense if your child has one favorite, which you know you can afford. If he ends up with 3 or 4 LACs he likes, and he also likes Berkeley, I wouldn’t lean to limiting his choices drastically. </p>
<p>It depends on the college? Sometimes colleges count loans as part of a “FA package.” (I gather from the FA forum on CC.) So one person’s definition of “affordable” isn’t another person’s definition. In-state tuition at a UC school may be a much better deal. </p>
<p>We are struggling with this as well. If ED really gives a bump it could turn a reach into a low reach or a match into a likely. Problem is there are several colleges all tied for favorite right now. (And none are lottery schools). It’s hard to pick just one, especially when kids are told to not fall in love with just the “dream school.”</p>
<p>In the spring and early summer, many schools seem equally appealing. By late October/early November, one school often stands out. If that doesn’t happen, absolutely don’t apply ED. If it does, however, and you can afford it, it WILL give you an advantage in admissions. </p>
<p>The advantage of EA, SCEA or ED depends on the school. We found a cool statistic on Naviance “SCHOOL STATS” just to left of “GRAPH” once you go to the college page. It shows how many kids from your school applied early, how many regular, and the difference in admission rates, SAT averages, GPA. You can sort of extrapolate from there to see if it is mainly athletic recruits or high GPA/test score applicants. For some schools, there was a definite disadvantage to applying early, it was harder to be admitted. </p>
<p>Also, most schools with SCEA/ED do not prohibit you from applying to public unis (because they have rolling admission and are considred differently), so combining LACs with UC or U of M should be OK. </p>
<p>Thanks all for your input!</p>
<p>@2prepMom - Wish it weren’t so, but the schools DS are interested in do not have the SCEA/ED option - just a straight ED, so we would have to withdraw apps from all other schools, including the public institutions.</p>
<p>@Daykidmom - Right now there really is not a clear favorite, and I really like your advice that if one does not emerge, we shouldn’t go ED. </p>
<p>Funny how the college campuses invariably get measured against the boarding school campuses. S1 was shocked by the level of security at the urban schools and their sardine-can sized double dorm rooms that are smaller than his boarding school’s singles.</p>
<p>Daughter did take 3 SAT IIs earlier this month. FYI, both the SAT II and ACT (less writing score) scores from the most recent sittings are available…but if you have a rising senior, you probably already knew that.</p>
<p>We have a crazy college tour sched shaping up for later this summer…a few “two a days” where convenient. But at the end of it all, I think we’ll get to every school 7D1 has on her not-so-short list. Will probably do revisits to the top schools when the time comes…</p>
<p>Glad to see that others are still visiting schools. I know many families who are already finished and putting together ideas for essays. We still have at least 5 to go and might actually add one or two more. I love the road trips with my D and get jealous when my schedule dictates that only H takes her to a school!</p>
<p>I think at least part of our “still have many schools to visit” situation stems from a shift in focus (after the initial round of visits over Spring Break) to larger schools for 7D1</p>
<p>D also only wants larger schools. Think the smallest on her list is Carnegie Mellon at about 6200 undergrads. </p>
<p>While that’s about as large as D2 is looking! Takes all kinds, doesn’t it?</p>
<p>I’ve been mulling over that ‘First Choice’ designation in Naviance: Do you think it matters to the CC in that they will try extra hard with whatever ‘Ins’ they may possibly have with that college to get your kid in? Or maybe it is just to gauge the kid’s grasp of reality? Maybe to help focus their efforts there? It is just an interesting tidbit that I wonder about…</p>
<p>So far we’ve visited 8 schools, 2 of them as informal walk throughs. She toured and interviewed at a well regarded LAC and though she loved it, she probably won’t apply. It’s just so much like prep school. The field that she wants to go into requires a certain amount of savvy that would be better gained in an urban environment. Tis a shame. She said she’d be happy and successful there, but the LACs just don’t seem practical.</p>
<p>Hmmm, I am not seeing a “First Choice” designation in our Naviance. Where are you seeing that RuralMama? Think you are right about it’s purpose. And the CC gan gauge just how hard her job will be this year. I mean if EVERYONE has Stanford as their first choice…………</p>
<p>I think each school buys/uses different tools within the Naviance platform. For example, SAS does not seem to have the “Graph” (scattergrams) view activated that some folks have mentioned (it’s greyed out in my dashboard)…at least not yet (perhaps so as not to freak out kids/parents?). And I remember seeing a tool last year that allowed you to view how kids from SAS had fared in terms of admission to various colleges. I’m hoping they reactivate that later in the year.</p>
<p>Maybe they’re updating the files to include 2014 graduates? Of course, in a small school, the kids can often identify the outliers. No surprise, the outliers on the low end often have significant hooks.</p>
<p>The “School Stats” feature is useful. </p>
<p>@HarvestMoon1 - For us, if you go to the ‘Colleges I’m Thinking About’ page, the 4th column in is ‘My Interest’. Then for each college on the list, one can choose ‘N/A, Low, Medium, High, or First Choice’ from the dropdown selector. </p>
<p>That is interesting, how each school chooses to configure Naviance differently.</p>
<p>Our view of Naviance does not indicate “First Choice,” but it does have the scattergrams and application history going back to 2008. I also like the “Compare Me” feature which lists, in a nice table, all the schools your kid is considering with average GPA/SAT/ACT scores highlighted in either red or green to reflect if your student is at/above (green) or below (red) those scores. It took me a while to realize that the averages listed reflected Choate applications, not the schools’, so you get a really good idea of how your student’s application might play against his/her classmates.</p>