to ED or not to ED? hooray for overused literary references

Colleges and Universities A-Z Smith College
1

<p>Hi everyone! So, I'm a rising senior, and I'm trying to figure out whether to do ED to Smith next year or not. I visited in February and fell in loooove with the school. The atmosphere seems great, the areas I'm interested in are strong, and I love the idea of a women's college. I also have a strong family history here (Grandma graduated in '56, Northrop house; Great-Grandma went here until she dropped out to get married; Great-great-aunt went here, was in Sessions house), which is kinda neat. </p>

<p>However, I'm wondering if it's the right thing to commit myself to ED. My stats are a bit above the Smith average, which means that everyone in my freaking family (in addition to some of my friends) is telling me I'd be selling myself short by applying to Smith ED and nowhere else because I have a great shot at getting in RD anyway, which would give me more options.(even grandma, who went to Smith, is saying this!)
SO. I'll post some stats, and I'd love to hear opinions on my dilemma. </p>

<p>State: CT
School Type: fairly competitive public
Ethnicity: White
Gender: Female
Hooks: legacy? I know grandma donates a bit</p>

<p>SAT I - best in one sitting: 2330 (760 M 770 CR 800 WR), superscore 2360 (only difference is 800 CR)
SAT IIs - 740 Lit, 800 USH, taking French w/listening in the fall
APs - took Lit, Bio, French, and APUSH. expecting... 4s and 5s, i hope? absolute worst case scenario is three 4s and one 3
GPA -uh not sure about this one, our grades aren't finalized yet. it's somewhere in between a 3.85 and 3.9
Class Rank: umm I think top 5-7%?
Senior courseload - AP psych, AP lang, AP art history, honors choir, honors french, AP calc, APES</p>

<p>Extracurriculars:
-recreational martial arts since grade 8
- audition-only choir since grade 5, though i'm quitting that next year and joining the school honors choir
- recreational piano since age 5
- National Art Honor Society, vice president (we actually do things, like putting on shows and hosting "Chalkfest")
- Co-president of Freethinkers club (philosophy, culture, politics, basically a discussion club for any and everything)
- class council treasurer
- Leo Club (a community service club) secretary
- Environmental Club publicity secretary
-I write for like 3 sections of the school newspaper, getting my own monthly column next year :D
- 100 hours of community service, mostly from Leo Club and Environmental Club</p>

<p>Awards:
-Grand Concours 9th in state, 10th in country (grade 10), 4th in state 5th in country (grade 11)
-almost certainly NMSF (PSAT 227)
-CAPT scholar (not that it matters)</p>

<p>Summer programs:
-performing/ fine arts camp going into 9th and 10th
-Middlebury-Monterey Language Academy going into 11th (a French immersion program)
-RISD precollege program this summer (will probably submit art supplement with my common app)</p>

<p>Interests: art, literature, world languages (especially French but looking to start another in college!), women and gender studies, history, lots of stuff
Recommendations should be pretty good from my APUSH and AP Lit teachers. Counselor rec should be decent.
Not asking for financial aid. </p>

<p>I AM SO CONFLICTED. please help!</p>

2

<p>Something to consider: This is a decision where you get to be a little selfish. All things being equal, what other people think is best for you is beside the point (unless there’s a financial angle to consider. But it sounds like this is a prestige thing and not a having more scholarship options thing). What you want is what matters. And if you decide to go to a women’s college, you can be sure there will always be people telling you it was a bad idea. You just have to stick to your own convictions and trust in your judgement. If it feels right, and your parents don’t out and out forbid it, go with it. </p>

<p>This is four years of your life that you do not get to repeat. So make sure that, again everything being equal, you go to the place where you think you’ll be the happiest. Which may or may not be the place with the most prestige, the biggest scholarship, etc.</p>

3

<p>Short answer I think you’d definitely get in RD…if you harbor ANY doubts I would advise against ED. Good luck whatever you do.</p>

4

<p>Boss, it sounds as if the OP doesn’t have doubts, it’s that other members of her family think she can do “better.” Which comes back to S&P’s excellent post.</p>

<p>OR, if you’re in love with the school and don’t have any crossed fingers about FinAid (though Smith seems to give ED students the same FinAid as if they had applied RD, albeit you lose any negotiating leverage), then go ahead and apply ED. </p>

<p>If you were torn between two schools, I’d say apply RD and visit and/or re-visit both.</p>

<p>If you have a fabulous “fit,” then it doesn’t matter that you could get in somewhere “better.” D preferred Smith over Harvard. Take that, Harvard. (Harvard doesn’t even care. The fact that D preferred Yale over Harvard might sting a little more.)</p>

5

<p>Well put Dad and S&P…you will notice I said “if” and “you.” ;)</p>

6

<p>Why so you did. I think, as an editor, I would have capped the YOU instead of the ANY.</p>

<p>It’s so <em>hard</em> to get inflection, tone, and emphasis conveyed accurately on line.</p>

<p><glyph of=“” walking=“” away=“” quickly=“” before=“” the=“” boss=“” throws=“” a=“” guitar=“” at=“” me=“”></glyph></p>

7

<p>Does STRIDE get offered to ED students? If not, or if rarely, I’d recommend RD only because the OP seems poised to be considered for one. Smith might want to entice her to attend over other RD options. If she gets in RD without a STRIDE, she has lost nothing.</p>

8

<p>Good question. I seem to recall an ED getting STRIDE but that would be counter-intuitive.
Anyone else remember?</p>

9

<p>Oh,
You have wonderful enthusiasm, and Smith would be lucky to have this kind of energy. You also have excellent credentials for admission. The plus to applying early is that you get all of the waiting out of the way and can really enjoy your senior year. That’s something to think about. But so are the other options you will most likely have with scores like yours.</p>

10

<p>It has been offered, but being ED makes it somewhat less likely. In the OP’s case however, I think her stats are so good and she’s a legacy, she’s likely to get offered STRIDE at either deadline.</p>

11

<p>Even if you don’t need FA, you should think about the benefits of a STRIDE, and if your chances to get one are better RD, definitely think about it. Perhaps someone from admission could take a quick look at your stats and let you know if you might receive one–or if ED rules that out for you. It’s definitely worth it.</p>

<p>BTW: To Grandma and the rest of your family–lots of women at Smith have numbers that would get them into other schools and still they choose Smith–my D included!</p>

12

<p>^Mustangmom is spot on. A girl who lived in my hall first semester was accepted to Harvard and turned it down for Smith. By no means would applying ED to Smith be “selling [yourself] short.”</p>

13

<p>My d. turned down Williams and a host of others for Smith. </p>

<p>But don’t apply ED unless you are sure.</p>

14

<p>Thanks so much for the responses, everyone! I must admit, I hadn’t even thought of the possibility of getting a STRIDE (didn’t think I was that good!), but that’s making me lean a teeny bit towards RD. My parents are in that awkward place where they’re making too much to get financial aid, but will still be squeezed by college costs, so anything I can get helps. The only thing I’m worried about is for some reason NOT getting in RD and really regretting it, but to be honest that’s probably me being, like, paranoid. </p>

<p>And believe me, I know that I’d certainly choose Smith over Harvard (though it’d break my poor alum father’s heart). I think the quality of education/general experience that i’d get there is equal if not better than at other top colleges.</p>

15

<p>Well, to maximize your chances of possibly qualifying for STRIDE (and keep in mind, there are lots of very meritorious students with good grades and SATs that don’t get STRIDE), you should apply RD. As others have said, you don’t lose anything by waiting and you may gain.</p>

16

<p>I think it is quite rare for STRIDE to be offered to ED. I think you would likely get STRIDE RD but there’s no way to be sure. I’ll say this, if you truly, truly love Smith then do ED. There’s not a whole lot to be lost in your case by doing RD, though. I’m inclined to think though that the answer to the question as you posed it is generally “not to ED” because it implies that you’re not sure; however, only you know if that’s the case. I applied ED and only decided to do so at the beginning of September, which was pushing it in terms of getting an interview I think btw. Like you, I loved Smith. I also had reason to believe that I might be accepted to other top schools. I just finished my first year at Smith, and am extremely happy. I would be lying if I said that I didn’t occasionally feel a small twinge for the acceptance letters that could have been, yet I truly feel that Smith is an exceptional place and one that I would recommend to anyone. Any uncertainty was not Smith’s fault, I was just sort of a quirky applicant, and would have liked to see what schools thought of me.
Best of luck with your decision, no matter what you decide you have a bright future. I’ll hope to see you at Smith.
Feel free to PM with questions :)</p>

17

<p>From another STRIDE parent: RD, although I know how great it feels to leave the stress and multiple essays behind asap.</p>

18

<p>Wait, I had no idea that you were more likely to get STRIDE if you apply RD. Why is that?</p>

19

<p>STRIDE is given out as an incentive for top-ranked students to come to Smith. This is not necessary for ED applicants, who are obligated to attend if admitted. Simple as that I believe.</p>

20

<p>Yeah, that’s pretty much the size of it. Smith uses STRIDE as a way to attract really qualified students, students who are likely also holding acceptances from a lot of other high ranked colleges, to choose Smith over say, Harvard or another women’s college like Wellesley. </p>

<p>It’s not that no ED student ever gets STRIDE, I’ve heard of a few ED students who have. I haven’t heard of ED students getting one of the other merit scholarships though, and your chances for STRIDE are much better if you apply RD. </p>

<p>Though really, overall most applicant’s chances for STRIDE or one of the other merit scholarships is so small (given the size of the applicant pool, and the small number of merit scholarships awarded), that I don’t know if it would be a deciding factor for me if I was considering a school that I really really loved.</p>