<p>I'm applying RD to one of the top LACs in the country, where the acceptance rate is around 13-14%. Does it hurt my chances of getting in if there's someone else from my high school applying to this small LAC? I'm pretty sure I have better stats, a more insightful essay, and stronger extracurriculars than this other person, but I'm worried because this person is a QuestBridge scholar and I'm not. Also, I've shown a significant amount of interest in this particular school (I interviewed, visited, went to an alumni meet up and several college fairs). I'm incredibly stressed out over this, and I would like some real advice/insight into this situation :/</p>
<p>I think people overblow the importance of whether or not there’s someone else from your school applying…I doubt this is the thing that will keep you from getting accepted. Please release your stress over this; two kids from the same high school in a class of 600 people is nothing. At my small LAC there were several other people in my admitted class from my high school class; not all of us chose to go.</p>
<p>Thanks Juillet! I’ve been so stressed about this particular school, and finding out that someone from my HS applied with a real hook (QB) really freaked me out. Obviously I can’t blame them for applying! It’s an incredible school and it would be so awesome if we both got accepted. I was just convinced that we would be pitted against each other, and I know neither of us want that. Thanks for your insight! You made me feel quite a bit better haha.</p>
<p>I don’t think you’re competing against each other at all. In terms of admissions you’re both in your own categories. Your classmate is in his or her own category of potential admits. Likewise, you are also competing against others with your particular profile. </p>
<p>If you’re an applicant they want, the fact that there is another potential admit from your school won’t stand in the way.</p>
<p>I think this is a valid concern. Any chance your top choice school has an EDII round? [But first make sure your financial situation allows you to forego comparing other aid offers!]</p>
<p>My son had a similar situation. He applied ED before he learned that one of his class’s superstars planned to apply RD. As it turned out they were both accepted, my son, ED and the other guy RD. First and last time that’s every happened at my son’s high school.</p>
<p>Of course your highschool may have a better track record at your favored LAC. Check to see how many they have historically admitted RD.</p>
<p>Just ran into this situation during ED and just had the talk with the GC. Students from the same school can and do impact each other during the ED and RD rounds. Even schools as big as Stanford and Vanderbilt are only going to let so many kids in from the same HS, no matter how good they are. Some deserving candidates were almost definitely shot down this year by the traffic jam, where in other years, they would have made it. </p>
<p>LACs are so small they can definitely have traffic jams, especially in the ED round. RD is looking competitive too this year, and if you know there’s competition from your HS, and you have the ability to do ED2 to get the jump, do that. It’s not unknown for three or more kids from the same school to get in one small LAC in RD, but as more and more kids apply, and they’re trying to achieve national, not regional, status, taking too many from one HS is a factor, where in the past, it wasn’t.</p>
<p>MrMom62, I guess there is some validity to this as a last consideration, but from what I was told, for example, athletic recruits are not competing against other kids from their school, just like Questbridge kids. Questbridge kids are competing against other Questbridge kids, and athletic recruits are competing against other athletic recruits around the country on a coach’s radar.</p>
<p>I’m thinking that only in the end could it possibly impact a student when, for example, OP is being compared to 10 others with their particular profile and OP is from a school where someone with the hook has already been admitted and there’s another similar profile in the pile from, say, Hawaii.</p>
<p>However, I’ll stand by my original bottom line statement - if they want you, they want you. If you otherwise don’t stand out in any particular way except by being an exceptional student, I guess I would have to cede that regional and HS diversity can play a part. I wouldn’t frontload that consideration, but even if you put it on the tail end, I guess if it makes a difference at any point, that’s what matters.</p>
<p>One should never not apply, either to avoid competition or to avoid knocking someone out, because you can’t predict exactly what it is they’re going to be looking at, but yes, hooked candidates did knock around the non-hooked at D’s HS this year and it does happen every year. Sometimes it works the other way, a hooked candidate can drag another one in for political reasons, but more often, it’s a negative for the non-hooked. Or in the case of equal candidates, someone is going to lose the coin flip.</p>
<p>The politics behind the scenes in college admission is fascinating and infuriating at the same time. All I can say is, play every card you’ve got and don’t feel bad about it, because everyone else is using all their cards. There’s a line one shouldn’t cross, and some do, but if you’ve got a legitimate way of getting a leg up, use it.</p>
<p>I should clarify that I submitted my application last week, and I didn’t find out about this other applicant from my HS until yesterday. They weren’t matched with any of their ED QuestBridge schools and forwarded their application to additional schools RD last week as well. Also, my high school is brand new, and I’m a part of the 2nd graduating class. No one from the class of 2013 applied to this particular LAC; in fact most applied to state schools and larger privates (just checked Naviance). Does this play a role in admissions at all?</p>
<p>Momrath & Mrmom62: There is an EDII round that I strongly considered, but finances are definitely a concern for me and I wanted to weigh all my options before making a decision, just like you said!</p>
<p>Does anyone know about the QuestBridge process? Is it true that even in Regular Decision they’re evaluated in a separate pool?</p>
<p>Additionally, I’d say I’m a pretty strong-strong borderline candidate for this school. My ACT is in range, I’m in the top 7% of my class, my supplemental essay was stellar, my interview went amazingly, and I’ve got some pretty unique extracurriculars/honors that differentiate me from the other applicant. The only thing is that I’m not a QB scholar, and from my understanding, that holds a lot of weight.</p>
<p>Whether your “competition” is from your own high school or completely unrelated to you, the fact remains that colleges, especially small ones, try to assemble a balanced class. You have no control over this process and no way to know who’s in the greater pool, so at this point you just have to wait it out.</p>
<p>In the meantime, analyze your financial risk. By using an online calculator you can get a fairly good idea of how much aid you would be eligible for. Discuss with your family. Maybe it’s close enough. If the school is known for substantial financial aid, there’s a good chance that they will be generous during the EDII round too.</p>
<p>You could also add applications to some other schools that are similar in personality to your #1 choice. Widen your net.</p>
<p>The fact that your school is not well known to the college could be a plus, could be a minus. It may be a demographic that they want to attract, but they don’t have a track record of success.</p>
<p>The thing is, an inadequate FA package is a valid reason to decline an ED offer. I’m not sure there’s any other criteria for declining an FA package other than, “We can’t afford that.” So if you would definitely go to this school, if money were no object, there’s really little risk of you applying ED2 as you’ve got an out.</p>
<p>You can still switch to ED2 even if you’ve already submitted.</p>
<p>I’m applying to about 8 other schools (3 of which have offered strong financial packages to me so far). Although I wish they weren’t, finances could be the deciding factor for me here, which is why I chose not to make a binding commitment.</p>
<p>I’m going to talk to my parents about potentially switching to EDII right now… this school is definitely my first choice. I’m just worried because I know that EDII is filled with legacies, athletic recruits, and students who got deferred from EDI. I decided to apply RD for these reasons, convinced that my chances were about the same as ED after everything is factored out. What do you think?</p>
<p>ED1 people are not in the ED2 round, the deferred should all be in RD only. Most of the athletes were in ED1, there are considerably fewer in ED2. Legacy varies by school.</p>
<p>I think I know which school you’re considering, so yes, your chance is only slightly improved by the ED2 round, but if you’ve got competition from your HS, that may be an edge. If the QB candidate is strong, other schools will be trying to pick him up too, so if you’re willing to commit, that may be an advantage over him, even if your overall advantage for ED is slim.</p>
<p>If you come from a small high school and say a dozen of your most qualified classmates all applied to the same small college, that might take the admissions director of your region aback. But Two? There are dozens of kids applying to a bunch of the same colleges from my son’s high school There are some small LACS, pretty selective ones too, that accept quite a few of those kids. I believe 9 went to one such college from son’s high school last year, and this is not unusual. Doesn’t cause anyone to blink an eye. </p>
<p>However, yes, for some schools, when there are so many kids from a given area applying to a given college, the geographic diversity card becomes strong, and, yes, a kid from some other state or further away will likely have a better chance of acceptance . BC, for example, isn’t hurting one minute from a dearth of good Catholic school grad from the North East and would be more interested in a kid from California or Iowa, than one from Rhode Island or NY. </p>
<p>Unless you have a firm idea of what your family can pay and can draw a line on your financial aid package, I suggest you apply RD, so you can compare packages.</p>
<p>As mentioned EDI applicants are either rejected or deferred into the RD pool. The ED2 applicants are usually kids who needed more time to make a decision or were rejected from their EDI choice. </p>
<p>I can’t imagine that applying ED2 would give you LESS of a chance than applying RD – or less of a chance at being accepted RD if you should be deferred. The only downside, to me, is the unknown financial situation. </p>
<p>There’s a difference between getting enough to make it workable and getting the most money. Only your family can tell you what’s enough, so sit down and talk to them about your choices. Your #1 school’s EFC may be workable, or it may not. Let your parents guide you here.</p>
<p>Without knowing more about what you want in a college, it’s difficult to know if 8 more schools are enough. Since you already have acceptances and good financial offers, you don’t need any more safeties. </p>
<p>You have a strong profile so I would think you could add a few more reaches in the same personality as your #1 choice, but this is pure conjecture without knowing the details.</p>