Where to ED to get most optimal advantage

Applying to College
42

I totally agree with this.
My D22 had applied ED to Williams, just by looking at much higher acceptance rate for ED and not knowing much about the whole process of college admission.
Once you take out athletes, URM, and other considerations for hooked applicants, I don’t think there’s much advantage for unhooked students applying ED to certain colleges.
That was wasted ED opportunity, she would’ve had better chance using the ED to bigger schools like UPENN, Brown, and Cornell, although many here may not agree with me.
Also, she was accepted to Amherst in RD, but I don’t think there’s any guatantee that she would’ve had the same outtcome with ED.

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44

My kiddo was rejected from Wesleyan (but they really did not want you to submit a dance video if you didn’t plan to major) waitlisted at Vassar (submitted arts supplies) and accepted to Hamilton (submitted arts supplement), all RD because she REA’d and was rejected from her first choice Ivy. She didn’t do Hamilton’s optional essay or “Hamilton Hello” video so you never know.

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45

Yes and YES! You are early in the process, Kudos to you and your kid for identifying three schools that he would be thrilled to attend (even though they are reaches, but that’s not your question). Now let them sit in his mind all summer. Book three visits in the fall. And see what filters out. You’d be surprised.

My DD had three SLACs in her ED radar this time last year. All equal in her eyes. She spent the summer visiting and researching her foundation and safety schools. Writing supplementals. Working on Common App stuff. And then we booked three weekends of falls visits: one for each ED school. We did not overlap. We gave each school a good visit. Spent the night. Walked around the towns and the campuses at off hours. Attended the rah rah weekends, where possible (we did WesFest!). After the final weekend of visits, she had made her decision. ED is a big decision, so take your time in making it and BE SURE!

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46

Revisting this thread with an update: kid visited Hamilton a second time and fell in love al over again. He had a great interview with a current student who shared many of his interests. It was his dad’s first visit to campus so kid gave him a tour and seemed totally at home. It is a solid ED I choice.

He will plan on ED II to Vassar if Hamilton doesn’t work out, and then apply to Wesleyan, Reed, Connecticut, Colby, Oberlin, Macalester, Whitman (guaranteed merit award there thanks to their awesome pre-read option), Lewis and Clark, Occidental, Skidmore, UVM, Wheaton, Bennington and Bard.

List is complete, common app essay is in good shape, Hamilton supplements are in second draft status, and he is putting together his “additional info” statement and photography portfolio.

Phew! I’m glad he has options he loves, and that he would be happy attending any of the schools on his list.

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47

Congrats - just curious - on the Whitman pre-read - are they in essence guaranteeing admission - or is it - this is your merit based on what you presented - if you do get admitted.

I assume it’s disclaimed.

Obviously if you’re a serious candidate for these on your list (don’t know the stats) Whitman is a slam dunk. Just curious though how they handle that.

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48

OP, great plan!

I too am curious about Whitman. I know that Denison provides merit aid #s on its WL decisions, which is brilliant. No need to stay on the WL simply to see if it’s a good financial offer. This eliminates so much uncertainty for the school and the applicant. Looks like Whitman may have taken a page from the same book?

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49

Whitman has been offering the financial aid/merit award pre-read for a few years now, I think. It is framed as “were you to be admitted, with these stats we can guarantee you a minimum award of this amount for all four years”. My kid’s guaranteed amount was actually increased after he visited campus–not sure if those two are connected, but the timing made it seem so.

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50

Trinity University will provide a financial pre-read as well for ED.

51

Hi @tsbna44 and @gardenstategal - jumping in to answer your specific Whitman question:

I’m the parent of a S23 currently at Whitman who went through the early financial pre-read process (and ultimately did ED there).

The pre-read provides the minimum guaranteed amount of aid if the student applies and is accepted. It could ultimately be more, but it won’t ever be less than the package they send back. They begin doing these pre-reads on a case by case basis in July and continue (I think) through mid-December. The process takes about 2-3 weeks after you submit your materials, and they’ll return with an itemized aid package: need based, and merit based aid.

Now this is where a bit of tea leaf reading can come in, for the merit aid amount is decided by the student’s admissions officer, and need based aid is decided by the financial aid office. (The AO clarified this process to S23 last year.)

If a merit award does not come back in the pre-read, only need based aid - I would say that that probably isn’t a fabulous sign of acceptance, but it also doesn’t forecast rejection, because they are only basing these pre-read decisions on the student’s transcript, test scores, and slate of upcoming 12th grade classes (along with the FAFSA and CSS if seeking need based aid).

On the other hand, if they’re offering say $12k, $15, $20k+ in merit aid to the student in the pre-read, I’d say that that is a sign that the student will be accepted if they apply.

While my student was at the high end of their CDS (1540 SAT, and I think a 3.96 GPA? No APs as his high school doesn’t offer them, but many honors classes), and thus it was a firm “likely” school for him, the pre-read also came back at the ceiling of their merit awards. As his regional admissions officer made the decision on his amount, I felt comfortable telling my son that based on her merit signaling, I believed that if he turned in a terrific application, she was strongly indicating that he’d be accepted.

Well, my kiddo loved Whitman, and decided to ED (yes, there was a back up plan for EDII at his second choice SLAC, but it was almost a “don’t jinx it” type of plan). I can’t tell you how nice it was to be “one and done” in the fall, and receive acceptance before winter break.

And he couldn’t be happier there - his classes, professors, activities, campus, friends
it’s been a joy to see him so happy and thriving! :slight_smile:

@Tana98 - crossing fingers on the Hamilton ED! It sounds like you have a great plan in place, and your son has many terrific options ahead.

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52

Thank you so much! Whitman is also a great match for my kid–and he would be very happy if that was where he ended up! I hope your son continues to have an amazing college experience. It’s so great when your kid finds their perfect fit–my eldest is a sophomore at Smith and it has been absolutely incredible for her.

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