Hi all,
We visited Williams College for a camput tour last week. The AO mentioned that it was better to apply RD than ED as admit rates wouldn’t vary! We are unhooked, ORM, non sport, full pay from the North East. I always thought that ED was a higher rate of acceptance than RD?
I think thats because in the ED round they accept many athletes. The class size at Williams is so small that a large percentage of the class are athletes. Williams is a bit unusual in that respect.
I think Williams is not all that unusual among small schools, because athletes and hooked applicants make up a disproportionate number of ED acceptances in any small class. It’s true that the ED acceptance rate at Williams looks deceptively high, and for unhooked applicants, it’s not as high as it seems on paper. But the RD acceptance rate this year was 4%. So it’s a lottery either way.
For someone where Williams is truly their first choice though, why would you not apply ED? Is there a down side? S24 has a “spike” of high level music but no hook.
I was wondering but they doubled down on that statement in my 1:1 after the tour. D24 is high music, national writing awards, good student across the board with #1 choice being Williams. Still figuring out ED strategy for D24 but LAC it is going to be…
gonna pm you!
Does Williams not defer to RD if someone applies ED? If not, that would be a reason to take a bigger percentage of acceptances in RD.
I wasn’t there, but I would be surprised if they are saying your odds are better in RD. But I can believe that they are saying that your odds won’t be (meaningfully) better ED. If it’s your first choice, I would think it would make sense to apply ED1.
If you’re rejected ED1, you can move on with ED2 elsewhere. If you’re deferred to RD, you’re back where you would have been and can decide if you want to hang in there or ED2 elsewhere. And if you get in, woohoo!
Even if ED isn’t materially better in terms of likelihood of admission, I doubt it would result in lower odds of being admitted, so why wait. At worst, you are rejected and can move on to ED2 or just focus on RD. Of course that is only the tack to take if Williams (or any other college for that matter) is your clear #1 and you can afford it. My sense is the AO doesn’t want to give kids the false impression that ED will significantly improve their chances, but who knows.
Yes, but if chances are no better than RD then would it make sense to apply to a college where you have a higher chance of acceptance?
Only if you want to attend that college!
You may have a college you love slightly less but have a significantly higher chance of attending - it might be worth it.
Don’t know if Amherst has similar stats for ED and RD.
Is this exactly what they said? Meaning the RD and ED acceptance rates are the same?
If so, current year and past data show that not to be true. For example, for Class of 2027, the ED acceptance rate was 27% and the RD acceptance rate was 8.3%. Of course, the ED round admitted students includes recruited athletes, Questbridge candidates, and other hooked applicants. The RD round also includes some hooked applicants, but not as many.
Were they possibly saying that the acceptance rate for unhooked applicants (who meet none of their institutional priorities) is the same between ED and RD? Or something else?
This may or may not apply to Williams, but I heard some colleges were overwhelmed with the number of ED applications and struggled to deliver their decisions before the holidays. They may wish fewer applicants would apply ED.
I think the point is that the level of review if the same between ED and RD, meaning they really do evaluate each app on its own merit regardless of whether it’s an ED or RD applicant. So applying ED does not given you a bump, they do not take into consideration that you are applying ED. Therefore, you will be admitted solely based upon the strength of your app, not your level of interest and therefore you should apply with that mindset. As such, it may make sense to apply ED to another school which really does take into account your willingness to commit early.
Don’t all schools do this?
The bump is a higher admit rate in ED…even after backing out ED hooked applicants, it’s likely the ED acceptance rate is higher than the RD rate. I do agree that Williams, like many other highly rejective schools, does not take demonstrated interest into account when making admissions decisions.
I would say that they might be saying that the acceptance rate for unhooked apps was the same for both rounds.
This might be what they are saying. If you are a full pay or need substantial aid, if you are a fit they will admit you.
Your interest or ability to pay and other signifiers do not move the needle.
Agreed, but not sure about the ‘other signifiers’…certainly they target certain under-resourced schools/geographies, etc.
Some schools, perhaps less selective schools, do take into account your ED status in terms of yield management, so it will help you in their assessment. For Williams, it does not help you, therefore, you may do better to use your ED “card” at a less competitive school where it will make a difference.