Would love some advice on ED2 Strategy. Bowdoin/Hamilton insights appreciated

Applying to College
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her school rarely gets kids into middlebury but many into Hamilton.

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For brief, subjective comments on Hamilton in the context of comments on other liberal arts colleges, see post #7: Struggling with D21ā€™s List. ED & ED2: Amherst, Hamilton, Wellesley, Vassar .

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every year the stats he presents make it look harder - not to mention the schools themselves are cherry picking making these %s almost meaningless

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Is Conn College one of her matches? A Conn RD acceptance might be worth risking a Middlebury ED gamble. I mean, as long as you seem willing to use ED2 for your 5th favorite college, wht not really game things out?

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Perhaps Iā€™ve missed this, but has your daughter expressed an intended major?

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Iā€™m risk-averse and would encourage an ED2 to Hamilton. Realistically, I think there is no chance at Amherst or Williams, based on the Bowdoin denial, and Middlebury is a long-shot. ED2 at Hamilton would really help her chances and it is a great school.

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Iā€™m generally risk-averse, and while Amherst or Williams are highly rejective, neither school has ED2 which leaves a little more room for RD admits. Admittedly, Iā€™m not an expert, IME most of the ED admits at these schools are hooked (including majority students from underrepresented states).

My 2020 was admitted to Williams RD and denied at Bowdoin (and deferred at Midd ED1, then accepted RD). Friends were admitted to Bowdoin and denied at Williams. I tried to convince my D to apply ED2 to a more likely option, but they wanted closure with Midd and would have been happy to attend several of the more likely schools on their list.

IIRC, last year on CC there was a student who applied ED to Williams, was deferred, and was admitted to Bowdoin RD; they were either WLā€™d or denied at Williams. Of course, each year and each applicantā€™s outcomes are impossible to predict especially with TO, holistic admissions, etc., but I would let the student decide.

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Absolutely there can be quirky results, particularly among small liberal arts colleges with few spots to begin with and an excess of female applicants. The rejection at Bowdoin despite the hook there would give me pause about future results, but all up to the applicant to weigh.

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@gotham_mom yes there is NO predicting! could you give me an idea of schools that your D would have been happy with that were more likely acceptances? Just thought maybe weā€™d take a look if not already on list. thx .

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@roycroftmom Yes, kind of my thinking until I read @gotham_mom ! D was actually deferred from Bowdoin not rejected if that makes any differenceā€¦

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Seems like she would be happy at Hamilton. How would she feel if she ended up at a safety instead?

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She was only interested in SLACs: Oberlin, Bard, and Mt Holyoke were all likely admits. The caveat is that most schools still required SAT/ACT for the high school class of 2020, so that made it easier to predict outcomes based on Naviance and overall stats and ECs.

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how about bates or colby?

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You beat me to it. Bates, Colby and Conn would fill out the small, well-rounded, NESCACs.

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Last year Colbyā€™s acceptance rate was 7% and Batesā€™ was 14%. With those stats, I donā€™t think Colby or Bates could be considered a safety these days for most students. Agreed theyā€™re probably slightly easier to get into than Midd, Williams, Bowdoin, etc. but would be risky to think of them as safeties.

I couldnā€™t find data from Connecticut College for last year, but year before last its acceptance rate was 40% so, depending on the student, it could be closer to a safety, but it still rejects more students than it accepts.

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Colby and Bates are definitely not safety schools.

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D is applying to Colby, Bates and Kenyon. NOT safeties. Would be satisfied with any but fairly strong pref for Hamilton over those. Would be disappointed with her safeties.

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I would not discount the fact that Hamilton ā€œlikesā€ kids from the OPā€™s school. If the OPā€™s CC has a relationship with the Hamilton AO and feels this is a good bet, it probably is. @njmomster , is the CC recommending this strategy?

By relationship, I donā€™t mean pull,btw, but insight into what Hamilton wants and the ability to steer the right kids there. Good CCs tend to be good at this kind of match-making.

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@gardenstategal Yes, GC thinks this is the ā€œsmartestā€ move. (GC tends to be very conservative) Thinks chances at Bowdoin are low. Frustrating b/c on Naviance my daughter has the highest GPA of anyone applying and many admits in her rangeā€¦but thatā€™s obviously not the whole story.

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Strategic considerations in college selection appear to have become more important recently among highly counseled students. This is from St. Paulā€™s, for example:

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