<p>Ive read through this thread and I really dont get it. To me the only downsides to ED are 1. Remorse due to the wrong choice of schools, 2. Financial dilemma due to the need to compare financial aid. Ill get to those in a minute, but first Id like someone to explain again why they see ED as an unfair, repressive device. </p>
<p>Were talking about secretive and selective admissions here. There are so many factors that are unfair or at least arbitrary, capricious, subjectiveand inexplicable. Kids get rejected who deserve to be accepted, who logically should be accepted, who desperately want to be accepted. Whether theyre getting the shaft in the early round or the regular round doesnt seem to make much difference in the fairness scale.</p>
<p>On the other hand I see ED as a huge advantage to BOTH the school and the applicant, a win-win situation that helps schools control their yields and helps students control their lives. Again, I dont see the argument. Why would an applicant NOT want to gain an edge? Why would a college NOT want to fill 25-40% of its class with highly desirable devotees? </p>
<p>Without doubt, the first priority in making the decision to go ED is having a clear first choice (or conceivably an equal 2 or 3 first choices). Once a student has picked his/her number one, then the rest will fall into place. However, if this step is skipped or fudged or underestimated then everything falls out of place.</p>
<p>I dont see any point in arguing whether ED or EA/SCEA are preferable. If your first choice school only offers ED, then transferring your affections to another school that offers EA/SCEA is not going to float your boat. (Exceptions would be schools that offer both ED and EA, but I think these are rare.)</p>
<p>Although I accept that kids change and kids mature and first loves may be supplanted by different attractions, lets remember that the time involved is 5 months (not 5 years!) from the time that the ED application goes in the mail to the time that the student has to make a final RD choice. If the first choice isnt clearly first, then go no further; however, if a school is a good fit in the Fall for well researched, compelling reasons, then I see no reason why it shouldnt remain first choice in the Spring. </p>
<p>And for the kids who are rejected or deferred in the ED round? This can also be a beneficial experience, a kind of wake up call to calibrate their RD list to include some more less selectives. Better to worry (or even panic) in December than in April.</p>
<p>Common wisdom says that if you need to compare and negotiate financial aid offers, then ED is not for you. This may or may not be factual, as no one can try it both ways to see which is better. We all know ED admittees who received adequate or even excellent financial aid. These include kids of ALL economic backgrounds. Of course we cant say that they might or might not have done better financially somewhere else and we cant say that they might or might not have done worse. </p>
<p>What is true is that ED is a financial RISK. What is not true is that it is necessarily a financial failure. Thus vulnerability to financial risk is an important factor to consider.</p>
<p>For the schools that are not HYPSM, ED is actually a way to lock into diversity of all kinds. This relates to yield; colleges with yields under 50% lose more applicants than they admit, especially highly qualified URMs. The fact is that they use ED to increase their diversity rates. I dont see any evidence (actual or logical) that would lead me to believe that a college would deliberately make it difficult for a desireable minority or low income ED applicant to accept an ED offer by shortchanging him/her on their financial aid offer. </p>
<p>The main factor that I like about ED is that it gives the applicant an element of control over what is basically a low-control situation. Or in other words, it gives the applicant a feeling of having taken his/her best shot. To me this is the real risk of remorse: On receiving a rejection in April, would s/he wonder what would have happened if s/he had applied ED? I think this is a much more realistic scenario than one in which an ED acceptee wonders if s/he could have been admitted at other schools. The former is the stuff of lifelong regret. The latter a passing twinge.</p>