Do RD apps every get early acceptance?

[bethievt]

My son has two friends who got early admission to a school they applied to RD. This was a safety school for both of them. Are there *rules* about how early a school can say yes to the students they really want? Why do some do likely letters and some send out an early acceptance?

[frazzled1]

I don't think it's unusual for colleges to let accepted students know before April 1st. W&M, UVA, and Vanderbilt notify RD applicants early if they've been designated for certain honors programs (Monroe or Echols Scholars, etc.). There are others - we should start hearing about them on the boards any time now. Also, students who've been invited for scholarship competition weekends usually know the invitation means acceptance (though perhaps not always?).

[sunnyflorida]

The schools in questions may have rolling admissions. The earlier in the application the earlier out the decision.

[ejr1]

Also, some schools send Early Writes to their top applicants. Amherst is one of those. There have been threads previously that discussed other schools that sent out Early Writes.

[bethievt]

No, the school these kids got into only had ED and RD and I know they didn't apply ED. It seemed like the school just wanted them so much they accepted them early (with big scholarships). I wondered about it because it sounds like some colleges don't tell anyone officially until near April 1 and others do it differently. They were accepted a couple of weeks after applying. It's a small, private university, not a LAC. Maybe that makes a difference?

Make me wonder whether we can realistically hope to hear something earlier or not. I know; it is what it is. I'm just curious.

[bethievt]

I guess it was an Early Write then. I'll look for one of those threads because I hadn't heard about that before.

[sunshadow]

My D applied RD to College of Charleston as a safety, which only has EA or RD. She was admitted during early action.

[my-3-sons]

Many, many schools notify RD applicants before April. My kids applied to several RD schools that listed April notification dates and heard back from most of them earlier.

[emeraldkity4]

My D found out from her top choice private school, by midwinter break- ( late Feb) they also had ED, but as we were hesitant re aid, she didn't want to apply ED. Her other schools were public and let her know a little later.

It probably also varies a bit from school to school and from year to year.

[bethievt]

Do they ever come by e-mail or is it always by mail?

[JHS]

Look, this is a smart idea for most schools, especially the ones that aren't known by their initials on CC. If the file has been reviewed and they know they're going to offer admission, why wait? And an early acceptance -- especially if it's a pleasant surprise to get it early -- does wonders for getting a kid to focus harder on a school and really think about going there.

It's a little different, but I know with both my kids that, during these winter months, when each of them was sitting with one admission in hand and a bunch of applications in the pile, the schools that had admitted them early did a good job of keeping up a stream of positive communications. Two years ago, I saw my daughter get increasingly excited about her EA school, and I'm watching the same thing happen with my son now. If I were Dean of Admissions at an up-and-comer, I would be working this strategy for all it's worth.

[emeraldkity4]

i think some schools do notify by email- but my D applied to schools the 2000-2001 year, so they have modernized their notification process since then
so my memory isn't so good either- I think that the public schools actually notified her of acceptance earlier than Reed, but their finaid offers ( which wasn't much) came later- that is what I was thinking of.

[nceph]

I agree it's smart for colleges to notify their top choices early. As posters have correctly noted elsewhere, colleges with an April 1st RD notification date can really leave a student scrambling to arrange visits during that month. An "early write" gives a student a chance to make earlier arrangements to visit the school that sent it and gives her a school to start dreaming about. Of course, knowing that schools may send out early writes means one starts getting anxious every time the mail truck comes down the street starting in February.

I know Williams and Amherst sent early writes last year, and if you check their threads here on CC from last spring, you may figure out when they were sent.

[Erin's Dad]

My D applied to one college under RD but before their EA timeline. She got an early acceptance. I think it just depends on how the school manages their application process.

[binx]

Kids who are up for scholarships often get notified early, since they need to complete the scholarship process.