Hi everyone, I’m just wondering if anyone has a sense of how much ED2 helps at Wesleyan. When we visited, they told us that applicants can change their status from RD to ED2 up until Feb 1. My S25 did not ED1 anywhere because we want to compare merit & aid offers. However, he will have all of his EA decisions by mid-January (those schools will probably be his most affordable choices). Wesleyan’s NPC result is by far the lowest of his reach RD schools (by $5-10k), so we might consider letting him switch his app to ED2, depending on what his EA offers look like.
Does ED2 provide a significant admissions boost at Wesleyan, or at this point does it make more sense to just take his chances in RD? He likes Wesleyan–it’s not his clear #1 reach school, but if it’s really $10k less than his other reach options he would choose it. For context, his stats are 1510 SAT (780V, 730M), 3.98/4.41, top 10% of his class, 9 APs (all 5s so far), solid but not extraordinary ECs (music, theater, debate, summer job), social science major. Standard strong.
There are some people on this board - I’m not necessarily one of them - who would subscribe to the theory that a high-need applicant would benefit from applying early since the amount the school has set aside for FA is less likely to run out at that point of the process. Wesleyan is a need-aware college and according to its own statements on the subject, financial considerations may play a role in as much as 5-10% of the applications. The presumption is that this is more likely to happen toward the end of the process than at the beginning when they are still flush with cash. Thats the theory.
My two cents is I am generally skeptical about the idea of a generic “boost” from ED. I think sometimes some specific sorts of hooked applicants may benefit from ED, or even be required to apply ED (such as a recruited athlete who is told they need to). There are also some colleges that may waitlist or reject well-qualified RD applicants who they think have extremely little chance of actually accepting an offer (aka “yield protection”), in which case applying ED could change their decision.
But in neither of these cases does applying ED turn you from a student they would not want to use an enrollment slot on into a student they do want to use an enrollment slot on. And I think that is what some people are thinking an ED boost means–that you were falling short of being someone they would want, but then applying ED “boosts” you over the line.
All that being said–as another poster explained, some people believe that sometimes a person with high financial need might be in that sort of category where if they wait until normal RD to apply to a need aware college, the college might be getting more restrictive with such offers if their aid budget is running low.
Again, my two cents is that does not particularly make sense as applied to ED2 specifically, because usually with ED2 they actually have the whole pool in front of them.
So my take is that Wesleyan is a school that struggles a bit with yield in RD and thus that a really strong kid—a kid for whom it might seem Wes is a back-up rather than a top choice—might have a better chance in ED. I don’t have any evidence to support this theory, other than the list of kids on Reddit with high stats who report being waitlisted in RD.
Reports on this board and elsewhere are that Wes’s aid is really competitive, often better than wealthier schools, bearing out what you saw in the NPC. I remember last year seeing that Wes offered better packages to students than Amherst and possibly Yale?
(My kid was accepted ED2 last year, and he loves it! Happy to answer any questions.)
ETA: I’ve heard that the 5-10% of applications that fall into the need-aware bucket at Wes are international, fwiw. No firm source on this, but it does seem logical.
Interesting. This might explain why my D was denied a few years ago in RD, but accepted to more selective and similarly selective SLACs a few years ago. Her college counselor was surprised that she wasn’t even WL’d.
I note that would be an example of the “yield protection” I was referencing earlier.
Although for that matter, I don’t love that term either. Like, it implies colleges are doing this to look better in reported stats, and I don’t find that plausible (including because yield is rarely reported anyway–you usually have to calculate it yourself using the CDS, and that is not typically a public relations problem).
Instead, I think these colleges just understandably want to avoid a situation where they give out an offer, there is virtually no chance that offer will be accepted, and then they have to go to their waitlist to find someone to enroll.
Of course this is a statistical game to begin with, so you don’t have to be a 100% lock to accept. Reportedly these colleges tend to use sophisticated yield models to estimate whether they are on track to meet enrollment and other targets. And it looks to me like of Wesleyan’s reported 2029 RD admits in 2023-24, only about 345 enrolled, about a 17% yield. Or basically around 1 in 6 of their RD admits actually enrolled, and this is not an atypical number from what I have seen.
So I think it is fair to assume Wesleyan is OK giving you an RD offer if its yield model says it has around a 17% chance of actually getting you. But if it says it is more like, say, 1.7%? Maybe not so much.
But if you would be a 1.7% kid in their yield model, but actually more like a 100% kid in your heart? Meaning you would definitely take an offer from Wesleyan if available?
OK, then it could actually help to apply ED to Wesleyan. Not because it would make them like you more. Rather, because that would sidestep this potential problem of a yield model saying you are very unlikely to accept their offer.
OTOH, once a college has more than enough applicants to fill an entire entering class with people who all claim that it’s their first choice (never mind all the game-strategy that may be lurking behind that bit of self-selection), it seems to me that renders the RD round a bit like icing on a cake from the college’s POV; they’re basically just looking to fill-in that year’s special need: the marching band members, the musical theater buffs, the classicists, the language enthusiasts, etc… All hard to predict.
Yeah, I know there’s no one clear answer–thanks for taking the time to help me think it through. I think he’s a plausible but not slam-dunk admit for Wes (he’s at the top of the Naviance scattergram for his school, but I can’t tell how many of the other admits were ED). I doubt he’ll be viewed as too strong to be a likely yield (he’s not a plausible Ivy admit), but the need-aware factor is hard to predict.
Wesleyan’s presentation emphasized ED2 much, much more heavily than any of the other LACs we’ve visited (they made a big deal out of being able to switch to ED2 until Feb 1). Given the NPC, I think it’s probably his most realistic shot at going to a selective LAC close to home, which is what he says he wants (he is applying to Bowdoin & other reaches RD, but those are obv all VERY long shots with higher NPCs). He does have some small-school safeties & targets that will be releasing EA decisions soon.
If he’s still thinking Wes after all the EA decisions are in, we’ll probably do a quick revisit in late January & decide then. Appreciate the help, all of you!
Sure! In general, I’d say my kid is a great fit for Wes; he’s intellectual and artsy and someone who loves to get involved in activities/campus life. It’s a welcoming and tolerant place that very much lets people be who they are, and there seems to be a real community fabric. Socially, it seems lively but not especially party-driven; my kid never seems to lack for something to do, but it doesn’t seem wild or overwhelming.
Students are intellectually engaged, and professors are accessible and responsive. The open curriculum encourages exploration, which my kid appreciates; he’s enjoyed his classes so far and is taking advantage of these first few semesters to take classes across areas he thinks he might be interested in majoring in.
The arts scene is robust; my kid is into theater and appreciates the range of opportunities available, from department-based to student-run.
The progressive-independence housing model is great; it’s a great relief to know that he’ll have campus housing all four years, and his dorm experience has been good so far.
As you’d hope and expect from a small LAC, people are responsive and helpful; I went to a large state school and had no idea how different a small private school could be! We have found people to be responsive and kind when we’ve had questions or needed help.
Finally, Middletown is a nice place to go to school; it’s a small city, and the school doesn’t feel walled-off. Students can easily walk to Main Street for dinner, movies, etc.
Helps so much—thank you! The other school is medium sized and known strong textfor party culture and Idk if the culture is known for being especially kind, and that means a lot to me.