Chance me RIT/UCincinnati EA vs RD [VA resident, 3.04 GPA (but better in 12th grade in progress), 1340 SAT]

Chance Me / Match Me
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1

Trying to decide whether Early Action or Regular Decision would be better for my senior, given a significant decline in grades during junior year followed by a strong improvement this year. The decline was caused by a documented medical condition, which is explained in the Common App. First-quarter grades won’t be available until next week, after the November 1 EA deadline. They are mostly A’s. Would colleges be more likely to admit him if he waits until Regular Decision so they can see the improvement?

Demographics

  • US citizen, domestic
  • State of residency: Virginia
  • High school: Virginia public high school

Cost Constraints / Budget

No strict budget constraints, but indicated interest in need-based financial aid on the app.

Intended Major(s)

Cybersecurity or IT

GPA, Rank, and Test Scores

  • Unweighted GPA: 3.04 (calculated from grades 9–11)
  • Weighted GPA: 3.52 (weighting: +0.5 Honors, +1.0 qualifying advanced/AP/IB courses)
  • Class Rank: Not available
  • SAT: 1340
  • Retaking SAT November 7, 2026
  • Yearly weighted GPAs: 9th: 4.09; 10th: 3.86; 11th: 2.61
  • First-quarter senior grades: All A’s except one B

High School Coursework

Current senior courses marked with (12th).

  • English: English 9 Honors, English 10 Honors, English 11 Honors, English 12 Honors (12th)
  • Math: Geometry Honors, Algebra 2 Honors, IB Math Analysis & Applications 1, AP Calculus BC (12th)
  • Science: Biology Honors, Advanced Chemistry for IB Schools, IB Physics 1, IB Physics HL 2 (12th)
  • History and Social Studies: World History/Geography 2 Honors, US/VA Government Honors, US/VA History Honors, IB Geography SL (12th)
  • Language Other Than English: Spanish 2, Spanish 3, IB Spanish SL 1
  • Other Academic Courses: Computer Science Programming, Advanced Programming Honors, IB Computer Science SL, IB Computer Science HL 2 (12th), Cybersecurity Fundamentals, Auto Technology 1, Health & PE 9

Extracurriculars

  • Varsity athlete for 3 years in a year-round sport.
  • Work: Works 15-20 hours per week year-round for 3 years (same job)

Essays / LORs / Other

  • Personal essay focuses on work, long-term planning, independence, and showing up consistently for responsibilities even during difficult circumstances. Decent essay. Not AI.
  • Junior-year academic decline and associated medical circumstances are documented and explained in the Common App.
  • Substantial rebound in senior year: all A’s and one B in first quarter.
  • Recommendation letters: Strength unknown.

Schools

First choices are RIT and Cincinnati.

  • Assured: George Mason University
  • Extremely Likely: Old Dominion, Kettering
  • Likely: Towson
  • Toss-up: Cincinnati, RIT, JMU, University of Delaware
  • Lower Probability: Penn State University Park, Virginia Tech (Business school, not engineering), OSU

Planning Early Action where appropriate, but considering RD at some schools to allow improved senior-year grades to be reviewed.

Main Question

Given the dramatic difference between his junior-year grades and first-quarter senior-year grades, should he apply Early Action and submit the updated grades afterward, or wait for Regular Decision so colleges can see the improvement before making an admissions decision? I’m particularly interested in RIT and Cincinnati, since those are his top two choices.

2

In general EA does not provide a meaningful admission bump since there is no commitment on the part of the applicant. If you feel your application will be strengthened by showing more strong senior year grades, I’d go RD.

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Your counselor should do this. Not the student. A student can write anything - you are not submitting documentation so why would they be believed?

Some schools fill most spots EA and not RD. That’s what you need to find out.

Why is GMU assured? Has the student been admitted?

I’d say likely.

As for RIT, is it #1 and money is no issue?

Does this mean you are hopeful? Did you run the NPCs on each (U Cincy - you’re not going to get)

I’d apply ED, not EA and send the grades ASAP. This is your best chance but you might give up merit aid. I don’t think he’s getting in RD and maybe not EA. Just my opinion. And you need your FAFSA in for them to determine need. RIT is need aware so needing too much could hurt you but it sounds like you’re able to pay $60K+ so they’ll be fine. But applying ED could leave you full pay, hence, you need to run the NPC. You have to decide - do I really want to go there to the point of over paying - because if the $$ figure matched the NPC, you’d be bound.

At many publics, EA is where most the class is filled. You can ask RIT - yes, waiting is better for your profile but I don’t know if he can recover. ED guarantees them revenue - but you have to be willing to pay.

I think he gets into UCincy. The question to ask is - as they have Early Action (no app fee) - they don’t mention RD. Do they take apps until the major is filled? In theory, they are telling you they WANT you to EA.

He’s going to get into UC but what if the major is impacted - ie fills up, etc.?

So I’d ED (if possible RIT - if it’s a true #1) and given it’s too late to find out if it’s an impacted major, I’d EA to Cincy - and for both get those Q1 grades in.

Most importantly, I would make sure your counselor, and not you, are documenting any medical issues. Anyone can state that they have them - so you want them to come from an official source (IMHO).

Best of luck.

4

Yes, the counselor will send in documentation, although not by Nov. 1. We don’t want to do ED, just EA. And yes, already admitted to GMU.

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5

At RIT the IT major will probably be easier admit than cyber, FWIW and you would have to apply to switch between them..

I have heard IT and CS had fewer applications than in past last year (not sure about cyber, that may be in better shape).

RIT does really really like DI.. interview if they come to your area (it isn’t scary) and do webinars and such. If you met their listed course pre-reqs (each major has it on the website) I think you will be OK given grade progression and SATs.

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A few thoughts:

Has your S asked his HS counselor what they think?

Cincinnati is rolling admission after EA, so majors can fill up in EA. I lean towards making the EA deadline because I don’t know at what point, if ever, they consider 7th semester grades. (Some schools don’t consider 7th semester grades at all, in any round.) I can’t tell if U Cincinnati is one of those.

For RIT I might wait until RD.

I would encourage your student to reach out to their AOs and ask for guidance. He doesn’t have to give the whole detailed story. Just ask if they recommend he apply EA or RD given that senior year grades will be higher than junior year. Obviously with the looming deadlines he might not get a hold of the AOs.

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I’d def EA to Cincy and ask RIT which you should do. But if it’s just wanting to send in in Q1 grades, I’d lean EA there too. There’s no guarantee a school looks at grade 12 grades even in RD. Check each school’s individual policy. Edit - I see Mwfan said said do first.

Some see as RD as not demonstrating interest.

Congrats on GMU (fine school) and good luck.

8

This depends on whether the college fills up most of its class or popular majors in EA, leaving little room in RD, resulting in RD becoming more selective.

https://www.rit.edu/marketing/sites/rit.edu.marketing/files/docs/pdfs/Academic_Profile.pdf says that RIT’s College of Computing and Information Sciences (where both of the desired majors are) has a frosh profile with middle 50% GPA of 3.6-4.1. That implies some kind of weighted GPA, but it is not obvious how RIT recalculates weighted GPA. The middle 50% SAT for that division is 1360-1500.

9

In my opinion…yes.

10

Assuming that the health condition is stabilized, and that his first quarter grades in 12th are great, early application will not help him. Get the counselor to write about the health issue. It sounds better, coming from her, and allows him to use his space for something positive.

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That’s why I noted ED. I think EA would be better than RD but I would ask the counselor.

Given tomorrow is the deadline, they can apply EA and then call Monday and if they decide to change, they can ask to do so to RD. The reverse may be allowed, but may not.

Whether this is truthful or marketing, they say " * Stand out in a small pool of applicants and benefit from higher acceptance rates, especially for competitive majors"

OP - is the list baked or you’re open to others. It seems like you want co-op schools.

I think GMU is a great “worst case”…probably with solid intern opportunities nearby.

12

It depends, I think:

  1. Will they look at them? - that’s why they need to call and ask. Some schools only look through Junior year.

  2. If they will be looked at, they are out next week - surely before the file will even be looked at for admission - and they can send a note to the counselor letting them know they’ll have them by Nov 10th or whatever the date.

If the school is on semesters and the quarter is just an interim grade, it might not matter anyway.

I’d apply EA and ask to downgrade.

I don’t think they get into RIT but I just think, after talking to a couselor, they might regret missing the deadline.

Most schools will let you apply one way and change it - especially after talking to a counselor.

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