I’ve seen varying opinions on trying to figure out where to ED or if one should even ED at all. I understand if you are looking for aid and the best deal that ED doesn’t make sense, but for a full pay student why do you or don’t you recommend ED? D25 wants to ED because “she’ll have to pick a top choice at some point anyway.” Also, some schools there is an ED bump and then you are potentially done with the “stress” earlier during senior year. What are your thoughts?
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This is my thought as well. If you know or can figure out your first choice without too much financial worry, then ED seems like the way to go. I also do like that the decision to apply ED is somewhat of a forcing function to make you think about what is your first choice early. But that may just be me.
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If there is a clear favorite that is affordable, go for it.
Just be aware that some school’s ED bump is inflated because it includes recruited athletes, legacies and donors.
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I think there’s two things here related to budget.
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Can you afford it? In this case the answer is yes. If so, then you go to question #2.
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Do you want to afford it?
Not everyone wants to pay $350,000 - especially when they might be able to purchase a similar product for $100,000 or $150,000 or $200,00, etc.
Only the family can decide.
What seems to happen is for those who get buyer’s remorse (and I don’t know what percentage that is)
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Turns out after visiting others, a kid doesn’t love a school as much as they thought they did
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Turns out the kids parents don’t want to pay after all - when they saw what they deemed a better deal.
It does seem like some aren’t worried about the “commitment” part and they want to take every advantage to get into that “top” school - and that’s the kid who shouldn’t ED. They have no problem backing away later even if it’s not allowed.
If the family is on board from a budget POV - and they are unwavering in their commitment to meet that cost - whether full pay or what shows on the NPC (i.e they won’t backtrack for a better offer), then ED can very well be something they might choose to pursue.
Good luck.
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Our prep school GC reiterated this point several times and encouraged all students (who could afford to do so) to ED if the student could comfortably predict a top choice. About a third of my kids school would typically matriculate through ED and we never heard about a kid that regretted it.
While at some schools the marginal benefit of improved acceptance rates during ED is debatable you do certainly benefit from the possibility of being one and done and having peace of mind.
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For my kid, the choice to apply ED was motivated in part by knowing himself well enough to know that an ED application deadline would help him squash any procrastination tendencies that might make RD round applications especially painful. He had a clear first choice school, we were confident we could afford it, and applying ED forced him into getting his main essay, and Common App in tidy order by mid-Fall. He knew even if the answer was a no, he would have a great foundation for his subsequent EA and RD applications.
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IF you are full pay and IF your child has a definitive top choice then I see no downside to applying ED.
My D did a lot of research early and we did a lot of visits (and two re-visits) before the ED application deadline. She wanted to attend a LAC and many seem to value interest and ED applications. D did have a top choice college (and thankfully also found other colleges she knew she could be happy attending). She applied ED to the top choice, was accepted, was thrilled, and had a great four years at the college. It did make for a very relaxed second semester of her senior year of HS.
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On the other hand, my daughter applied ED to an Ivy and now regrets that choice. She was deferred from ED to the RD round, and ultimately was not offered admission. (She did get accepted to her second choice school, which was really her first choice all along had prestige not interfered, but I digress). In retrospect she wishes she had not viewed the ED to the Ivy as a way to stand out from the pack–it was not the right strategy for her (an “average excellent” applicant without a hook), and not the right school to lob a hail Mary at. Had she focused on a selective LAC for ED she may have been more successful.
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Out of three children who’ve gone through this process, only one of my kids chose to apply ED.
It was my child who most likes certainty, had a clear first choice school and wanted to be done with college admission as soon as possible. She also knew that her first choice would be affordable (though it was far from her least expensive option).
My ED child was done with applications in October, and heard from her ED school by mid-November. She loved the feeling of being done with the college process so early and really enjoyed her senior year (until Covid hit). Also, while lots of her friends were stressing about college decisions at the same time as they were stressing about Covid - she was grateful that her college was set and had been for months.
Her two siblings both chose to apply EA to all their schools. Neither of the other kids had such a clear first choice, but they too wanted to be done with applications and decisions as soon as possible.
Unless you have a clear cut first choice school that is affordable - I wouldn’t recommend ED.
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My 25 year old ED’d, he wanted to stay in state, chose one if the better public’s, had some executive function issues so only had an uw3.4, so since it was his top choice he ED’d, and got his acceptance in November, and was one and done with applications.
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My D23 had a similar experience but different reaction. She applied ED to her clear first choice (Ivy) and was deferred to RD and then not offered admission. She didn’t pull the trigger on ED2 but was admitted to her potential ED2 choices in RD (Vassar, Smith, Bowdoin) along with others she didn’t consider for ED2 because they didn’t offer it or because she’d been unable to visit pre-application.
Not being admitted to the ED school was hard (both in December and again in March), but she didn’t regret applying there ED because she didn’t have to wonder later whether she would have gotten in if she’d applied ED. She had that answer. Of course, if her RD round hadn’t gone as well, she may have regretted not using the ED or ED2 options differently. There were multiple paths to potential regret, and she chose the one that worked best for her…different from what someone else might choose, though.
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D24 had a clear first choice (although there were several schools she really liked) and we knew if she ultimately got in we could and would pay. She did hesitate a bit at the finality of the decision before submitting. Her CC told her to think about how with ED the slate is blank- none of the class has been picked. In RD, if they already have someone like you from ED, well they may not have a spot for you.I think that convinced her to push the submit button ED. When she got her admittance in December, she was THRILLED and has not looked back since. She ended up dealing with a serious medical issue starting in January and I cannot tell you how thankful we all were that we didn’t have the additional stress of college decision
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Agree with everything that has been said so far!
My D24 was very confident in her first choice, applied ED, was accepted, and it alleviated so much anxiety for her. She continues to be thrilled with her choice, and has been back to re-visit since her acceptance. As a parent, initially I wanted her to apply RD so that she could compare offers (we are fully pay, but who doesn’t love a merit scholarship if offered??), but the stress relief of being finished with college admissions has been worth a lot to her. It also saved her from frantically submitting a lot of applications over the winter break! (She had a couple drafts ready to go, but if ED hadn’t worked out, she had a list of about 12 schools where she planned to apply)
I also have an S24 who initially was planning to apply ED, but then felt he was not ready to make a decision. He ended up only applying EA and even now is having a hard time making a final decision. I am VERY glad he did not decide to apply ED. He is very happy with his choices, but he also has matured a lot over the course of senior year and just really was not ready to make a commitment in November. Additionally, he didn’t even end up applying to the school where he initially considered applying ED, so I am very glad he is not locked in.
As far as a boost . . . I think it is possible that it offers some boost at some of the schools who really emphasize demonstrated interest or yield protect. Plus, your application is considered before other spots are filled, so if you are a tuba player, and they want a tuba player, maybe you have an edge for getting the tuba player slot before they see applications from other tuba players? Maybe? I am really just speculating. I am not convinced ED changes a student’s chances significantly at the very most rejective schools, but in the next group of schools, I certainly don’t think it hurts.
So . . . it depends on the student. But if they truly have a first choice, and you are comfortable paying full price for that choice, then ED can be a wonderful opportunity to move on from the stress of college applications/tours/decisions and enjoy the rest of senior year.
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My S24 did not consider ED1 because his favorite was an REA school.
He got deferred and then considered ED2, but did not end up doing that either. Part was keeping open the deferral school. Part was just not being completely sure about the ED2 candidate among the remaining schools, and wanting to think about options once he knew which came through (possibly with revisits).
Of those reasons, the last is potentially applicable without an REA/deferral blocking ED. I do think some kids are really evolving all during the process, and actually getting offers is part of the process.
S24 elected to go ED to his #1 choice - it was his favorite and he didn’t have any financial constraints so we were on board. Unfortunately, he was rejected from his ED school (Brown) but he doesn’t regret applying early - he wanted to maximize his chances and felt he did all he could. Fortunately, since then he has been accepted to three great schools and the sting of his ED rejection has long since faded. I do caution parents that at the most selective schools, ED does not give as much of a boost as it appears on paper. It does seem to give a really big leg up at some schools, though - Case, Villanova and Tulane are some examples of this.
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D22 didn’t ED as she didn’t have the chance to look at many schools until acceptances due to Covid. She did love one school we visited prior to applications but it wasn’t highly selective and she was confident she did not need the ED boost. She ended up at that school but visited several more highly selective schools as part of admitted student days before making that choice. I think it gave her a boost of confidence seeing where she could get in but ultimately she chose the best fit and it has worked out great so far.
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S22 decided his ED school right before the deadline, but that was due to not visiting schools because of Covid. We visited 4 schools in September and October and that was enough. He is very happy still.
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delete
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Important to note too that ED results are typically December 15th or thereabouts. If you’re deferred or rejected, that leaves a pretty tight crunch time for RD applications - two+ weeks that oh goody includes the holidays, new years, etc.
Point being if you’re going to ED, do work on your RD applications too. As much as you can stomach.
I’d also recommend some EA/rolling schools along the way…
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Very good point about working on the other apps too! D24 had 6 other ones in by ED decision day. She would have had about 4 -5 more apps to do over winter break which would not have been fun but doable. She wanted to get those done before break but realistically she just didn’t have time. Lucky for her, she got to have a work free break - I couldn’t even remember a time when I had seen her so carefree.
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