Daughter got accepted, not sure I can afford it

SlitheyTove
Sun, 09 Jan 2011 23:32:10 +0000

My point it that the ED pools are stronger because the vast majority of of kids at regular public schools have no clue what ED is and do not have college advisors even suggesting the idea to them. So they don’t use ED strategically to improve chances to get into better schools – they simply submit their applications in the RD round. Further, because of weaker or nonexistent college advising, they tend to misjudge their competitive chances. They often make choices simply based on info in college viewbooks and brochures, so the top colleges are going to get a significant number of applicants who simply aren’t in the running during the RD rounds, especially given the ease of submitting multiple applications via the common app.



RD also sweeps up all the applicants who just didn’t have things together enough to submit an app by Nov 1. Many, many students, especially those who have poor college advising, are still putting together a list of schools at that point. They haven’t spent the summer brainstorming essay topics, they haven’t set up Common App accounts, and they’re still trying to schedule SAT sittings. Even some excellent students who are strong contenders at top colleges get hit by procrastination.

On the other hand, there are students, both weak and strong, who submit applications to tippy-top schools that offer no EA or ED option. Anyone who is hoping for Princeton or Harvard can’t use ED. Some of those applicants will be weak, of course, but the ones who have a real shot are very appealing candidates. I have no idea if one of these forces overwhelms the others, making the RD pool weaker or stronger than the ED pool, or if they pretty much counterbalance.



That’s why I think ED favors the strong but unremarkable student, and not the “borderline” student. By “unremarkable” I simply mean that the application is unremarkable – nothing in the essay or LOR’s or list of EC’s to make the applicant stand out from the pack. Those are the applicants who have the most to gain by a statistically less selective process.



How about this: In RD, admissions decisions might reach the point near the end where the class is almost filled. There are perhaps a few handfuls of spots left–5, 10, 20–but there are twice as many applicants–10,20,40–where the admissions people just can’t make a final decision. They can only admit half of that small number of students who are academically qualified, who seem to be a good fit, but who don’t have strong enough applications to be easily admitted. Half will get in; the other half won’t. In ED, they’d have a better shot.