<p>Looking through ivy league and top college forums, everyone applies ED…From what I’ve learned, ED is only for rich people because you have to know you can afford it. That ain’t me.</p>
<p>That brings me to another point. Seems like the only way to get in to an ivy league these days is applying ED with the percentages going up every year.</p>
<p>Is applying RD to ivy league/any top tier school a waste of time then if you aren’t a genius or haven’t cured cancer?</p>
<p>No ED for me because of $. But i will definitely go EA to more than 1 sxhool</p>
<p>My daughter didn’t. She didn’t have a clear first choice. Waiting around for the decisions made me crazy, but she was right.</p>
<p>I wouldn’t say that applying to the Ivies and their peers is a waste of money, but I would say it’s an investment that’s unlikely to pay off-- no matter whether you apply early or regular decision. As for the whole curing cancer thing, look for a blog post by MIT admissions officer Chris Peterson. It’s called “Aplying Sideways.” ( I would post a link if I weren’t on my phone. But you can google “MIT admissions applying sideways.” ) His point, which is both encouraging and discouraging, is that curing cancer isn’t enough to get you in, but not curing cancer doesn’t necessarily keep you out.</p>
<p>My son isn’t doing ED either. He has some “unpredictable” schools for which he’s qualified and will apply EA (and will quite likely get deferred). He will also apply to a match and a sort-of safety during the Early Action round, so that he has a safety net under him for the RD cycle.</p>
<p>While he has clear favorites, he has not visited all of them, and has not completely made up his mind.</p>
<p>Didn’t apply ED, but applied EA to the majority of my schools.</p>
<p>Sikorsky and IxnayBob, your kids sound just like me. I will definitely be applying to some EA too.</p>
<p>Glad to hear from those that aren’t obsessed with the ivy atmosphere</p>
<p>I didn’t apply ED.</p>
<p>I didn’t apply ED. But then again I didn’t apply Ivy league.</p>
<p>Applying Sideways: [Applying</a> Sideways | MIT Admissions](<a href=“http://mitadmissions.org/blogs/entry/applying_sideways]Applying”>Applying Sideways | MIT Admissions)</p>
<p>Apply ED if you think you absolutely need to be at that school. Don’t apply ED because you think you’ll have a better chance.</p>
<p>DD applied ED because she knew it was by far her number one choice, and got in.</p>
<p>I applied ED and needed a lot of FA. I got accepted and was offered more than enough FA, but if it wasn’t enough I was allowed to back out. I was done applying before the first half of senior year was over, and I was done stressing about where I would end up. Second semester senior year was awesome! It is not for everyone but I think ED is great for the right person.</p>
<p>My daughter applied EDI and EDII. We needed lots and lots of FA. Both of the schools were 100% need-met schools. First one was a no and the second one she got in with great FA. I wouldn’t have let her applied ED if they were not need-met schools.</p>
<p>i’m not going ED because of $, and because my 1st choice is only EA</p>
<p>If the school meets 100% of need ( like all ivies and a lot of upper tier schools do), then I see no harm in applying ED. My brother did and he got great, loan free FA from Columbia. He also applied EA to Chicago and they gave him less money and their package included loans. It really just depends on the school. ED packages can sometimes be better than EA ones.</p>
<p>Im applying ED and need alot of FA. im fairly certain that Cornell will meet my requirement if i get accepted. NPC show substantial aid, and Cornell vows to meet 100% aid for all students</p>
<p>ED isn’t just for rich people. QuestBridge for example is an ED process that gives students a full ride to the nation’s leading universities and liberal art colleges. And if you come from a family making below $50,000, many schools like Columbia, Pomona, and Amherst would give you basically a full ride with no packaged loans.</p>
<p>Different schools have different ED. I am most definitely not rich (my mom’s on social security disability, and my dad was unemployed for ~4 years), but you’re allowed to drop for financial difficulty, so if my aid sucked I could prove it wasn’t enough.</p>
<p>Getting a clearer picture of what it means to apply ED, guess if you honestly know it’s your top choice, might as well.</p>