Early action at ND - worth it?

techvet
Wed, 28 May 2008 00:55:00 +0000

I’ve heard a number of presentations by ND admissions people in recent years and in them, they have stated that only those who feel fairly certain about their credentials should consider applying early. Because they have never quantified how good you had to be and because they said that the only reason to apply early was to find out sooner rather than later whether or not you could get in, we did not pursue this route with our first child. This child was admitted to ND via the regular process.

Our high school college counselor has now told child #2 that she should apply early to increase her odds of being admitted to ND, along with another school on our daughter’s list of colleges. Given what I’ve heard from three different ND admissions people over the past four years (“Don’t apply unless you’re hot stuff and you need to know by Christmas”), can anyone clarify whether applying early actually increases your odds of being admitted? Yes, the acceptance rate is high for early applicants, but since ND discourages people from applying early except if they’re off the charts, it’s a self-selecting process.

My other concern for child #2, other than getting into ND, is whether applying early hurts one’s chances in the financial aid process. Some schools may give less financial aid in an early decision/early process, thinking that your threshold of financial pain is higher because of a perceived above-average desire to attend Notre Dame.

Any insight would be appreciated.

TV