EDII: No space constraints -VS- higher average stats

Applying to College
1

<p>The initial reason I e-mailed my top university - George Washington - and asked them to change my RD application to EDII was because of this paragraph on the EDII card they sent me:</p>

<p>" Every year we have regular admission applicants who have qualifications very similar to those we have admitted “early” but who are not offered admission due to space constraints. This reflects the weight given to early decision applications as well as the strong credentials of our applicants."</p>

<p>This scared me into applying EDII; while I have great ECs, Essays, Recs, and in-range test scores, my GPA and class rank are below GWU’s average because of a poor Freshman/Soph year. However, the issue of money came up (which I talked about in a seperate thread), and I called my friend for advice. </p>

<p>She told me that, while the admit rate is higher, that’s because people apply EDII with far higher stats than the average RD student, and it could actually hurt me because “we’d look crappy in comparision”.</p>

<p>So, is true that the reason the admit rate is higher isn’t because they go “easier” on the EDII admits, but because the average ED applicant has higher stats? Would I be hurting myself by going back to Reg, or all up in the air?</p>

<p>To tell you the truth, I may have to switch back to RD anyways because of the money issue, but I’d at least like to feel better about my chances beforehand.</p>

2

<p>You can read lots of different opinions about the ED vs RD issue on CC,
but no one can give you a definite answer because no school releases enough information about its ED and RD applicant pools.</p>

<p>Normally, the amount of fin aid does not differ much between different schools as most schools use similar or the same methods for computing your EFC. GWU, however, seems to be one of the few top schools that does NOT meet 100% of demonstrated need and the average student indebtness is unusually high… Would be enough of a reason for me not to apply ED.</p>

3

<p>I agree with the above. Are you confident you can afford GWU? If not, then applying under an ED program is taking a chance.</p>