OP: In another thread, you shared your SAT scores from 2024. While strong, they will be commonplace among applicants to Harvard & Stanford.
Since you are enamored by Bowdoin College, I think that switching your application status to ED 2 would be a wise decision.
Since you are an international seeking FA, you owe it to yourself to maximize your odds of acceptance at any/all of the schools on your list.
It shouldn’t matter that Stanford is your or your parents’ dream school. Harvard, or Bowdoin, or others, will be great for you as well.
Let’s assume Bowdoin’s acceptance rate for internationals in ED2 is 7% (we don’t know this figure, it’s a guess, we only know Bowdoin’s overall ED acceptance rate, and I don’t believe it is broken down between internationals and domestic applicants).
Let’s also assume Harvard’s acceptance rate for internationals is 2% (again, I am guessing).
Both are longshots, but what if Bowdoin’s int’l ED2 rate is 3.5X greater than Harvard’s int’l RD rate? Undoubtedly it is higher to some degree. There is at least some ED2 bump at Bowdoin vs. its RD rate, and is likely the case for internationals too.
7% vs. 2% may not seem like a big difference. But 3.5X seems to be.
Perhaps consider switching Bowdoin from RD to ED2, if you are still allowed to switch.
Good luck!
Although these thoughts essentially point in different directions as to your question, I think they are both worth considering.
First, I agree there is nothing wrong with choosing a favorite LAC over any research university, no matter how big a name that university has, if you think you are more likely to thrive at an LAC. Obviously that is very personal and different people will go different ways on this question. But I just think between the importance of those four years for their own sake, and then the importance of actually doing really well in college, all that trumps any sort of general fame considerations.
Of course convincing relatives, peers, and so on that it is OK to turn down a more famous university can sometimes be a challenge. But it is your life, and at least it can be worth fighting for what you really want.
Second, I am very skeptical that applying ED2 will actually help many, if any, high need Internationals. There is a lot behind that skepticism, but the bottom line is a college only plausibly has an incentive to “boost” an ED applicant if it thinks you would otherwise be very likely to choose a different offer RD. This is basically why Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Stanford, and MIT don’t even offer ED–they know you are reasonably likely to accept their offer no matter what.
And as a high need International, it is pretty unlikely you will be getting a long great offers (barring something extraordinary). In that sense, for you, every college is HYPSM, meaning I really doubt they are going to be overly worried about losing you if they admit you RD. It is more just a matter if they want you bad enough to spend some of their very limited International aid budget on you, rather than someone else.
Of course one might ask if this applies to need blind colleges like Bowdoin, and I suspect yes. Basically, because they are need blind and meets need, something like 2/3rds of their Internationals end up being on very large aid packages. And then their overall International acceptance rate is like 1.9%, versus 11.4% for domestic applicants. Again, all this fits with the idea that Bowdoin might was well be HYPSM for a high need International.
OK, so if you want to apply ED2 to Bowdoin because Bowdoin is your remaining favorite, then I think that is fine because Bowdoin could rationally be your favorite. If you don’t want to apply ED2 to Bowdoin because you want to see what offers you get before deciding, then I think that is also fine because I am skeptical applying ED2 to Bowdoin would change what Bowdoin is going to do anyway.
I understand all colleges mentioned are very unlikely admits. I also understand that you should be prepared to return to your home country after graduation. Is Bowdoin a known college in your home country?
I doubt. I had a talk with an international Nigerian at Bowdoin this week and she said they’re just two Nigerians at Bowdoin as we speak.
It’s this part that I think I was indirectly asking in the question. I must say that I applied to a good number of schools that are need-blind like Notre Dame, Georgetown and some that also have full-ride scholarships like Howard and Xavier University of Louisiana (CC may tag the wrong Xavier).
Since my college list is so robust and I really would want to see how far my application can take me, would just applying RD to Bowdoin be a smart move?
I know someone that chose Bowdoin over Princeton and has no regrets.
I think it probably happens more than we think it does. There are my reasons one would choose an LAC over an ivy university (undergrad feel, small school, maybe just the location, a certain EC).
If your parents would allow it and the NPC is affordable, I do think applying ED2 is worth it if Bowdoin is your top choice. From my (mostly anecdotal) knowledge, applying ED to an LAC does help much more than at bigger universities. Although the ED rate is undoubtedly inflated by hooked applicants, Bowdoin is one of the schools that takes over 50% of their incoming class ED. The same goes for most of the SLACs.
While Georgetown is need-blind for admissions, they do not meet full demonstrated need.
For context, Bowdoin’s CDS reports an overall acceptance rate for international applicants of 1.86%.
Personally I think that I would stick with RD, and then just be patient and see what happens.
In general universities are looking for students who are a good fit for them. I guess that I have some faith in expecting that quite often they will get it right.
Perhaps you should only switch to ED2 at Bowdoin if you have some confidence that it really is the best choice for you.
If one questions ED or RD, they should RD.
ED should have zero questions attached.
I think this is too absolutist, especially in the context of ED providing an admissions boost in some instances and at certain schools.
We know of many kids who have EDd, were admitted to a fabulous school, and yet still asked themselves “gee, I wonder if I could have gotten into HYPS RD”. And then they move on, and are happy.
The conventional wisdom at my son’s prep school was that if you wanted to attend top LACs (Williams, Amherst, Bowdoin, Swarthmore) or U Chicago you needed to apply ED to maximize your chances.
This applied specifically to students who had tippy top applications and was evidenced by the eventual results of kids getting into Ivies but rejected from the aforementioned LACs or WL from Chicago during RD round.
I know two kids that did one and done EDs to Williams and Swarthmore. Based on their peer’s results they certainly would have had some ivy acceptances. Both seemed very happy and are very successful professionally.
OP your decision on whether or not to ED is personal. EDing will likely give you your best likelihood of getting in to Bowdoin. If admitted you may question what other RD options could have been. Conversely however (given the low acceptance rates at these schools) you could find yourself rejected at all of your top choices wondering if ED would have made a difference.
I would consider carefully if you would be happy at Bowdoin as “a top choice”. If so I wouldn’t waste the opportunity to maximize your chances by not EDing, but again it’s personal with no right or wrong answer.
OP: The above is your situation in a nutshell. Although I do wonder whether or not you understand the extreme difficulty of getting admitted to NY of your three targeted schools.
As an aside: Interesting comments regarding EDing from what I presume to be an elite private prep school.
SPS, for example, notes, “the College Advising Office routinely encourages students to think strategically about their early applications.”
I am very familiar with SPS , but all of the Board members and other officers are now inactive.
Thank you for posting this information. Found the next to last paragraph to be the most interesting regarding the colleges to which SPS students received the most acceptances. Used to be Georgetown & Brown consistently year after year, but now is Georgetown, Columbia, Hamilton, UC-San Diego, and a few others. Nevertheless, regarding several elite schools–especially top ranked LACs, it would be wrong to discount the personal connections. Seemed like most students preferred National Universities as the elite LACs were too similar to the SPS boarding school experience and the ambitious students were ready to move on.
P.S. Although we have veered off topic, I just checked SPS’ college matriculations (not acceptances) over the last 3 years. In order of most matriculations: Georgetown (28), Brown (24), Columbia (24), & Yale (22) dominated. U Virginia (18) and Harvard had just (15) over the most recent 3 years.
Please stick to the OP’s question. The side bar about SPS and other colleges that are not being considered by the OP is off topic. Thank you for your understanding.
Absolutely not. It could be a very reasonable decision depending on the type of college you prefer. Bowdoin is a terrific school. Harvard is a huge name, but not necessarily the best choice for many.
Maybe. OP is from Nigeria. May be an issue abroad with name recognition that can have serious impact on one’s career & opportunities.
I would just emphasize that I think the considerations for domestic applicants and needy International applicants are typically so radically different that I would not try to apply any information primarily or exclusively regarding domestic ED outcomes to needy Internationals like the OP.