Haverford, Reed, Grinnell, or Williams

am61517
Tue, 27 Oct 2015 23:24:04 +0000

Swarthmore’s honors program provides the intimate teaching environment your son seems to be seeking while having a culture more in line with his preferences. Williams is an awesome college, but definitely preppy jocky outdoorsy.

For ranking/perception purposes all colleges are seeking to reduce their admit rate and increase their yield. It is true that historically ED/EA were predominantly for hooked applicants (recruited athletes and legacies). This is no longer the case, and most admissions officers will tell you there is a clear advantage to applying early. This is particularly true among the top LACs and the all universities competing against HYPS for students. They want to lock in the students that are qualified to get into the very top schools, but would rather have a guaranteed admit at a school they like and not risk the RD crapshoot. Williams consistently has an ED admit rate in the low 40s and an RD rate in the low teens. Even Harvard has an SCEA admit rate in the low 20’s and an RD rate in the low single digits. Demonstrating interest through an ED/EA application for an unhooked applicant makes a substantial difference in a rankings/selectivity crazed environment in which schools are focused on improving their relative statistical position.