<p>I am applying to ED at a school, but it is a little bit of a reach. How do I prepare for a rejection? Should I start writing essays for other schools, just to have them ready? Also, even if I’m applying ED to that school, can I still submit regular decision apps early, and then withdraw them if I get admitted?</p>
<p>Yes, have applications ready for other schools, and in your GC’s hands… Don’t wait to do this until you hear about ED because if you’re rejected, you’ll be too depressed to do a great job with your other applications. The GC office also will be very backed up.</p>
<p>Unless you’d be applying to schools with early RD application priority dates or to schools that have an early date for applicants who want to be considered for merit aid, you probably won’t need to send your RD applications in until after you hear about your ED school. If, though, you’ve submitted RD applications and you get an ED acceptance, you just immediately write the RD colleges and ask them to withdraw your applications.</p>
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<p>Sure, but think of it this way: if you’re accepted to your ED school, you just wasted the application fees to all the RD schools to which you’ve sent in the applications early.</p>
<p>For my son, we decided that the psychological benefits of doing the RD applications beforing hearing about the early (in his case, EA) admission outweighed the cost of the application fees.</p>
<p>Actually, what I meant was, work on the RD applications early but don’t send out the majority of them until you hear back from the ED college.</p>
<p>^ I was concerned about the fees, too. Also, do you pay the fee right after submitting you portion, or after everything (recs, transcript) are submitted?</p>
<p>Yeah, I’ve already started RD back up supplemenets in case I’m rejected ED so it’s a good idea! Not even just for emotional distress but because you’ll be busy with school in December.</p>
<p>Definitely complete and send in a couple of rolling or EA (if permitted under the ED contract with your desired school) applications, just for peace of mind. If you have a couple of acceptances under your belt already, it will help cushion the blow if you receive bad new in December.</p>
<p>Actually, there is another advantage to doing a few of these other applications BEFORE doing your all-important ED application…
and that is that doing the other applications will help you sharpen and hone your ED application…it will be much more polished after you get some “practice” with the other applications.</p>
<p>I’d agree with elbeen on this one. A friend of mine applied ED to a school, was sure he’d get in and didn’t. He was so stressed in December sending out apps and doing tons of essay drafts, he ended up not caring after a certain point.</p>