Or one reach, one hard target? We will apply for financial aid, but can also find a way to make it work if they are accepted into one of their top five schools ED.
Obviously only apply ED if you are committed to going.
That said, the ED bump varies greatly at different schools. Some give almost no advantage while at other schools it can be a HUGE advantage.
Which schools?
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If they are affordable and those are the schools they 100% want to be at over others.
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Tufts and Cornell (CALS) - both major reaches. They also have a few lower down the list but still very hard targets or even reaches that they love.
This is only an opinion. It would seem to me that test optional would be best for the very high stat student who on the whole didn’t test well. I would think a good but not exceptional student would benefit from the bump a high test score might give them. In my opinion if all they have is their transcript then that is what they will be judged on. If the scores are below the schools average but the grades are above then it might make sense. Again just my opinion. Good luck.
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Cornell only offers ED, while Tufts offers ED1 and ED2. So, if those are the absolute top choices that also work financially, pick one to apply ED. Or you can apply ED to Cornell and if rejected, apply ED2 to Tufts. CALS is test blind so the test optional won’t even matter there.
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In recent years the ED acceptance rate at Cornell is three times higher than the RD rate, so that seems like a pretty good bump. I didn’t see ED data on the Tufts CDS so not sure how much it helps there.
As the prior poster pointed out, Cornell only offers ED while Tufts offers ED1 and ED2. I’d consider ED at Cornell if that’s a legit first choice. If deferred or rejected, you could apply ED2 to Tufts (not sure how much it helps) or to another top choice school where it could help more. What’s your next choice?
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I generally do not think strategically applying ED is a good idea, such that I agree you should only apply ED (1 or 2) if that is your top (remaining) choice, and you know it would be comfortably affordable, and you don’t have an interest in comparing offers.
That said, if you do want to apply to ED strategically, you should understand it doesn’t make much sense for a college to admit you ED if it wouldn’t want to admit you RD too. And in fact they simply reject those applicants, or sometimes defer them if they are not sure.
So your best bet for an ED “match” is a college where you are relatively confident they will want you. Ideally this would be a “Likely”, or at least a softer “Target”. Conversely, it is most likely to be “wasted” if you choose a true “Reach”.
The problem, of course, is many people “sell” the idea of ED being a way to get into a college that is higher-ranked than you could get into without ED. I really do not think that is a likely outcome.
But if there is a particular Likely or Target on your list where you think you are a really good fit for them, and an early answer would let you shut everything down, then sure, go for it.
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The also really like BU. I am going to take them to visit some other smaller schools to see if they like the vibe, but the schools just a bit further down are very, very different - Wesleyan, Vassar, Conn College. We are still building a list.
I would be so curious to see the breakdown of admitted students stats for CALS, but not sure where to look.
Cornell is test recommended starting next year. If the school is not test blind (some of theirs are, not sure if they’ll remain) - I wouldn’t bother with Cornell. Many schools are requiring tests now - or in Cornell’s case, doing so without mandating.
They clearly want a test.
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CALS is test blind. They clearly don’t want a test.
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Well…if you apply ED2 to BU, and assuming you are high stats since you are considering Cornell…you will very likely get in to BU ED2. So definitely only apply ED2 there if you really want to go!
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It’s school by school at Cornell. CALS and Art/Architecture are test blind.
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It should be noted, however, that the ED acceptance rate includes recruited athletes as well as legacy and a higher admittance rate for NY residents for their contract colleges.
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CALS is a contract college and we are NYS residents if that helps.
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Correct - I don’t know the school the student was choosing - that’s why I noted for those not test blind.
In 2026, all schools required (for anyone looking ahead):
So IMO this REALLY depends on the school. For example, Tulane admit rate for ED is historically almost 70 percent, and their EA+RD admit rate is single digit. At our school the kids admitted to Tulane are almost all ED, even with lower stats (and many below Tulane mid-50) than those rejected RD.
Likewise, at our high school our salutatorian and several other very high stat applicants were rejected or waitlisted from BU - three years in a row now - while each year 2 students were admitted ED with stats below “typical” stats for BU
Similarly, at our school the Villanova only admitted ED students both with stats slightly below their mid-50, and rejected or deferred all the other applicants including those with much higher stats.
In contrast (and to your point), at our school BC truly only admits students with certain stats, regardless of whether they apply ED or RD.
So…I think it varies A LOT by school.
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Yes, this is a good point at Cornell, especially when the “higher” ED acceptance rate is still only about 20 percent. At schools like the ones I mentioned where the ED acceptance rate is 50-70%+ I don’t think the athletes and legacies are a big impact
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Do you know of a way to see the ED admits by college at Cornell?