We are Virginia residents and W&M has been a longtime top choice for my junior DD. We are getting to the point where she is making her list and plan but is stumped on whether to just go for ED1 at W&M or to try first for a big reach - Brown is currently her choice if she should try that reach. She’s planning on a non-medical school biology major, not fully fleshed out yet but something in genetics leading to research down the road, possibly biomedical engineering. She goes to a STEM magnet school 1/2 time and base school the rest of the time. 1480 PSAT which she’s working to bring up, 4.4 weighted and rising and many AP’s. Very good but not stellar extracurriculars in our opinion, not hooked. She is a phenomenal writer and and out-of-the box thinker, but can also be rather dreamy and creative. She likes the W&M vibe and I think would be happy there, but it feels sort of anticlimactic to her somehow to ED1 there. She liked Hopkins but we’re worried it’s going to be too cut-throat for her and too many pre-meds. Brown has just recently come up as a possibility. She probably won’t get in but is wondering if it’s worth a shot. Can anyone advise?
I personally think you should only ED if it is a clear top choice. You don’t want to spend your college career thinking “what if”. It doesn’t sound like it is that to her.
She thinks she’d be happy there and it is a match (not a safety) for her but she gets very stressed out trying to determine what is THE top choice for her.
Nobody here should answer that for you – assuming all options are affordable, it needs to be your D’s choice. In general, I’m only a fan of ED if a school is the applicant’s 100% top choice and there will be zero regrets if accepted.
I think W&M has ED2 (you need to confirm) so that could be an option if she takes a shot with an ED application elsewhere.
If your D would choose Brown ( or Johns Hopkins or anywhere else) over William and Mary, she should not apply there Early Decision 1. If she loves Brown, I don’t see any downside in applying early to Brown. If that doesn’t work out, she can always apply ED2 to William and Mary. … and for the sake of full disclosure my son is an out of state STEM major at William and Mary who applied ED1. It was his clear first choice and he preferred it to more prestigious schools. He absolutely loves it there and has no regrets. You are very lucky to have W&M as an in state option and I think your D’s chances of admission are very good even in the regular round. Have her do the optional interview: word on the street is that can only help and goes a long way to show interest.
It does have ED2. But she won’t make a choice. The more we try to get her to narrow it down, the more stressed she gets. She’s one of these very intellectual but not practical types. I think it’s a subtle form of rebellion as well, to be honest!
Maybe the reason for the stress is that it is currently too soon to make a decision? Sounds like Brown only recently even came onto her radar, maybe this is making her realize that her desires are still (understandably) in flux. She has 9+ months before the ED deadline. I would leave the topic alone for now.
Agree with putting the discussion on hold for now – she has plenty of time to mull it over. Perhaps revisit her top couple of choices early next fall.
Probably a good idea. Maybe we are pushing it too soon. Husband and I are goal-oriented planners.
In this case I’d recommend listening to your D…she isn’t ready to commit yet. And that is OK.
FWIW we revisited my D’s top two schools in the early fall of her senior year and after those visits she did have a very clear top choice – she was thrilled to be accepted ED.
I don’t want to diminish your kids enthusiasm for Brown but it is a school that I would suggest really digging into before EDing. My kid is a graduate and had a great experience.
It is however a somewhat unique and idiosyncratic community and learning environment. I think there are many schools that have a lot in common with one another and where most kids would be happy. Brown is not one of those schools.
Between the open curriculum, extreme political activism, “quirky” kids, being up on “the hill” adjacent to a city, the happy ivy, etc the school tends to be a great fit for some and not so much for others.
If this fit can’t be expressed in the application or articulated as the rationale for EDing I would reconsider.
For unhooked applicants applying ED does provide a most advantage. The language they use is deliberate in that is intended to warn applicants that the standards aren’t lowered at any point through the admissions process. In other words no shortcuts but the school does admit about half its class via ED, so if unhooked early can work to your advantage.
Hope this helps and wishing you good luck.
Are you full pay ? If so, does the $47k delta x 4 so $188k matter to you?
Here’s a few thoughts - I’m not sure most in society will differentiate the two rep wise and the major is not high paying in general. W&M’s rep is golden - forget US News whose criteria is useless. If people don’t see it on par with Ivy, it’s certainly not far below.
That she’s unsure says not to ED at all. Her mind is moving and will continue to move as you visit schools and she researches more in the next 9 months.
And guess what - Brown has little, if any advantage, in ED. And she’s likely to get into W&M RD although I want to confirm your UW GPA. Weighted GPA doesn’t really show performance as all weight differently. But it sounds like it will be high 3s….and what is the highest level of math that will be achieved.
No one needs to ED.
Here is what Brown says
Please do not assume that your admission chances are improved by applying under the Early Decision plan. The Board of Admission makes the same decisions under Early Decision that it would under the Regular Decision plan.
Good luck.
There is plenty of time before application season. There is also nothing wrong with not wanting to ED anywhere and wait and see what all your admit options are before making a choice. My D19 ED’d because she had a clear, no-regrets, all-in top choice. We are taking the second route with C26 - she has a top choice which doesn’t offer ED but even if it did would not do that but wait to see what offers were in and maybe do a couple of admitted student days before deciding. Different things work for different kids and that’s ok.
This is great, thank you! Her unweighted is a 4.0 or very close. Highest math will be Calc BC. She’s also taken 4 years of Latin when it was not offered by her school (took through VVA) with an A+ average. First AP exam was a 5 in World History; she’s taking 4 AP’s this year. There is an advantage in applying to W&M ED so that would be why she’d do it (as well as it being a very good fit for her). But I knew there wasn’t much advantage at Brown or most of the big reaches. Regular decision scares us; we’ve heard that it’s like the Wild West where anything can happen - but it’s our first kid through and this is all new to us.
She is not a political activist type at all but is a one-of-a kind thinker with a whole bunch of different interests. She is introverted and quirky. Other younger kid is 100% normal so I can say that she is a pretty unique individual.
For the person that asked about finances - when we run the NPC’s it looks like we’ll be full pay at W&M but get aid from other more expensive places that usually looks roughly equivalent to that, maybe 10K more a year or so. W&M is not cheap for us but the in-state tuition helps.
Brown is not a match. It is a very high reach for all. Her PSAT is not going to be submitted and is low for Brown.
If she has no top choice, she shouldn’t ED.
I dont believe in dream schools and we are too poor to ED. My current senior still hasnt chosen a college and after years of her having a major chosen actually changed it after apps went out after doing a collegd tour and talking to professors.
I would be careful to not push yogr preference for planning on her. Id focus on having fun and visiting different rypes of colleges. We found open houses more informational than just tours.
Why did she love the Brown campus over W&M? What have been her likes abd dislikes on college tours?
I agree it’s too soon to lock in a decision at this point junior year. She still has ~9 months to decide, which is a long time for teenagers. I wouldn’t pressure her into deciding. Let her focus on finishing up junior year strong and work towards a decision over the summer. And I agree with those suggesting she could ED1 at Brown at then ED2 at W&M.
Didn’t you say she is a HS JUNIOR? That being the case…she doesn’t need to make a choice now. At.all.
I’d put this discussion to rest for now. She might find some other college that she likes even better than WM and Brown before ED1 or ED2 applications need to be sent…in the fall.
That was me on the $47k full pay. So Brown will give aid.
Assuming the SAT is 1450+, she’s going to get in RD at W&M in my opinion.
The bigger issue - the student has pushed back and you are 8-9 months from needing a 100% formalized list. And I presume you will do visits - and her mind will change 10x potentially between now and then. Heck my kid changed majors four times his last two years of hs and ended up at a college he had zero interest in vs where he loved bcuz hs friends invited him to visit with them. And then he was floored.
Even if you locked in today as a planner, it’s 50/50 at best that plan would come true in 10 mos.
So if she’s burnt out, I saw a great suggestion on another thread.
Set up an hour or 30 mins a week to talk colleges. Anything outside of that is her doing research.
And if she didn’t get into W&M, Brown, or Hopkins, there’s a zillion schools where you can study bio and get as great an outcome.
So I’d shelve ED and revisit later. Crazy to apply ED because you are afraid to take a shot elsewhere that you prefer is crazy.
If she ends up loving - I’ll just throw out schools like size - Emory, Elon, Wake, Miami, Denver, case Western, Pitt (a bit bigger) - they are all out the window if she applies ED.
One thing against RD is it’s harder for females. One thing for is 40%+ go TO and you’ll have a test I’m guessing. That’s a big help.
Anyway ED might be the thing on 9 months but let her come to that decision.
And there’s lots of back up publics, even smaller, if it doesn’t work.
Good luck
I would put this on the back burner for now. She doesn’t have to make a decision in January of her junior year.
If I remember correctly, your daughter had some social issues at her current school. I would give her time to sort those out (if she has not already).
Both schools will get her where she wants to be, career wise. And- she may change her mind.