applicants be*
Regular decision notification is March 5
Not sure i see any benefit to applying EA versus RD at Tech.
EA Deadline - 12/1 and Decision - 2/22 (83 days later)
RD Deadline - 1/15 and Decision - 3/5 (49 days later)
RD decisions released just 11 days after EA.
I guess a positive will be that there will not be any deferrals from the EA round to RD.
@DCNatFan I agree. See my post #95 in this thread from back on Dec 10.
Well learning 2-3 weeks earlier is nice.
But I will mention what was told us on the tour - “DO NOT APPLY REGULAR ADMISSION”
The speaker for the admissions department said that it will be much harder to get in regular admission as they will select most students from the EA pool. There may not be a lot of spots left in Regular Admission compared to EA.
This is different from some schools that say EA is harder and will be easier when feed into Regular Admission.
Its also possible - being they are new to EA that they hedged their date on EA in case of issues. They may come in much earlier.
If you did not advance for the scholarship for the COE, is that a sign that you won’t be offered admission to Tech?
@coffeebuddy If you are referring to the Davenport Scholarship, the answer is no - it’s no sign at all. Stage 2 of that scholarship is offered to very few applicants.
@STEM2017 Thank you for replying.
If your application is being considered for the Honors College, do they let you know in advance you are being considered, or do you just find out in March?
I appreciate VT trying to revamp their application procedure to “say ‘yes’ to more students,” however, requiring the students to register and fill out an entirely new application (Coalition App) when the majority of them have already complete the Common App is not making the process simpler or easier. Also, writing 4 short-answer essays when, again, most students have already written one longer essay for the Common App and/or in 12th grade English class is not making the process any more accessible. If VT really wanted to make this process more accessible to students, they would require Common app with no supplemental essays. In a vacuum, yes, VT’s process would possibly be better, but we should give these kids the opportunity to apply to multiple schools easily, especially if finances are going to be an issue, so that way, they can compare awards and see what works best for their family.
@duoren You make an excellent point but I must take the other side of the argument. The reason so many schools have become ‘out of reach’ for so many applicants is precisely because the application is so easy to submit. Most schools that join the Common App see huge spikes in applications which allows the admissions department to be much more selective. Georgia Tech is an example.
Because VT has a more individual application, it allows the applicant to truly express why they want to be a Hokie. If the essays are too generic the admissions officers may deny the applicant no matter how strong their stats.
Just my two cents.
Good luck to you!
@STEM2017 I agree if they make it that easy to apply, like removing the supplemental essays on the common app then you would see students apply to as many schools as they can afford to. Top students may apply and get into 20 schools so that they have lots of options but that would leave many students not being able to get into a school like Virginia Tech because all of the students with 1500 SATs would be admitted. I think if the student wants to attend the school they should have to do extra writing to show that they truly want to attend. I am sure the acceptance rate at Virginia Tech will be much lower this year due to the increase in applications through the coalition app.
I don’t understand the argument Common app vs. Coalition app. Its luck of the draw I guess as far as if you have to do both or not. All of the primary schools in Virginia seem to take the Coalition…so Tech doing the Common app would mean Tech is doing something different. I much prefer they do Coalition app.
As far as essays - many schools ask for individual prompts and Tech actually has very short prompts. I’m surprised they don’t use the coalition essay too but the way they have it worded it seems to me they plan on many applying just to Tech and skipping other parts of coalition essay.
If anything to complain about it would be having to complete SRAR when all of that is already in the Coalition app. I think they haven’t had the time to create a dabase link to the coalition and had to stick with SRAR this year. I imagine they will eventually transition to pulling the data from Coalition app instead.
I’m curious about how students are handled that are admitted Early Decision, but still have applications at other schools that they are waiting to hear from before “committing”. My understanding was that all other applications needed to be removed after being admitted Early Decision. My daughter did not do ED specifically for that reason, however a few students at her school did ED (one for engineering) and were accepted, but they haven’t withdrawn other applications because they want to consider their options. I’m so disappointed in these kids because they are “holding spots” that they may not fill. Other than losing the deposit, these kids feel like there is no consequence. I’m just curious…
@coffeebuddy Is that even legal to do so? Isn’t that why they need the agreement to be signed by the student, parents and counselor? That’s squatting!
Honestly, I think the ED commitment ends up being the honor system. If a kid changes his mind, I can’t see the University spending any time and resources to make them attend. Plus a kid could say something as simple as “going through life changes, unable to attend” and the Uni wouldn’t be able to do anything about it. I’m sure they just take the deposit money and move on to the next person.
Backing out of an ED commitment puts a stain on the high school. If the renege is a one-off for good reason, and doesn’t happen often, the high school will be fine. But if it happens more than once at a particular high school, future applicants are put at risk. Unfortunately, some ‘generation-me’ kids are not overly concerned with future generations of HS applicants. But some guidance counselors take this VERY seriously and will not sign the commitment unless they are very comfortable with the applicant.
Sadly, most people I speak hardly consider ED a binding agreement. The immediate response is typically, “well we don’t have to commit if we don’t like the financial aid package.”
IMO, there’s very little good about ED.
Are you maybe confusing ED vs EA? Early Action had to commit by the middle of January. I would think they checked the number of students who accepted those and that’s how they know now the number of students who will be accepted ED. My understanding is that ED students don’t have to commit until May.
@MELTUTTLE I think you have the two mixed up. ED is a binding decision and EA is just an earlier decision that’s non-binding. It’s disappointing that kids would apply ED and not honor the agreement. My D17 applied ED to NYU since she knew she wanted to attend since age 12. Her father and I knew what we were getting into financially so we allowed it. Once accepted, she withdrew all other outstanding applications and declined the two acceptances that came earlier.
Early decision is binding. Early action is just notification before regular decision. The kids that applied to Tech ED found out in December. These are the kids I was referring to. We have been told that applying ED at Tech might be an advantage because they know you are committed to attend. Of course, you need to be qualified to be accepted, but even a slight advantage under false pretenses (not planning to withdraw other college applications if accepted ED) is unfortunate.