<p>FWIW…DS applied only to EA or rolling schools (11 total). He got deferred (and then turned down) at one (U Chicago - the only tippy-top school), accepted at the rest, most in honors colleges and/or with merit aid (for those just tuning in, DS is graduating this year but taking a gap year, so I’m hanging out with both groups). It did really take the pressure off - his friends are just now recovering.</p>
<p>BerneseMtn–yes, our kids are using that. I actually have set up Cappex accounts for them as well so I can keep track of stuff too–and they don’t have the blocks our school has on the acceptance/deny stats (for privacy). I don’t have access to their school accounts for Naviance, I could get their passwords if I asked. Cappex was just easier.</p>
<p>Hmmm, never heard that EA is tougher. And funny you mention Notre Dame. Ds1 applied to ND RD and they moved him to EA and offered him a spot immediately! We were not expecting that. His stats were good – above avg for ND – but he wasn’t in the top 25% statswise.</p>
<p>I don’t think ND is saying they are MORE selective in EA, only that they don’t pass out EA acceptances like candy so don’t think this is an automatic in.</p>
<p>We’re going to a college reception tonight for a school ds2 likely will apply to. He’s got so much going on this week – several major tests – but I think this one is important.</p>
<p>I’m just going by what the ad comm said at our visit and what the website said. The ad comm said that they were a lot more selective in their EA apps. I don’t know how many of those EA apps got moved to RD though.</p>
<p>I have heard that the EA and ED pool of applicants are more competitive. It includes only those students who are organized and prepared enough to be ready to apply early, happy enough with their test scores to not need a retake, etc. </p>
<p>Some colleges explicitly state that ED provides an admissions advantage.</p>
<p>At a recent Johns Hopkins reception, I was impressed how honest the rep was about the huge advantage given ED applicants over the RD acceptance rate. Most don’t seem that candid. Of course, ds and I already knew that because of our work with the Common Data Set! It’s all there! ;)</p>
<p>What is Cappex?</p>
<p>Hello - new to CC. don’t know all the acronyms yet so will spell out words, pardon. primary goal is to get as much information for college admission for my daughter. expected SAT scores, GPA. financial aid information is much needed. how to steer her towards a major - she is still undecided.</p>
<p>One very complicating factor is when the application status is linked to merit possibilities. Some schools require the EA/ED application to be considered for their top merit aid. It requires strategery to make the EA/ED/RD decision.</p>
<p>Perazziman- thanks for ED info link.
Youdontsay- what was your feeling about johns Hopkins. Our gc put it on the list for his interest in engineering but we don’t have a feel for the place not having visited.</p>
<p>David, Hopkins was a school we added because someone on cc suggested it. We like its proximity to DC, as ds is interested in studying public policy/IR/poli sci/you get the idea, and we knew it was easier to get into Hopkins than G’town, for instance, and so might be convenient for internships. Anyway, the thinking was that if we ever made a trip to DC to look at schools, then it wouldn’t be too much of a stretch to run down to Baltimore.</p>
<p>Also, I have a good friend who LOVED her ds’s tour at Hopkins. She thought so positively about it that some of the glow rubbed off on me.</p>
<p>Having said that, the reception I went to wasn’t good. I thought the rep definitely was a plus, but several little things conspired to make the reception itself negative. It was two hours long with no refreshments, and we sat on metal chairs. Very uncomfortable. There was a mom of a HS FRESHMAN who monopolized the Q&A portion. The rep tried to shut her down, but the mom was on the front row and obviously oblivious to the daggers being shot at her from the 80+ parents behind her. Still, I don’t want to hold all that against the school. The private school where this reception was being held is mostly to blame for the logistics, I think.</p>
<p>Ds and I agreed that we didn’t hear anything that takes it off the list, but we also didn’t hear anything that propelled it to the top. We went in knowing that the school has strong academics. And we suspect that the FA isn’t quite what others on his list might provide. I was pleasantly surprised to learn how large their IR program is. I wish they had something like other schools we’re looking at to ease the freshman transition – Special Interest Groups, classwide pre-orientation activities, residential college system. </p>
<p>I have a feeling that Hopkins is going to be like Tulane for ds1 – a school we keep on the list to see what money comes through, but first to come off when better offers start coming in.</p>
<p>Youdon’tsay - I recommend looking at American for public policy/IR/polisci George Mason is also an up and coming school that is not as difficult to get into as any of the ones mentioned. It’s close to DC and has a great study abroad program. </p>
<p>Hopkins is “Up” from DC 
and not in the greatest of neighborhoods. The campus is nice, the school is excellent, but the surrounding area ‘just outside’ of campus is scary. I would definitely recommend a visit. Some students are totally fine with it, and it doesn’t bother them one bit. Others don’t really want to be confined to campus. A good friend of mine works at a Hopkins related health facility near the campus and was told by a co-worker recently “Don’t roll your windows down on a sunny day when leaving the parking structure. There’s just been too many car-jackings of our employees, for that to be safe any longer.” </p>
<p>If your daughter would like to do internships and the like in the DC area, definitely Mason, Gtown or American would be better suited as Hopkins is not ‘quite’ as close to Capitol Hill or the State Department as the other three. That being said, it’s a great school and I’m sure they have some sort of shuttle or transpiration for those that do not have their car. </p>
<p>Also, when we visited Seton Hall (outside of NYC) one of the student admissions speakers was an IR major and she told us that they pull some of their professors from the UN. In addition their students have incredible opportunities in NYC. Might be one to add to your list depending on what DS is looking for in a school environment.</p>
<p>At our Duke visit, the admissions officer pointed out that their ED iadmit rate s much higher than the RD rate and that they sadly turn down kids in RD round who would have made it in ED because they are “more selective” having already filled a significant portion of the class with ED. I swear I saw the kids in the audience sit up and start figuring/scenario playing in their heads. Of course, every kid there was convinced that ED was the “way in” to Duke and I was a little concerned at the sudden pressure brought to bear on parents by students to let their kids apply ED to Duke. Remember it is a contract between school and student but the parent has to agree also. …it is a $220K committment…Think about it this way, would you commit to buy a house on so little information with the penalty for backing out the inability to buy another house for a year? </p>
<p>Yes, Duke is “need blind” meaning that they will meet anything above the EFC and minimize loans, but STILL you can’t do ED if you have doubts about whether your EFC is actually doable by your family. So, Duke knows full well that they will get mainly kids applying who are willing to pay full freight and I thought their explanation that having “need blind” admissions did not favor the wealthy was not completely honest.</p>
<p>lauren, loved the Seton Hall suggestion! I did some quickie research and see lots of good (perfect size for ds2), but their FA seems a little sketchy. For us, merit and FA are the primary drivers for college selection.</p>
<p>He’s definitely looking at the three big DC schools. He is beyond excited that this summer he’ll get to spend more than a week at a camp at DC. This will be the deal-breaker or -maker as to whether he wants to go to school in DC. Stay tuned. ;)</p>
<p>I’ve heard all about the “bad” Hopkins area here on cc, though the slide the rep showed in the presentation made the campus look downright bucolic. Being minority and going to HS on a majority-minority campus, ds probably wouldn’t have a problem there at all. But like I said, it’s way down on the list; we’ll probably never make it on campus unless they offer to fly him in for a diversity weekend or something.</p>
<p>Keep Seton Hall on your radar. For students entering fall of 2012, they charged the same tuition price as in-state for Rutgers regardless of your state of residence, as long as you applied by 12/1 I think. Maybe they’ll do it again next year?</p>
<p>Youdon’tsay - Yes. What Reeinaz said about Seton Hall. If you have something like a 1600 SAT (M+CR) you can pay the same price as in-state Rutgers. That’s without financial aid, that’s for everybody. I don’t claim to know a thing about financial aid - but Seton Hall was impressive!</p>
<p>Also, I hope you didn’t mistake my comments about Hopkins ‘bad area’ as something about minorities. Your DS might be a minority, but unless he’s a criminal, he probably won’t like the area around Hopkins. Just saying. I know that sometimes caucasians use the words “bad area” to insinuate that minorities live in that area. I just wanted to clarify that point. I didn’t mean bad area = minorities live there. I meant bad area = car jackings, random shootings and murders. </p>
<p>All that having been said - a family friend and her D looked at Hopkins last summer. Before visiting she was concerned about the surrounding area, etc. After visiting, she reckons her D is more likely to stay on campus, and they both loved the campus, so the Mom is more comfortable with it being her D’s number one choice. If it makes any difference, the family I’m describing is a minority family as well.</p>
<p>A few quick things in addition…</p>
<p>Youdon’tsay - I don’t know how (two posts ago - #4847) I switched your son from a boy to a girl halfway through my comments. Sorry! I’ve got it down now. </p>
<p>fineartsmajormom - Yes. I do think $ has a lot to do with ED being less competitive for some kids. I do think the thing with EA is that schools feel like a student is much more ‘likely to enroll’ if they’ve gone through the trouble with EA than if they just randomly apply RD. That’s just the feeling I get talking with friends in the business and admissions reps at schools. </p>
<p>SteveMA - I have no idea why Notre Dame would be the opposite of everyone else, but then again, they often march to the beat of their own drum, so if it’s working for them, I guess they’ll just keep doing it that way. I wonder if the ~actual~ statistics of whom they admit early vs. whom they admit RD would bear out their insinuation that ‘stronger students’ will get accepted early. Hmmm… that would be an interesting study.</p>
<p>Grandma and S3 had a good time at Claremont McKenna College. They said the information session guy was incredible. My mom was ready to sign herself up to go to college again. The tour guide was evidently not good. Their group was huge (50) and the guide said usually there would be 3 guides but no one else wants to work Wednesday mornings. So they didn’t get to look at a dorm room. Despite the guide, they still liked the school and had lunch on campus at “the hub” which I guess is the university center. What S3 got out of it is that they look at 3 things: strength of schedule, leadership and extracurriculars. Grandma said you should also have a 700 on each section of the SAT or a 32 on the ACT. THey had enough touring so just walked around Pomona college themselves but didn’t take the tour. I guess each college in the Claremont Consortium has a different architecture because they were built at different times. Grandma said it was stunning.</p>
<p>Eek! His CR+M is good but not 1600 perfect. ;)</p>
<p>No worries about the “bad” area. 
I have friends now who can’t believe I send my ds to school in the “bad” part of town despite the fact that it’s the best school in our district, hands down. I never assume someone means something negative until they prove themselves to be “that way.” :D</p>
<p>ETA: tx5, I also thought the info session guy at CMC was amazing. Easily the best I’ve ever seen. Other colleges should sit on on this guy’s spiel and learn.</p>
<p>Interestingly, we looked at Hopkins on our spring break trip as we flew in and out of BWI. S’13 loved the campus and we ate at a place a few blocks off campus and felt fine. I think it does get tough a few blocks beyond that and maybe south of campus. North toward Loyola seems fine, but I’m not from the area, so I don’t know for sure. The campus itself is very pretty and my son was impressed with the the level of undergraduate engagement in research. One of our tour guides is a current freshman and she has a research internship with one of her profs. This is in anthropolgy so the research thing is defintely not limited to the hard sciences or engineering.</p>
<p>Anyway, JHU was moved onto his list from that visit. Fortunately, two schools that were on the list got moved off.</p>