Sure, but all of this assumes that a student actually knows what they want and has a ranked their choices as of the fall of their senior year --some seniors haven’t even turned seventeen yet when the early deadlines roll around. Maybe the kid still isn’t sure whether they want large vs. small, sunny California vs snowy New England, urban vs rural, comparative literature vs computer science. I do think that if you have already gotten into one affordable college that you like, it would be strange to apply to ten more, but I also think the point of any early action process is that it gives the student the opportunity to decide in May. I don’t really see the big difference between putting in regular decision application after being admitted EA to University of Chicago or MIT (both of which offer an unrestricted early action and send December decisions) vs. putting in RD apps after an acceptance to Harvard or Stanford (both of which set limit on early applicants and send December decisions). If those schools really wanted to bind their applicants, they would only offer ED and RD. By offering any flavor of early action program, colleges are acknowledging that admitted applicants might ultimately decide that they prefer another school.
This isn’t correct. Stanford specifically except merit:
- any college/university with an early deadline for a scholarship or special academic program, as long as:
- the decision is non-binding; and
- applying early is required in order to be considered for the scholarship or program.
Regular Decision and Restrictive Early Action : Stanford University
Harvard’s language is essentially identical:
You may apply for scholarships or special academic programs with an early deadline at another institution, public or private, if the timing is proven to be a necessary aspect for consideration, and the outcome is non-binding
https://college.harvard.edu/resources/faq/if-i-apply-r-early-action-harvard-may-i-apply-another-colleges-early
Yale’s language again exempts USC (since it notifies after Jan 1):
The early admissions program is an Early Decision or Early Action program that notifies applicants after January 1
https://admissions.yale.edu/single-choice-early-action
And although Princeton doesn’t explicitly say so AFAIK, D18 was allowed to apply elsewhere (USC, Fordham and Julliard) in addition to SCEA because ballet application deadlines were early (we asked).
Absolutely. It needs to be their process. Also important to consider is pervasive peer influence. I think your kid attends a private school, as does mine, and many of these students have an unshakable notion of what a “good college” is. It would have taken some aggressive deprogramming to reject those influences, although we, as adults, know a great education can be found at hundreds of different colleges.
I think one of the reasons my D24 felt the need to apply ED to the more selective school was due to this influence (as well as the fact that her sister goes to an under 5% admit school and she felt she needed to live up to a perceived family expection). Without her actually telling me this outright, I do think she felt that attending a school with a 40-50% admit rate would have not been seen as “good enough” for her, by her (and perhaps by peers and her sister?). She kept saying she would have been happy at any of the 3 likelies, but I wonder if she was trying to convince herself of that as a form of self-preservation. And of course I hate to admit that her school and home environment might have contributed to this, but I suppose it is what it is. I also am aware of the elitism and privilege in this belief. In the end, the schools my kids attend/will attend could not be more different (in size, location, academic structure and overall vibe). So I also think D24 needed to distinguish herself in this way by choosing a different but still selective path. It’s complicated! Sigh.
Yes, I agree some amount of uncertainty is understandable, so continuing at least a small number of applications after an REA/SCEA admission with a good financial aid package may still make sense in those circumstances.
But again, if you apply unrestricted EA to Chicago or MIT, you can also apply ED elsewhere, EA elsewhere, and so on. In fact, you might, say, prefer Princeton to Chicago but prefer Brown and MIT to both, and so you ED Brown and EA MIT and Chicago. This is going to be a common sort of scenario, and obviously does not imply you prefer Chicago to Princeton. You only applied EA to Chicago instead of Princeton because Chicago was less restrictive.
But if instead of EDing Brown and EAing Chicago and MIT, if you SCEA Princeton, now you can’t apply ED to Brown or EA to Chicago or MIT. So usually this would mean you prefer Princeton to all those colleges. There could be exceptions, and you could change your mind, but again I don’t think it is controversial to point out the fact Princeton is SCEA and Chicago is unrestricted EA (MCEA?) means it is likely a lot more people will EA Chicago without it being their top choice.
OK, so you get into Princeton SCEA with as good a financial package as you can hope to get, and then apply RD to Chicago. It is a more understandable question to me why someone would do that than the other way around. And if the actual answer is the kid or family wants to be able to brag they got into Chicago, despite knowing they are going to Princeton, and when lots of other kids including in their peer group will try and fail to get admitted to Chicago, then I do think even if that doesn’t mean they literally took a spot from those kids, that is still the sort of behavior I would see as uncool and indeed unethical (in a relatively mild) way.
Again, I agree this is not the only possible answer, this is a worst case scenario, but I do think it happens sometimes.
But I truly do not mean to encourage kids to spend time worrying about this sort of thing. I understand why they think it is uncool, but I also understand and agree with the point it really does not have any sort of practical implications for them. So I agree they should really just not make it their business, regardless of how they might feel about the ethics.
So true. On the one hand, I did kinda do some mildly aggressive deprogramming, and I think it at least partially helped S24 form priorities independent of “prestige”/selectivity. On the other, I think the fact his “surprise” additions at the end were high prestige/highly selective colleges was very likely partially influenced by the fact his friends and peers were scrambling to optimize across these colleges. And while I am not sure he would put it this way, I think it is plausible he just was not comfortable being out of that game entirely at this stage.
And so I still hope whatever decision he makes in the end is independent from peer pressure and such. On the other hand, it is not like he is applying to any colleges that I think he would not thrive at. So really, whatever in the end leaves him excited about where he is going will be fine with me.
Yes, I did some active deprogramming too. Which is why when we started the process, we looked at 50% and over admit rate schools to take seriously and apply to. She founds things to like about all of them. Her friends were puzzled by some of the schools on her list, as they hadn’t considered safeties until the end of their search. Edited to add: The ED school ended being a really good fit for her, and she’s super excited – and I am under no illusions that the other, less selective, schools couldn’t have worked well, too.
I’m looking forward to seeing how your son’s process plays out. Now that things are settled here, I can cheer the other CC families on and hope for the best for all of these kids.
It’s a fine line between being aspirational and chasing prestige for its own sake. Although I consider S24’s list a little reach heavy, each school was a considered choice (by him) and he didn’t shotgun T20’s or apply to all the Ivies. I think he would be happy at any of the schools on his list - including his safety, McGill, which he liked just as much as a couple of the schools that are much tougher admits. In terms of the deprogramming (probably a little easier for a public school kiddo), I just emphasized that he will do well wherever he goes and that 4 years doesn’t define the rest of your life (how sad that would be). I’m sure he’ll be a little disappointed if he doesn’t get into any of his more aspirational choices, but as long as he has a couple of choices to pick from at the end (and I believe he will) of the process, I think he’ll be satisfied.
I saw someone asking to state Stats once accepted so here we go: NEU
S24 (Asian male) had an (decent, but not perfect) unweighted 3.88 GPA (3.95 if you discard his difficult Freshman year) with 8 APs and numerous honors classes at a very competitive and rigorous HS. Decent extracurruculars - Captain of a D1 States winning Varsity sport, President of a large non profit with lots of community service hours (for which he was recognized in several newsletters), summer jobs and medical internships. Great LOCs. His school does not rank. He did not apply to any T20s.
He applied ED to a school he loves and could see himself going there, and what probably would have been a high likely for him in the ED round (according to Naviance) and a tough reach in the RD round. He has zero regrets about not aiming higher (his peers urged him to) and is pleased with the result.
Hope this is helpful.
Which school ?
Added in my paragraph
Although I would say S24’s list was mostly reasonably well considered, there is one that was added last minute because a close friend who was a recruited athlete there told him there was no supplement. We obviously didn’t visit yet, but it is on paper a credible choice.
So if he actually ends up there, I will probably never stop laughing about the absurdity of all this. So much effort to approach this systematically, and potentially a word from a friend about the ease of applying could be the decisive factor . . . .
Question - does your kid have a linked in profile and is that something AOs may look at? Daughter said her friend created one (though they are looking at top 20s, we aren’t).
My son has one and is active on it, hasn’t seen anyone. However, he had lots of classmates on it after early decision trying to figure him out.
Yes S24 has had one for a few years and is active on it. Many people say AOs don’t have time to look up kids online etc. I don’t know how much that is entirely true, maybe if scholarships are involved etc there might be some digging? He can see who viewed his profile and he has seen anon profiles but tracked to colleges he applied to viewing him. And they appeared after he submitted his applications.
Agree, I was curious if an interviewer would look too.
When you visit definitely go to South campus where the PT school is located. You might even want to call PT department to see if you can meet with someone. This is where students spend their last 3 years and they have some classes there even before that. We went on our own but were fortunate to have a faculty member give us an impromptu tour. The facilities are impressive as was the faculty member who so kindly took an hour to show us around and tell us more about the program.
Congratulations to your son and best of luck to him wherever he chooses to go!
Will do, thanks!
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What’s fun meal to prepare WITH S36S36 and friend. Trying to make some fun activities
Skip the BSMD app.