Should I even consider Williams ED?

You have a strong application so you shouldn’t question your admissibility to any school you are interested in, but you should come up with a layered plan. Not every student who gets admitted to the schools you have listed has a perfect academic record taking the most rigorous classes possible. That being said, the top schools in the NESCAC are extremely competitive in general but how tight a squeeze admission wise can vary. In my view they fit into fit into categories mostly based on size. The most difficult are Williams, Amherst & Bowdoin. They are all about the same size (between 1800-2000 students) of which roughly 1/3 are athletes. Those are real tight admits. The next rung I would put Middlebury, Tufts and Wesleyan. Middlebury is about 2600 students, Wesleyan 3200 and Tufts 5900. It’s way less of a tight squeeze with those three if you aren’t an athlete or lack some other hook. The good news is that if you decide to go for it with an ED to Williams, you can back it up with an ED2 to Bowdoin, Middlebury, Tufts or even Wesleyan if you have interest. The one caveat there is Bowdoin is a tighter fit than the others that offer ED2, so factor that in. If you decided to go this route I would also apply to a couple EA schools (Michigan, Pittsburgh and UVA?) and also have 3 or 4 target / safety type schools to apply to for regular decision just to cover yourself. It’s just not a good idea to have a list of exclusively Ivy League and top NESCACs even with a competitive resume like yours. Good luck.

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