Only if that’s where your student wants to go and where they will thrive. I think that’s what nearly everyone is trying to get across. Trying to game your chances to get into the highest ranked college is silly, EDing to a school where your child really wants to attend, may make sense.
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Hey, you do you.
I’m offering an alternative scenario-- which happens IRL. If it doesn’t work for your particular situation and your kid- then roll the dice and apply ED1 and cross your fingers.
Good luck!
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I can add a student’s perspective. I was allowed to ED to my top choice (it was affordable for us), a reach school that I had a statistically better albeit slim chance at ED vs what I thought was no chance RD. Guess what? I didn’t get in. Was it a wasted ED? Absolutely not. I’m glad I tried because if I didn’t, I’d always be wondering “what if?” And sometimes certain schools want or don’t want certain students- I got into RD and will be attending a school equally as selective as my ED choice.
Moral of the story: shoot your shot to avoid regret, though depending on the personality of the student this may not be the best advice. You know your daughter and we don’t… can she handle rejection? Would it be better for her to be “one and done” in December? But she should make the final decision. “We” are not applying- she is!
Oh, and as for Vandy- 100% of ED admits hold “major leadership positions” or “significant honors”- whatever that means. Not sure of the specifics of her ECs but if she doesn’t have leadership roles then I wouldn’t even apply- ED or RD. She has the stats for an ED admit though, if she can bring the ACT up a point or two (I would still lean towards submitting with a 33). Are you in an underrepresented state? This would be a slight hook for an otherwise unhooked kid and would maybe give a bump in ED.
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Agreed and yes, I saw the 100% leadership thing at Vandy. Wondered if everyone admitted was a leader who would remain for them to lead…
But yes, another point on the ACT appears crucial.
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Had the same exact thought regarding the leadership thing… and “major leadership positions” is so nebulous… what counts as major? A school club? A small country perhaps? But still worthwhile to keep in mind.
On the subject of the ACT, I saw upthread your daughter needs another point on science or math- if reading/English is her strong suit, science is usually easier to bring up. I got a perfect sci score last year; feel free to PM me if she wants any tips. Good luck to her!
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We recently did a tour at Emory and learned during the presentation that pretty much all their admits are natural leaders as well…so clearly a quality that is not as rare as I thought.
But joking aside, I agree 100%, and for the same reason you mention, that bringing the science score up would be a higher probability strategy. She tried in June but only matched her previous 31 score with 5 wrong. Maybe another 2-3 practice tests would have helped. She’ll try again in September.
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I didn’t say it wasn’t real. I’m sure regret/second guessing etc is very real for many, including those who ED and those who don’t. You described a scenario of as student who feels they have been “sentenced to a penitentiary” (oh my) and a parent “dragging” the student to school. That may be real for them but it is, indeed, extreme and thankfully so. If a student honestly feels that way then there is likely much more in play than just wishing they had selected a different admission plan for what was once thought to be a their first choice college.
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Hi, I have one at Vandy and another at a selective LAC. I would not encourage ED, unless it is for a true first choice. Both of my kids changed their minds about top schools over senior year, and ended up grateful that we said no to ED.
My Vandy kiddo applied TO, she did submit AP scores (all 4’s and 5’s). She had good EC’s and leadership but no hook at all. Grades were not perfect (3.8+ unweighted). High rigor curriculum.
She applied for and recieved full tuition scholarship, she was convinced it was a waste of time - we told her that if she chose Vandy, she would have to pay if she did not at least apply.
I would encourage EVERYONE applying to Vandy to take advantage of that application - it shows interest and gives admissions another chance to learn about you and review your application. It is due earlier than RD, but you can apply RD or ED and fill out the application.
Good luck to your daughter
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Assign whatever worth you want to this advice, but the strategic question is, “what is the best college for my student, where will they be more likely to thrive?” The tactical question is, “what application option should my student choose?” You are focused on second order concerns, when your student has not settled the first order questions.
Tactics follow strategy. Help your student stratify their list. If a top choice does not emerge before the ED deadlines, ED is not to be, put the FOMO aside.
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It is impossible to quantify as long as we don’t know how many (and which) hooked kids are accepted ED.
However, from the limited research I have done, I think a fair – very general – rule of thumb is this:
If you are unhooked, your chances in ED are about half of the published ED rate of the school. So while the '23-'24 Bates CDS indicates an ED acceptance rate of 41.73%, the average excellent unhooked applicant might temper their expectations by halving their chances to around 21%.
That is still higher than Bates’s RD acceptance rate of 10.2%.
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Not sure your math holds. The smaller the school, the larger the NUMBER of kids who are accepted early are hooked in some way to fill an institutional need… percentages don’t fill an orchestra in need of a bassoon; percentages don’t fill the women’s soccer team.
So at a small college, your numbers might be WILDLY optimistic- which seems to jive what many of us observe in real life. Many unhooked kids applying ED getting deferred into the regular round. At a large school the impact of faculty kids, large donors, musicians of a particular instrument is much less, and so the percentage of the unhooked early is likely to be closer to the overall admit rate.
Quantifying it is very hard, because we don’t know how many hooked kids there are applying ED (or RD, for that matter).
But we should also remember that there are hooked kids applying in the RD round too – it’s not like they all apply ED.
ETA – so an average excellent unhooked kid’s chances are lower than the published rates for both the ED and RD rounds.
Makes sense. The schools have to offer a realistic bump in ED chances vs. RD as an incentive, otherwise, why would anyone unhooked apply ED? Plus they are benefiting from the ED option in terms of managing their yield and finances - the applicants have to get something tangible in return.
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Tulane is a prime example: ED acceptance rate around 70%, while their RD rate is around 10%.
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They’d all like you to think.
And it’s true, one can lead in ways without having a title. One of my kids led with no title. The other had a title but didn’t lead.
Everyone wants you to think their kids walk on water - yet all schools put out graduates of all types.
I don’t want to say successes and non-successes because each person measures what success means to them differently.
But these schools aren’t simply getting robots of identical traits - regardless of what their marketing states.
We have a Harvard Law working for a Fairleigh Dickinson…and on my team a Vandy working for U of W Georgia.
Everyone “markets” to certain “we are better” things - but real life isn’t like that. And they don’t know these kids so they are making statements off of what students submitted in hopes of being “chosen” to attend.
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We were at a U Penn session where the adcom (not a student, a senior member of the admissions team) said “if you are a legacy, you need to apply early in order for your legacy status to count”.
I doubt they are as candid now as they used to be. But I’m assuming that a legacy kid who is seriously interested in mom or dad’s alma mater is applying early. If they are doing it to appease the parents- then sure, apply RD and signal to the adcoms “If I get in great, if not, oh well, I tried”.
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It is surely a pseudoscience given the cloak of secrecy shielding us from the information we would need to do it right.
I 100% agree with the general sentiment that an unhooked kid’s chances are lower than published rates. If that helps them to manage expectations, I suppose it is helpful information (and helpful as an overall mindset).
Same deal at Boston College. To them, legacy means you bleed maroon and gold, so an RD application from a legacy applicant is a red flag and a concern for yield.
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Duke also used to say this, if not publicly then through the person in the development office who had the connection. This is not unlike the preference given to athletes – “we’re not going to make you our favorite unless we know you’ll do the same for us.”
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I have a feeling she just likes Boston and Miami as cities. Then she probably likes Vandy as a school and nobody gets how Wake got into this list.
But City and school environment are not the same. She needs to start from school and then go to location and not vice versa. She is going to attend a school and occasionally go to the city nearby…
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