Would it be wise to apply ED (Top Schools/Ivies)

Applying to College Admission Stories
1

I’ve been thinking about applying ED or RD. I’m only a Junior but I’ve seen a lot of people talking about the topic. My Credentials are all up to par with other applicants applying to Top Schools (too lazy to list right now). Although I had some less than impressive AP scores (I don’t plan on sending them either way). The only flaw is my GPA. Right now I’m predicting a 3.6-3.7 UW by Senior Year (if I wait till RD time) and a 3.5 if I wait till ED time. My only hook is that I am a URM.

So my question is when the time comes would it be a good decision to apply ED with my GPA. Because I know my GPA is really low. And also, what type of people apply ED.

Colleges of Interest:
HYPS–crap shot I know
Darthmouth (visited campas recently)
UC Berkley/UCLA

thanks

2

Just so you know, only one of the schools on your list has ED (Dartmouth); is that the school that you are asking about? Also, what is your GPA trend?

3

Oh. I guess I should have look into that. My GPA trend is an upward trend.

4

Ya. Only Dartmouth is ED. But your GPA is low. Unfortunately, that IS a large factor in admissions. I do know people who were accepted with those UW GPA. At least apply, but don’t ED unless it’s your number 1 school. You don’t want to regret it.

And 1 thing to remember: there is no lesser ivy, really. All are very competitive and you should be honored (and I’m including all schools with <= 20-25% acceptance rate). Prestige is really all relative. I know you didn’t mention anything really about this, but HYPS and Dartmouth are all crap shoots (not just HYPS).

5

UC’s don’t do ED

6

There are MANY reasons not to do binding ED, including inability to compare financial packages. There are many CC threads with ED regrests.

If you are not absolutely in love with one school now, with ability to pay full ticket…then do RD. The fact that your GPA is on an upward trend also supports RD.

7

I believe Stanford and Yale do SCEA. I’ve heard that it’s not only to show that the university is the top of one’s list, but also an indication that there is not much more to grow in terms of application development.

With your GPA, seeing as it can grow with another semester, SCEA or ED is perhaps not in your best interest.

8

You should only consider ED if :

  1. you can afford it - you are either full pay or are sure that whatever aid package you get will be acceptable (and please go talk to your parents about this!)
  2. you are in love with the school and will be happy to withdraw your applications at all other schools
  3. your chances are good enough that any ED boost will matter. So, if you go from an 11% chance to a 12% chance, it’s probably not worth all the things you give up. If you go from 20% to 40%, it probably is.
  4. you are sure your chances will be better as ED (which might not be the case if you are improving, for example.
9

im with nemom, except for the first point.

The downside is that you wont be able to compare the aid you get, but in the event that you dont get enough aid to make it affordable, then ED ceases to be a binding commitment and you can drop out.

So ED if your performance is at a constant, and it is indeed your top priority school, the chances of getting in are always multiplied, but the downside is that you won’t know what else could have been. So choose the school you ED to very wisely…