Early Decision US universities

[kman]

Did anyone apply ED to any prestigious colleges in the US?

Is getting accepted Early Decision unconditional, or are interviews and conditional mark agreements handed out as per usual?

Input is greatly appreciated. Thanks everyone and good luck

[sweetnsimple786]

I'd be scared applying ED. I will apply Early Action to one place though. It's due Sunday... grr.

Umm well they ask for your grades at the end of the year and a report from your school. I don't think they will care if you get all 4s or something, but they will care if you seem to slack off and not work after you've been accepted. If you get a 4 on the exam or the predicted and this affects your grade in the class, then yes, that will matter.

Other than that, I think once you're in, just don't rob a bank or flunk school, and you should be okay.

[Bee =3]

there's a difference between Early action and Early decision??

[sweetnsimple786]

Generally speaking, decision forces you to attend the school you apply to, and so you only apply to one school ED. Action usually allows you to apply to several places you're really interested in [although a few schools do it differently, including Stanford].

[karlp]

What if you get accepted to an ED uni and then find out that you aren't financially able to afford it? Are you forbidden to attend any other university?

[kman]

What if you get accepted to an ED uni and then find out that you aren't financially able to afford it? Are you forbidden to attend any other university?

if you aren't financially able to afford it you apply for financial aid. The only reason for not accepting an ED offer is an unsatisfactory financial aid offer. So if you are unable to afford it after the financial aid offer, then i'm pretty sure you can attend another university.

Not 100% but quite sure

[biochem]

Early Decision = This is a Binding decision, which cannot be messed with. It is used for serious students who are 100% sure on the university, and this will include being serious about the financial offer. I spoke to Emory about this, a prestigious research university in Georgia, and they specifically instructed my friends to not apply to their ED because this means you are "accepting whatever financial aid you may be offered".

Early Action = This is used for students who are serious about the college but are not necessarily willing to accept the financial aid, go there 100% or whatever reason - they are not obligated to go there. They can refuse the offer.

*Exception* = Some schools, like MIT I believe, have non-binding early decision. In another words they have, like many others, blurred the definition of what an early decision process is. This is a problem for some places, because they have changed their definition of things. FSU for example (florida state university) has 2 regular deadlines. However, they fill their class from the first batch and refuse to kind of speak of the 1st deadline as early action because from what I have been told, some places have contracts with Early Decision that say you cannot apply anywhere.

So on to that topic, some places, will tell you with Early decision you may not apply to more than one place. and Actually Emory spoke of this as well, stating that applying for 2 ED can be very messy because it creates "stress for the student, and ultimately can lead to their acceptance being revoked".

Some school will "revoke" your acceptance if you apply to 2 different ED.

However, applying to several Early Action is not against the rules (unless stated in contract of the application), but some schools will frown upon it.

Students seeking financial aid should not attempt to apply to Early Decision, unless the college has rules set in that would guarantee money. For example, if you are a student of demonstrative needs for Yale or Harvard where your low income translates to a definite and concrete paid tuition and board, then going for these places would not be a problem.

The biggest point behind this, especially for international students, is that you have to look at each college and see what their definition of the deadlines is. Otherwise, do not assume that definitions are coherent throughout the states, or you might find yourself in a lot of trouble.

Some of the consequences for not attending an accepted Early Decision that is binding has been "blackmailing" you across the board, that is sending your name out in order to notify other colleges (especially those a college would know directly about you applying to) of your rejected obligation. This in some cases has led to several places, withdrawing a student's application. That is, if two colleges find out about two Early Decisions, then both might pull out. Anyways this is so not important as to what could happen... just avoid any of these situations, by looking directly on to a school's website.

Hope this helped

[Forester]

For schools like Yale/Wharton with ED/SCEA programs, you still have to interview, you just do it earlier.

You can back out of ED, but you need to have a legit reason.

[biochem]

For schools like Yale/Wharton with ED/SCEA programs, you still have to interview, you just do it earlier.

You can back out of ED, but you need to have a legit reason.

you dont have to interview for those schools just so you know. I know of many friends who applied for ED for Yale especially, and no interview will be planned. One that will Def get in, who has been carving her life around the school and will 99.95% get in (yes I am sure of it with a near perfect score of 1580 on SAT and ridiculous EC) hasn't been asked for interview. Made it a point ot say this to mention that even strong candidates dont get a call for interview. Though she did interview MIT regular decision.

and I know of no reason for ED back out. I am sure college drop out will be one but I guess legit is a good way to put it. Better be good

[Forester]

For schools like Yale/Wharton with ED/SCEA programs, you still have to interview, you just do it earlier.

You can back out of ED, but you need to have a legit reason.

you dont have to interview for those schools just so you know. I know of many friends who applied for ED for Yale especially, and no interview will be planned. One that will Def get in, who has been carving her life around the school and will 99.95% get in (yes I am sure of it with a near perfect score of 1580 on SAT and ridiculous EC) hasn't been asked for interview. Made it a point ot say this to mention that even strong candidates dont get a call for interview. Though she did interview MIT regular decision.

and I know of no reason for ED back out. I am sure college drop out will be one but I guess legit is a good way to put it. Better be good

I'm sorry but Yale doesn't have ED, it has SCEA. As far as internationals are concerned, and I assume the OP is from OP's flag, interviews are necessary. Yale is not going to admit an international without an interview no matter how qualified he or she is. The most you can hope for without an interview is getting deferred.

EDIT: In the last 2 years, 7 students from my high school applied Yale SCEA, and all of them attended interviews before their admission decision before the RD deadline. They were all deferred. I applied RD and was interviewed also. One person from my school last year applied Wharton ED. He did not have an interview because there was no alumni in the area. I applied RD and I was also not interviewed. From experience, Harvard Yale Princeton and MIT all require interviews for ED(for those that have them) and RD. The lesser ivies may not have the resources to set up interviews for international students regardless of ED or RD.

@OP: The ivies typically do not have conditional offers. All their offers are unconditional. However if you start failing classes (or getting a C for the better ivies), you will need to explain yourself. I am sure they will not rescind your admission if you can justify your lowered grades.

Edited December 10, 2009 by Victor L

[biochem]

For international students I could speak very little of. Yale didnt offer my friend from China an interview, but then again he didnt get accepted so it must have not been a serious candidate for them. He ended up going to Princeton under a math major, despite his voluminous work in the sciences, and never interviewed. Princeton found him good enough on paper but of course not for ED, which they discontinued.

Apologies for the mix-up. Yale does not have ED like you stated, I was under the impression they did through friends.

and topic of grades being low in senior year for Yale was discussed on other college boards on the internet. Regarding a C in calculus II. I believe the kid went on to get a D, and was not revoked an acceptance. However, in any of these cases, like the many we are pulling out of memories, we don't know the full story behind them.

chances are you wont get pulled out of ED if your grades drop on last transcript. One severe is okay, across the board B's from straight A's wont be that bad. Chances in these cases, is you wont be revoked an application.