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I was wondering if you knew of any relatively cheap counseling services which could give you an idea as to whether you will be accepted Early Decision to a school like Yale.

By Roger (Roger) on Saturday, June 29, 2002 - 05:18 pm: Edit

Ronald, check the College Counseling page where you can direct that inquiry to the right people.

One thing is certain for a school like Yale - nobody is going to be able to give you a definitive answer if your stats and ECs are in the range for that school. Ultra-elite admissions are too unpredictable - there's almost nothing that makes someone a "lock", although being an Intel Science winner, the kid of a US President, or a well-known movie star may come close.

It's quite possible that you could get a reasonably reliable negative answer, of course, if your resume makes you an unlikely admit. Even then, these things are unpredictable...

I don't know how much you have read on elite admissions, but books like Berry & Hawsey's America's Elite Colleges and Hernandez's A is for Admission will give you some perspective on how applicants are evaluated. Good luck, Ronald, and keep posting here as you have specific questions!

By Ronald on Saturday, June 29, 2002 - 05:38 pm: Edit

Thank you for your response. I also had one other question. For elite schools, the acceptance rate for Early decision is sometimes over 30 percent, with the regular decision rate being less than 10 percent. Do you think that part of the reason for this disparity is that colleges admit many legacies and athletes during ED, so you chances of being accepted ED are not as strong as it might appear?

By Dadster on Saturday, June 29, 2002 - 09:43 pm: Edit

I'm not sure about legacies and athletes... but even though the ED admission percentage is higher, that admitted population usually isn't statistically less qualified than the RD admits. ED historically has attracted a somewhat stronger pool. Thus, ED may offer a somewhat higher probability of admission, but one shouldn't expect significantly lower standards than RD.