As Early Decision candidates begin to hear back from their 1st choice schools not all of them will hear good news. The college admissions process is long and stressful and different applicants handle the stress differently but it is not unusual for some students to 'shut down' for a period of time after a rejection. While applicants ultimately recover , the problem families can face is that if applicants have not completed their ED 2 application supplemental essay quality can suffer as well as any additional requirements the students 2nd choice college may have. For students fortunate enough to apply Early Decision, a poor ED 2 application and going into the regular decision applicant pool can make their admissions journey far more difficult.
For families with applicants whose disappointment with ED 1 results seem to be affecting their ability to complete their ED 2 application there are a number of excellent colleges that have relatively high ED 2 acceptance rates and do not require any school specific supplemental essays.
ED acceptance rates over 70% Providence, Rhodes, Holy Cross and University of the South .
ED acceptance rates 60-69% Union, Baylor, Dickinson and Gettysburg
ED acceptance rates 50-59% Bates, Connecticut College, Franklin and Marshall and Skidmore.
ED acceptance rates 40%-49% Colby*, Denison, Hamilton, Oberlin, Wesleyan, and Middlebury
The reality is that acceptance rates can and do move around but even in an increasingly competitive environment it seems unlikely that these schools will see dramatic declines near term. For applicants who struggle to continue the process after an ED1 rejection, these are all solid schools (or better) with happy and talented student populations whose applications are relatively easy to complete.
There is more to college admissions than simply filling out applications late in the process but when combined with a few well-thought-out emails to regional representatives highlighting candidate strength and an understanding of what specific colleges tend to value, applicants can improve their admissions probability at any point in the process . We can help those that are interested.
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