Early Decision Program = Significantly better chance for acceptance?

[Chris127]

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Lets say you are a pretty decent candidate. 3.65 GPA, 30 MCAT, and good LORs and ECs. Would you be better off applying to 10-15+ schools, or join the EDP program for your local state school (if thats really where you want to go)?

I mean, I havent heard of anyone on here discuss EDP, is that because it is just a stupid decsion? Or can joining the EDP for your state school substantially increase your chances?

 

[grapeflavorsoda]

EDP is very risky. If u dont get in, u will quite behind in the application process.

unless you feel really strongly (or ur pre-med advisor assures you) that u will definitely get in, dont do it.

 

[MedicineNutt]

How can you be behind ? sounds like a damaging question. My bad! 🙂

 

[top]

You will be significantly behind lots of candidates (although i didn't do EDP anywhere and i still couldn't get my ass to turn in primaries before Oct 1) if you fail at EDP. That said, if you have your heart set on one school in particular, and that school has EDP, I say do it. It helps borderline candidates get acceptances to reach schools, and it gives peace of mind to quality applicants way ahead of the game. No money wasted on interviews, etc. Obviously, this is only a good idea for your top choice school.

 

[Chris127]

You will be significantly behind lots of candidates (although i didn't do EDP anywhere and i still couldn't get my ass to turn in primaries before Oct 1) if you fail at EDP. That said, if you have your heart set on one school in particular, and that school has EDP, I say do it. It helps borderline candidates get acceptances to reach schools, and it gives peace of mind to quality applicants way ahead of the game. No money wasted on interviews, etc. Obviously, this is only a good idea for your top choice school.

No interview huh? Interesting. This could obviously either work for or against you...

 

[DrBowtie]

No interview huh? Interesting. This could obviously either work for or against you...

No silly. You interview at the one place only instead of going on multiple costly interviews.

 

[star22]

No interview huh? Interesting. This could obviously either work for or against you...

i think top meant that you don't have to waste money going to a lot of interviews, but you do still have an interview for your EDP school.

 

[neovenom]

if you are a competitive candidate for the school you're applying to, then yes, i believe EDP will give you an advantage. the EDP applicant pool is much smaller, so your odds of being picked are greater. plus, i think it also helps to show you the school that you want to go to their institution above all others.

and it worked for me. i did regular decision first year of applying and didn't get in. second time around, EDP did it for me!

 

[hunter1077]

I thought if you did not get into EDP, then you were automatically rolled over into the RDP?

 

[BooMed]

I thought if you did not get into EDP, then you were automatically rolled over into the RDP?

Yeah but you're not allowed to apply at any other schools until you know if you got in EPD.

 

[doublepeak]

Make sure you read the number of people who applied and are accepted as EDP for the school you are interested in. While some schools don't have them at all, other schools do not take many (or any!) people from their EDP program. When I was looking into it at Stanford I looked in the MSAR and 0 people got accepted from the EDP.

 

[odrade1]

EDP is a good option if
a) you want to go to that school more than others
b) you are a good applicant for their school
c) you don't mind applying late in the event that you don't get in

EDP will not substantially increase your odds of getting in. If you aren't qualified, applying EDP will not help make you more qualified. I did EDP and 100% of my EDP group got accepted. This was not because we were EDP, but because all the EDP applicants are pre-screened so that their stats are better than the average matriculant.

If your scores are just at or below the average scores of matriculants for your desired school, don't do EDP. An average-quality applicant loses more than he/she gains by doing EDP. An above-average applicant has little/nothing to lose, unless he/she is a social freak, in which case you will need to interview at a bunch of places before you can get a good interview.

Good Luck, and search the forums for the other dozen EDP threads, some of which have tons of opinions and stories given.

 

[exmike]

in general, I think you should be at least at the average in terms of stats for the school you are applying to if not a little higher. If they know they can fill that spot with someone w/ higher stats than you, then they have no incentive to accept you EDP.

 

[crazytech]

3.65 and 30 MCAT isnt competitive enough for EDP...you need to be pushin 3.8 and 33+ to be assured by an advisor to get in to an EDP...

 

[GujuMD]

is it possible to apply early ASAP to a lot of schools as long as you don't apply as EDP...or is the very early applicants are considered EDP

 

[odrade1]

is it possible to apply early ASAP to a lot of schools as long as you don't apply as EDP...or is the very early applicants are considered EDP

You can apply to a bunch of schools early. Doing so would not be EDP. EDP is a separate application process that a few schools allow. You can only have one application going at a time if you are EDP. THe EDP cycle is a little different than the regular application process, since the due dates are different. Also, schools agree to let you know yes or no by Oct 1.

I found EDP convenient, since the entire application process, from hitting "submit" to interviewing to getting accepted happened in under 2 months. Surreal but wonderful. I have friends who found out only a few weeks ago, while others linger on waitlists.

Students equal or worse than the average matriculant at their preferred school should apply to many places in the early summer, and avoid EDP.

Above-average applicants are more safe applying EDP.

 

[oxeye]

For those of you that did apply EDP - did you meet with someone at the school before you applied to get their advice about whether or not to do it?

I've read a few posts that allude to doing this. Assuming I don't completely bomb the MCAT on Saturday, I think I will be a pretty competitive applicant to my state school (and the only school I can apply to for logistics reasons). Should I just go for EDP without talking to the school first or should I contact them beforehand?

The pre-med advisor here said that only one or two people get accepted EDP per year (though their website says maximum of 5). It makes me wonder about my chances even if I should be a decent applicant.

 

[odrade1]

For those of you that did apply EDP - did you meet with someone at the school before you applied to get their advice about whether or not to do it?

I've read a few posts that allude to doing this. Assuming I don't completely bomb the MCAT on Saturday, I think I will be a pretty competitive applicant to my state school (and the only school I can apply to for logistics reasons). Should I just go for EDP without talking to the school first or should I contact them beforehand?

The pre-med advisor here said that only one or two people get accepted EDP per year (though their website says maximum of 5). It makes me wonder about my chances even if I should be a decent applicant.

Every school runs their EDP program differently. As far as I know, my school didn't have a cap of the number of EDP slots available. We had 18 EDP applicants this fall, and all 18 got in. My advisor told me that other years only a handful of people made EDP.
There is this misperception that a lot of people have that paints EDP as a way to improve your chances of getting in. However, your quality as an applicant doesn't improve any by filing EDP. The only thing that changes is that if you are a good applicant, the school will know that they can keep you if they accept you, since you went EDP.
If you will be a competitive applicant next year, and you only want to go to your school,
a) find out if they roll EDP denials into the regular admissions pool (most schools do this)
b) if they do, you stand to lose nothing by EDP, and you stand to gain something (early notification, first round of interviews, etc.)

I liked doing EDP. I felt that we got treated really well and our interviews were relatively easier than some of the interviews my friends went through later in the year. Finding out what your acceptance status before October is also fantastic, as your stress level drops to your pre-premed levels.

 

[Baby Einstein]

For those of you that did apply EDP - did you meet with someone at the school before you applied to get their advice about whether or not to do it?

I've read a few posts that allude to doing this. Assuming I don't completely bomb the MCAT on Saturday, I think I will be a pretty competitive applicant to my state school (and the only school I can apply to for logistics reasons). Should I just go for EDP without talking to the school first or should I contact them beforehand?

The pre-med advisor here said that only one or two people get accepted EDP per year (though their website says maximum of 5). It makes me wonder about my chances even if I should be a decent applicant.

I applied EDP (same reasons as you) and got in. It doesn't hurt to talk to someone. I didn't, but why not?

In your case, since you said this is the only school you would be able to attend, you have absolutely nothing to lose. Remember that even if you are not accepted EDP, you can still apply to that same school through the regular cycle. At that point, I don't think that you would be at a disadvantage, especially since you proved them by applying EDP that this school is your top choice. Good luck tomorrow!

 

[Dov]

DON'T DO IT... I did it and it screwed up my entire application process. I couldn't start working on my other application until October. Some of the schools I wanted to get interviews at were booked till January at that point. Also, it looks really bad to apply late.

If it works out... great. But if it doesn't, it sucks big time. Also, it is very good to go for interviews and see the schools. A school you may not be seriously considering now could become a top choice after a visit. It is good to look at different programs and you can only compare after you really see what the school is like at the interview/visit.

If you are still going to apply EDP please do a lot of research into not only that school but other schools you are considering. It turns out that I don't think I would have been happy getting accepted EDP after seeing other programs.

I would not apply EDP.

 

[dsherida]

I applied EDP and got in...great feeling to know you are in back in Sept. Before I did it though I talked with the admissions director and really got an idea if I were competitive or not. If you get rejected EDP you are rolled into their regular applicant pool and you may apply to other schools. The big disadvantage is you are now basically an applicant who took the Aug. MCAT timing wise (You get notified of the EDP decision in Sept-Oct. and then have to apply to other places...Aug. MCATers don't get their results until Oct. and then their apps become complete so you are pretty much thrown in with them which does put you at a disadvantage for rolling schools. I would really pick a school you are competitive at number wise and such and call the director of admissions. They know what a big situation EDP is and will straight shoot with you. They won't tell you that you will get in if you do it, but they will be honest. Some schools can take all their EDP candidates if they like them so it is a way to get in early and a leg up on the competition. Call the school and I think it will clear it up.
Good Luck! By the way one of the others said you need like a 3.8 and MCAT well over 30. I don't think that is true with all places, I know it wasn't for my school.

 

[njbmd]

Lets say you are a pretty decent candidate. 3.65 GPA, 30 MCAT, and good LORs and ECs. Would you be better off applying to 10-15+ schools, or join the EDP program for your local state school (if thats really where you want to go)?

I mean, I havent heard of anyone on here discuss EDP, is that because it is just a stupid decsion? Or can joining the EDP for your state school substantially increase your chances?

Hi there,
With those stats, you are not a very good Early Decision applicant. In the above case, you are much better applying to many schools. That 30 MCAT is very low for EDP.
njbmd 🙂