“It’s a beautiful thing,” is how Slade Mead describes Early Decision. “It’s rather tricky,” explains Mead, the Director of College Placement, “because you need to make sure first, that school is absolutely your first choice; second, the college in question has Early Decision; and third, most students’ number one school is a reach; therefore, the acceptance rate is still brutal.” Early Decision is a process where an applicant applies in the fall and gets a binding offer of admission before the new year. This year roughly 25% of the class applied to and was accepted into their first choice schools.
“To those seniors who did apply Early Decision and got in, I offer my congratulations. To those who applied ED and either were denied or wait listed, I applaud you for your effort and taking a risk.” Mead then gets somewhat philosophical, “Hey, I love kids finding a first choice school and shooting for the stars. If it does not work out for someone, at least he grew from the experience.” Mead explains, “The classes’ average could have been even higher, but many students picked top schools that do not offer ED. That is why if a rising senior finds the perfect school that offers ED and he gets accepted, it’s a beautiful thing!”
Here’s the current Early Decision list for the Class of 2016:
| Student | College |
| Brandon Bank | Furman University |
| William Michael Berghold | Kenyon College |
| Caelahn Bullen | Cornell University |
| Oleg Gentry | Hartwick College |
| Aidan Gorman | University of Richmond |
| Daniel Hoag | Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute |
| Zhifei Li | Occidental College |
| John Litscher | Skidmore College |
| Eric Mawdsley | Sacred Heart University |
| Connor McClelland | Marquette University |
| Kyu Yeol Paik | Carnegie Mellon University |
| Paul Rasimowicz | Cornell University |
| Fitzhugh Fitz Reese | Tufts University |
| Henry Rickert | Elon University |
| Michael Schek | Rochester Institute of Technology |
| Justin Scott | Hobart and William Smith Colleges |
| Ryan Seibold | University of Richmond |
| Tyler A. Trammell | Hobart and William Smith Colleges |
| Bayley Tranmer | Hobart and William Smith Colleges |
| Robert Walker | Wofford College |
| Andrew Wyman | St. Lawrence University |