Admissions Strategies

Applying to College
1

<p>My dilemma is this: I love Yale. Everyone loves Yale. No one gets into Yale. Do I 'waste' my early application on a school like Yale where the chances are slim to none, or do I apply early to a school like Brown, which is also very competitve, but where there is a much greater chance of my admission. The downside is that it would always leave me wondering whether or not i would get into HYP (if I even get in to Brown, that is).</p>

<p>I am afraid that if I do EA at Yale, I will get rejected/deferred and thus lose this early advantage at other schools where I may have had a shot early, but will not get in regular</p>

<p>I know that was rather long and convoluted, but I am trying to figure out what the heck I am going to do with myself, come next fall.</p>

<p>thanks!</p>

2

<p>You need to decide what you actually want and not apply based on where you think you will get in. If you love Yale then go for EA, don't hesitate just because you think you have a better shot at Brown or wherever. That seems a little bit silly.</p>

3

<p>Somewhere on Brown's website it says Brown DOES NOT give advantage to early applicants... I've also heard that from other people, just from their experiences applying to Brown. So, if you would get in early to Brown, you would get in regular. just something to consider...</p>

4

<p>Well im afraid that I could get into Brown early, but not regular. I would blow my chance on applying to Yale. Basically its play it safe (even though Brown is in no way a 'safe' school. but you know, relatively) vs. go all out</p>

5

<p>Elgguj: statistically at least, there is a higher chance. Percentage wise anyways i believe</p>

6

<p>Based on the percentage...yes there is an advantage. But....don't forget that ED includes a whole lot of legacies, URM's, and sports recruits...all of which have an advantage, and boost the percentage up. For the regular applicant, things are different</p>

7

<p>Don't apply early unless you're sure that that's the school you want to go to! I was in the same situation this season, only it was Princeton and Cornell. I eventually decided to take the chance on my number one choice and apply early, and I was accepted! You don't want to leave the admissions process with regrets. Just go with what you want, and let the rest take care of itself.</p>

8

<p>the point of ed is to make a choice of a school you will not reject and are positive you want to attend. it sounds to me that if you applied ed to brown and did get in, you'd regret never having the chance to apply to yale. so, imo, the best thing you could do would be apply scea to yale.</p>

9

<p>^ thats what I'm leaning towards, EskimoGirl. You only live once, right?</p>

<p>thanks again to everyone who responded (and congrats on getting accepted glinda!) :)</p>

10

<p>oh wow, I was JUST thinking about that same thing exactly, 2oo7. Except in my case it's Stanford.</p>

11

<p>haha, im sure there are many. i have no idea what im going to do...but good luck to you!!</p>

12

<p>i think you will end up regretting it if you apply early to brown out of "strategy"</p>

<p>if you do get into brown, you will always regret not having had the oppurtunity to apply to yale. after all, you never know if you are good enough unless you try, right?</p>

13

<p>You love Yale. Therefore you should use your early application to Yale, and write about how you want to go to Yale so much. </p>

<p>It's better to give yourself a chance to get into Yale then ending up at a second-choice school wondering for the rest of your life what would have happened if you had applied. But if you do apply early to Brown or another school instead, you could always transfer or something.</p>

14

<p>I think you should apply to Yale ED since you like it so much instead of Brown. Cause if you apply for Brown ED and get in while Yale RD, you will probably regret it for a long time cause of the ED binding thing.</p>

15

<p>If you're rejected EA/ED, can you still apply for regular admission later that year?</p>

16

<p>No ^.</p>

<p>It's cruel, isn't it?</p>

<p>Bastards.</p>

17

<p>Can the OP post some stats? If you love Yale as professed, you pretty much have to apply early there to increase your chances. Unless we see your stats and they suck for Yale. (Sorry that's mean)</p>

<p>Personally, I'm doing EA at UChicago and Georgetown, they are my 1st and 4th choices. That way I can apply to 2 EA, and I'll know where I stand for RD (ie, whether I get in and can apply to more reaches or rejected so i have to apply to safeties). I figure if God (fate or something for you atheists) wants me at Dartmouth or Harvard, then it will happen no matter when I apply.</p>

18

<p>Not sure what OP means, but I'm assuming me...</p>

<p>here goes:
White female, all girls private school (50 in class), Philadelphia.
-taken most rigorous course load available (only 1 AP so far though...)</p>

<p>senior year: English, Physics C, Bio, AB Calc, Independent study in BC Calc, (since not normally offered), World (all AP), and possible Independent study to complete science fair project</p>

<p>ACT: 34
GPA: 4.01 (junior year grades brought it up from a 3.9. trend towards improvement)
PSAT: 226</p>

<p>no ranking</p>

<p>Essays...should be strong, i think
Recs: i expect very, very good</p>

<p>Last Summer: 6 week full time internship as research scientist at small Pharma company. Independent, award winning (State level) research. Got a letter of rec. Also: completed Alg II course to move up to Honors math, two 'fun' camps</p>

<p>This Summer: 8 week full time internship at NIEHS under branch chief(branch of NIH, but will be living away from home in North Carolina). Hope to get a publication out of this</p>

<p>ECs:
-Editor-in-chief of school Lit Mag (making some dramatic changes, will be in c.conselor's letter) (2 years)
-President of Visual Art Board (28 hour mural project, also will be submitting art portfolio) (3 years)
-Mock Trial (3 years)
-Service Board (since 6th grade)
-Pony Club member (7 years) -->have a list of specific activities...very involved
-Horseback riding 10 years
-3 hours a week service at riding therapy program for mentally/physically disabled children (wrote an essay about this)
-Some regular inschool service activities
-School volleyball since 6th grade (JV capt. junior year)</p>

<p>Academic Honors:
-Cum Laude (junior year)
-Brown U book award (english)
-Mt. Holyoke book award (sciences)
-Departmental distinction in everything but math
-Science Fair Junior year: 1st place regional comp. and 1st place, perfect score, directors award, Women in science scholarship at state level comp.
-A couple volleyball awards</p>

<p>I love physics, which works for me as a girl, but I am also very artsy and will be submitting a portfolio. I feel like I have the "all around" thing going on, with both 2x science as well as history/english being strong points. I feel like these are 'average' for Yale...what are your thoughts?</p>

<p>Also Drummerdude: do you know of any other schools with non-SC EA? Sounds like a great strategy to me...</p>

19

<p>You write a killer essay, and you've got a good chance at Yale ^.</p>

<p>Harvard and Stanford are the only SCEA schools I know of.</p>

<p>There may be more. I don't know.</p>

20

<p>OP=Original Poster....and yeah you are definitely Yale-worthy. I dunno if you will get in (play up the female+science thing they love that) but it is definitely worth doing SCEA. Even if you don't get in SCEA, hound them with your new awards, art, and stellar grades and you might get picked up in the RD round. Good luck!</p>