Advise for early action/chance (Stanford, MIT, Caltech, etc.)

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>I'm looking for advise on where I should apply early to. I know my stats are decent and that schools like MIT, Caltech, and Stanford are still reaches (especially as a male asian from NY). Right now, I'm considering doing EA to MIT, Caltech, UChicago or doing SCEA to Stanford. Let me know your opinion!</p>

<p>SAT: 2380 (790 critical reading, 800 math, 790 writing)
SAT II: Math 2 (800), Chemistry (780), Biology (780), US History (???)</p>

<p>My school gives grades for each course in intervals of 0.5 (4.0, 3.5, 3.0...). For AP's (excluding self studied ones), an extra 0.4 is added on. My school is pretty competitive but doesn't have class rank.
Weighted GPA: 4.02
Unweighted GPA: 3.91 (only 3.5's: Spanish freshman year and English freshman through junior year)</p>

<p>APs:
Sophomore: European History(5), Biology(5)
Junior: BC Calculus, Physics B, Chemistry, American History (self studying Microeconomics and Macroeconomics)
Senior (projected): AP Statistics, AP Physics C, AP Spanish, (self studying AP Psychology and AP Computer Science)</p>

<p>Awards:
USNCO Honors (projected but confident I made the cutoff)
AIME: 7, AMC 12: 108, Distinguished Honor Roll (top 1%)
Science Olympiad state/regional medals
National Merit: 223 on PSAT(73 reading, 80 math, 70 writing)
National AP Scholar (projected)</p>

<p>Summers:
Johns Hopkins CTY Fast-Paced High School Biology (2010)
Johns Hopkins CTY Genetics (2011)
AwesomeMath Summer Program (2012)
doing science research (2013)</p>

<p>Extracurriculars:
Columbia Science Honors Program
Bunch of math competitions (Mandelbrot, Mathleague, Purple Comet, MMM, etc.)
Science Olympiad
Academic Challenge
Cross-country
Pep Band
Editor for school magazine
U.S. Chess Federation Class A chess player</p>

2

<p>Apply early to whatever school you like most. The only exception to this rule is if you really hope for a final decision immediately – in that case, look more into SCEA into Stanford. Stanford defers a much lower percentage of students than many comparable schools. </p>

<p>Remember, applying early to many top schools does not appreciably increase your chances of getting in. The admission rates may be higher for EA, but that’s because there is typically a much stronger applicant pool in EA, filled with athletes and legacies.</p>

3

<p>Thanks for the advice! I’m tempted to do the pool of EA schools since I’ll hear back from more than one but I feel like if I SCEA, that might help my chances (compared to RD) slightly since I’m committing to only one school.</p>

4

<p>@Adolie I’m not sure how accurate that claim is, I remember reading a book that argued when applicant pools were compared for ED and RD, applying to ED gave a considerable boost in the chance of being accepted. Although at the same time, things have gotten a lot more competitive since that book was written so it might not have as much of an effect. It’s something to keep in mind though.</p>

5

<p>It’s difficult to say. It’s definitely a difficult decision, but I wouldn’t apply EA or SCEA to somewhere for the sole purpose of trying to increase your chances there.</p>

<p>Granted, never trust anecdotes, so take my personal story with a grain of salt. However, this past year, I applied to Stanford SCEA, with legacy, and I was rejected outright. However, when RD results came out, I was accepted into Harvard, where I have no hooks. Based off of my own personal experiences, as well as the results threads on here, I can’t help but think there isn’t much of a difference in competitiveness between early action and regular decision.</p>

<p>I’d encourage you to look at the EA and RD results threads for past years on this site at the schools your interested in applying to and decide for yourself whether or not SCEA could appreciably increase your chances.</p>