Am I A Qualified Applicant For A Claremont McKenna ED?

Applying to College Early Decision / Early Action
1

Demographics
Asian
Top 5 NJ private high school, however am now in a top PA public high school (parents moved for work)

Intended Major
Economics

GPA, Rank, and Test Scores
~3.9 UW

SAT: 1440 (should I go test optional? btw this score is final)
Physics 1 (1, am not reporting)
French (3)
English Lang (5)
US History (3)

Senior Courses (AP)
Art History
Stats
Calc AB
Macro
Lit

Extracurriculars
BSA (Eagle Scout and was my troop’s Senior Patrol Leader)
1st degree Taekwondo black belt, student instructor to white/yellow belts
Cross Country all-years
DEEP (service project initiative to teach financial literacy and investing to kids in Paterson)
Finance externship at a major prop trading firm
Forensics (extemp and public forum)
School’s leader for the Euro Challenge
Led a team in the Wharton Investment Competition, reached
Leader my school’s investing and business & economics clubs
French Club President
ASSIP George Mason Research Intern (finance, quantum computing, and machine learning)

Honors/Awards
Highest Honors List
AP Scholar award
Bronze Award, Le Grand Concours National French Exam (2023)
Pope Pius XII Emblem (Scouts BSA)

Essays/LORs/Other
My essays and LORs are really good. My college guidance counselor really liked my essay on libertarianism/economics, even though he agrees writing an essay on politics is risky. Both my LORs are both 9-10/10, I know that almost as a fact.

Cost Constraints / Budget
None. Full pay/cost.

2

If it’s your top choice, then yes you are qualified. It doesn’t mean you’ll get in but if it’s your top choice and your parents are willing to spend $380k, sure. People get rejected ED. I’m not sure why people feel it’s wasted.

What’s your SAT Math ?

45% submitted so it’s heavy TO.

1440 is below the 25th percentile but if your math is 750+, it may be worth submitting. They superscore so you might test again.

You can apply to Pitzer as a back up ED2 for a 2nd chance to be in Claremont.

3

You are a stong candidate - you are definitely qualified. BUT, many more strong students and qualified applicants will apply than will be admitted. So, there is no way to really predict admission to very selective schools.
If this is your first choice school and you can afford tuition - apply ED - it cannot hurt your chances.
My kiddo is at Pomona - we did not support an ED application as we needed to compare FA packages. They applied RD and got in. But they also applied EA to University of Chicago, they were deferred and thought that meant they would not be admitted anywhere!
So, if you are not admitted ED or are deferred- that does not mean that you are not going to be admitted to a top school. Be careful to research and apply to several schools that you would love to attend - including some that are less selective - you are a fantastic student - you will find your place - and not getting in to one school does not mean that you are not “qualified”