<p>I want to take a shot at princeton because it is the perfect school for me- close to home, specialized in integrated sciences, top school, etc. Unfortunately, they do not offer the choice to apply early decision. UPenn, a school obviously I would not mind going to, offers early decision. Should I just increase my chances of an ivy league and apply early decision to UPenn?</p>
<p>No.</p>
<p>Not at all.</p>
<p>Apply where you will be happiest.</p>
<p>trust me it all feels good now, AK81493, but if you get into Penn, you will have to go through that whole transfer process to get a shot at that “perfect school.” And of course, you’ll ask yourself, “If I’m good enough to get into Penn, am I good enough to get into Princeton?”</p>
<p>Applying ED to a school that isn’t your first choice is almost always a bad idea. Because if you got accepted, I assure you that you’d sit there for months wondering about if you could have gotten into Princeton. That’s not worth it.</p>
<p>^ agreed totally. something like that would drive me insane.</p>
<p>On the other hand, using early action effectively is extremely popular here in CC (and I’d recommend it). Using a rolling admissions safety is also a good strategy.</p>
<p>If its ED meaning if accepted must attend, if UPenn is not your top choice then you may not want to apply ED. Also if you apply ED and get deferred, assume you do not do so well your 1st semester the school may ask for your semester grades… I learned this when applying to UMich ER and regret I ever did, now I would have applied exactly Nov 2nd.
^
Actually this may not apply, as UPenn etc… uses commonapplication and I think the school requires mid-year report reguardless ( I think mid-year report is transcript including first semester of senior year).</p>