I need help deciding if I should apply ED or RD to Stanford. This is because I regrettably only took 1 AP sophmore year and then 2 APs as a junior. I have a 4.0 unweighted, but I’m worried that it will be a big concern for Stanford that I haven’t challenged myself enough. Senior year I am taking 5 APs, but if I apply ED, they will make a decision on me before I can send them my first semester grades, showing them that I can handle more APs and a harder courseload. That being said, I know it is generally easier to get in ED.
Also, here’s some info about me. Stanford is my number 1 choice (only Ivy league caliber school I’m going to apply to) and my ACT is currently a 33 (I’m taking it a second time soon and hope to bring it up to a 34). I’ve also got solid extracurriculars (Camp counselor in summer, varsity XC and Track, Student government, and some others). I’m aware that I’m still kind of a long shot since I’m a white male with no hooks and my stats aren’t great for Stanford. With my stats and situation, would it be better to apply RD and be able to show them my first semester grades or should I just apply ED? Any opinions are appreciated.
It’s a tough decision. Though if you apply ED you can’t show Stanford your 1st semester grades, you can simply tell them that you are taking those courses. I would say the marginal benefit of them seeing your proformences in those courses is outweighed by the benefit of early decision.
However, I am not really that familiar with stanford’s ED admission policy. It could be possible that stanford says that they do not give advantages to those who apply early ( similar to MIT ), but given the fact that it is ED and guaranteed 100% yield, an applicant probably has a better chance early.
I say just apply ED if stanford is your #1 choice. There are plenty of places in your application to include your senior year course load. If Stanford is your dream, give yourself your best chance.
Apply ED. Contact the admissions rep I your area, and CC the admissions office. Ask if teacher mid-semester reports can be submitted when applying ED. There will be others in the same boat. Does your school issue progress reports? If so, ask your GC to send them as soon as they are available. If not, ask if each teacher can submit a progress report to the GC. Any grades or progress reports must be submitted via your counselor. Are you retaking the ACT this weekend? I think a 34 will help you. Good luck.
P.S. Your number of APs is fine. There is no award for most APs, 8 is plenty. Stanford has even issued a statement about that, Google it.
Stanford doesn’t have ED. They have restrictive early action. Stanford’s RD acceptance rate this year was 3.6%. I’d recommend applying early.
As mentioned, they have REA. If it’s your 1st choice school, there really isn’t much reason not to.
Stanford’s REA doesn’t provide much of a boost. On the bright side, unlike the Ivies and most other schools, an REA deferral from Stanford really is a deferral rather than a “polite rejection.” I think it’s six of one/half dozen of the other, and whether you apply REA or RD won’t make a significant difference, especially in our predictions beforehand.
Okay thanks for the replies everyone, my bad on confusing restrictive early action with early decision. I guess I’ll apply REA as it sounds like the consensus. I think I’ll try to have my counselor send my quarter grades, I didn’t think of that. And I am taking the ACT this weekend, thanks for wishing me luck.
"On the bright side, unlike the Ivies and most other schools, an REA deferral from Stanford really is a deferral rather than a “polite rejection.”
It CAN be a Polite rejection for Alumni kids or those with other Stanford connections who dont past muster.
And Stanford ONLY defers 10% of EA applicants. It rejects 90% of the students it doesnt accept EA . And then accepts less than 5% of all RD applicants, deferred students included.
Sure, of course it can be, but it’s pretty clear that S doesn’t use the deferral in the same way that it’s counterparts out east do.
I disagree with some of the advice above. I think everyone should apply early–broadly defined–somewhere. It can be a substantial advantage. The biggest mistake I have seen over the years is that kids don’t apply early, often because “they don’t know where they want to go.”
The second biggest mistake is that kids apply early (again broadly defined) to schools they really don’t have a chance. Just because a school is your first choice doesn’t mean you should apply early. The question is: How costly is this in terms of not applying early somewhere else.
To be blunt, Stanford is a reach for virtually everyone. Given what you have written, it would be a far reach for you–probably unrealistic. (Sorry to be blunt.)
The question is what is your second or third choice. If it is UCLA, for instance, go ahead and apply early to Stanford because (I believe) you may also apply to public schools that are not binding. (Not sure about UCLA; it’s just an example.) On the other hand, if Amherst is your second choice, then I think it would be a very big mistake for you to apply early to Stanford. You would be much better off playing your early card somewhere you would have a reasonable chance. An old hand who advises students (for a lot of money) once said that you want to apply early to a near reach. It doesn’t seem that Stanford is a near reach for you.
Here is an interesting link on this decision from a private school in Seattle:
http://www.lakesideschool.org/podium/default.aspx?t=204&nid=813413
Hope this helps. Best of luck.
A clarification: the RD acceptance rate for REA deferred applicants is actually about 15%. I was deferred and then accepted this year, and that is what it said in my deferral letter.
Thanks for the reply fredthered. I understand that you only get one binding early application and it is valuable because of that, and that it should be used wisely. I think I’m still going to do Stanford REA because I’m not really interested in any other schools that would be reaches or near reaches; I’m pretty sure I can get into all the other schools I’m looking at. If I start to like a college that would still be a reach but would be more reasonable than Stanford I will definitely consider using my early binding application there instead.
If Stanford is your first choice, REA seems like a good idea. If you get deferred, you do have a second chance against the regular decision group.
I applied REA back in 2007 (when it wasn’t quite so competitive percentage-wise) and got accepted. I was #8 in my high school ranking. Four students with a higher ranking at my high school applied and didn’t get accepted. The valedictorian had a weighted GPA over 5.0 which seems impossible and he didn’t get accepted
The point is you can’t be sure what admissions is looking for. My verbal and writing SAT scores were not so good. I did some out of the ordinary EC accomplishments which probably made the difference. I don’t think it is so much about test scores.