<p>So Brown is one of my top (and obviously reach) schools and I’ve read in numerous places that they really lean towards applicants that show a strong interest in their school. Would applying ED greatly increase my chances of getting in? Or would they only accept people under ED that they know for sure they want. I’m also concerned because my GPA is still going up and I don’t know if I should apply RD because of that or not.</p>
<p>Any advice would be greatly appreciated…</p>
<p>Applying ED may help your chances because it will help you show interest.</p>
<p>The difference on your GPA your 7th semester of high school can make is not significant enough to outweigh the previous.</p>
<p>Verdict: ED</p>
<p>Thanks for your input. :-)</p>
<p>And if they’re really considering you, but unsure, they can just defer you.</p>
<p>That wouldn’t be the end of the world, as they may want to see you continue an upward trend in senior year.</p>
<p>Thanks! I didn’t really even think of that.</p>
<p>ED should not be used as a way to merely boost your application. The problem with ED/EA applications is they’re your first ones. Typically, people get better at doing them after turning in a few. Brown was my last application, and coincidentally, the only out of state school I was accepted to. Whereas I was flat-out rejected to Stanford SCEA, but I ended up revising all my essays afterwards. I was waaay more competitive in the RD pool (only applied to 2 schools RD, though) than for EA.</p>
<p>IF Brown is the place you know you want to go to, without a doubt, AND you love it so much you’re going to spend significant amount of time on your essays and application before the deadline, and revise, revise, revise (something I failed to do for my Stanford supplement/main essay) then ED. Otherwise, RD might make more sense.</p>
<p>^It’s worth noting that Yale and Stanford’s SCEA pools are noticably more competitive than ED pools elsewhere, and that Stanford is known for flat-out rejecting SCEA applicants (whereas Yale tends to defer). </p>
<p>ED is a significant admissions boost. This isn’t necessarily evidenced by the raw admissions rate (which is markedly higher than the RD and overall rates)–Yale and Stanford, too, have higher early rates–but by the fact that HYP-level candidates aren’t likely to tie themselves down early. Generally, you aren’t competing against prodigies in this pool; they apply (SC)EA and wait for RD results from H and P. </p>
<p>If you have your heart set on Brown, I would apply early. A few exceptions: Your GPA is very low, and the only thing saving it is an upward trend; you need hefty finaid and would like to consider finaid packages from peer insitutions and in-state publics/merit aid; your stats are well below the 50th percentile; or you don’t have enough time to get everything together for your application (recs, transcripts, SATs, essays).</p>
<p>^ Very correct; especially that last paragraph.</p>
<p>ED is not as significant a boost as most students think. Many of the ED applicants are recruited athletes, who have a 99.5% chance of being accepted. That boosts the ED acceptance rate. The acceptance rate for nonhooked ED applicants is probably not that much higher than the RD rate.</p>