Hey community! Let me begin with a little bit of academic background of mine:
I go to the Texas Academy of Mathematics and Science (TAMS). I have decent grades, when I was in my old high school I made A’s and B’s, but after I transferred to TAMS (after 10th grade), I have been maintaining a 4.0. My SAT score is around 2200 I’m going to take it next week. Let me make a statement first, these numbers don’t mean much and my eyes (please don’t get mad at that statement).
I want to major in computer science, a major that both schools are renowned for. I’m debating on weather or not I should apply to Brown Early or Stanford Early. Now Brown Early is Early Decision; thus, if I make it to Brown I have to go there. My heart is at Stanford it’s a school that I have been wanting to go to for years. Brown on the other hand is up there as well. I feel like I have a better chance to get in Brown because I have a lot of ties with the computer science department there and will be doing research there as well. Since I have a higher chance of getting into Brown, it would seem logical to apply there early instead of risking the chance by applying to Stanford early. Where do you guys think I should apply?
Stanford: The school that will see me from my academic records and plethora of computer science extra curriculars. (Dream School per say)
OR
Brown: The school that will already know me and the school that I have a higher chance of getting into. And won’t risk anything
Well Brown ED isn’t a sure thing either, right? Also the Brown Admissions Dean recently said that ED and RD rates are about the same after adjusting for athletes. And then you would have to Stanford RD. It’s got to be one or the other so it might as well be the one you want most. Start looking at your other onesbtw, my daughter was a math/cs major at Brown and was involved in a lot of research as most any student who is interested can be. She wasn’t looking at that major when she applied, though. She didn’t apply ED anywhere either, but I admit rates were a bit better then.
@BrownParent I see where you’re getting at, while I do want to apply to Stanford Early, it will lower my chances at Brown. At Brown I have a really good chance due to the details listed above, while in Stanford, on the other hand, I have the same chance as everyone else. Would it be more wise to choose Brown because of this?
No it’s just that I’m doing research there already and am affiliated with some activities at brown like research and Hack@Brown. Wouldn’t they be lowered because early has higher chances? Or maybe the admissions may think that “this guy isn’t committed” he chose another school over us (which obviously isn’t the case). @BrownParent
If you apply RD they will not question your commitment, if they want you they will admit you not deny you–that wouldn’t make sense would it? They will have no way to know if you SCEA somewhere. ED is so awful for this reason, also people who need to see financial packages really can’t ED. But yeah, chances at Stanford are very slim. I think especially people interested in CS have a lot of competition because so many interested in CS apply and they just can’t have half the class in CS. Did you get to visit Brown? Stanford?
I wouldn’t count on it. Even if you are good there is going to be amazing. But you must also realize they are not admitting CS students like some schools do to departments. The more you can show you are good at everything the better. You don’t say your overall gpa and that needs to be very high.
I can back up my statement of how good I am, but that’s what the essays are for, in my opinion grades are not something that’s students should dwell upon due to the countless number of students being admitted to these universities that don’t have perfect 4.0s or even 2000+. Also what do you mean by they are not admitting CS students? @BrownParent
I didn’t say you weren’t good. I just don’t get the feeling that being good at that will stand out. Maybe it will. I didn’t say you have to be, just very high unless there is some mitigating circumstance. I mean they don’t accept students into majors or colleges the way, say UC Berkeley does with EECS. Anyway it sounds like you have about a year to apply, so you really don’t have to worry about it right now.
This whole debate is a hypothetical between shades of gems.
Apply to Stanford if that is what you want most. I think it is highly presumptuous to assume you can get into either one - they have many identical applicants on paper, so there is luck involved, given the stats. Nothing is certain.
Early Decision is supposed to be for students who want to go to a single school so much that they know 100% that they would commit there, no matter the financial aid package, if they were admitted. You seem to have that desire for Stanford, not Brown. As @BrownParent has already mentioned, ED acceptance rates are inflated because of all of the hooked candidates who apply during that period - particularly recruited athletes, but also legacies, sometimes development admits, and the exceptionally well-prepared student who is more or less self-selecting. People misinterpret acceptance rates - “25% of Early Decision applicants get accepted” is NOT the same thing as “an individual Early Decision applicant has a 25% chance of getting accepted.”
So I think you should apply SCEA to Stanford, since that’s really where you want to be. Then if you don’t get in, you can apply to Brown RD.
If you truly do have solid connections with Brown, those connections won’t diminish in importance simply because you apply RD. Lots of students who really want to go to X University apply RD because they need to see financial aid packages or a variety of other reasons, so I don’t think Brown or anywhere else thinks that people who apply RD just really don’t want to go that badly.
If your heart is with Stanford, apply there EA. Brown doesn’t know that you applied anywhere early and the presumption is that you are applying regular decision so you can compare offers (financial aid often is decisive for many families). It doesn’t imply that you didn’t care enough about Brown to ED, so don’t worry about that.
Just make sure that you have a good list a matches and safeties since neither school is likely to come through - and that isn’t a reflection of your caliber as an applicant, just a statistical statement of fact.
I don’t agree with several of the posts regarding probability of acceptance at Brown ED vs RD. ED will give you significantly better chances. Much of the class is already selected during ED. The probability of acceptance for anyone to Stanford is very low (sub 5%). My sense from your post is that you have the ideal application strategy figured out correctly. And this said both colleges are very selective, and there is a significant probability (possibly 90%) that regardless of the strategy you pick you’ll get accepted to neither. You need a much broader strategy that goes beyond these two colleges.
I don’t know anybody, save for an double-legacy, Native American athletic recruit going to a prep school with a 4.0, 2400, and Nationally-recognized EC’s that would be a “sure thing” at Brown ED. At a school that selective, nothing is a “sure thing”, even if you have good stats. Anyway, you seem to like Stanford better; you should apply early there if that is the case.