Hi! I’m having a bit of a dilemma with where I should apply early. My top three schools are Brown, Pomona, and Vanderbilt, which are all ED (the latter two have ED 2 as well), while Harvard, which I like nearly as much, has SCEA (if you want to know why I like each school I’d be happy to answer in the comments, just ask). From what I know, I think it would help more (though likely not much) to apply somewhere ED than EA, but I really love the first three schools equally and am not sure I’m ready to apply to one knowing that if I get in, I can’t even consider the others. Because of that, I was thinking of applying to Harvard early instead so that I still get in an early application and on the off chance I get in, won’t have to apply to my safeties and lower choices. Is this a good plan or am I being foolish in not applying somewhere I really love early decision? Any opinions or help on deciding what to do would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!
Apply Early Decision if the school if by far your number 1 choice, period. If you feel like Brown, Pomona, Vanderbilt aren’t that, then don’t apply ED to those schools.
Harvard SCEA is tricky because you can’t apply EA anywhere else (except for public school, rolling admissions school and foreign schools), so it really limits your choices to apply for safeties and such.
Also, you really need strong stats to even be considered in the early round as the applicant pool is so strong. Somewhere around a top 1-3% class rank if school ranks, 3.9 UW GPA, 2200 SAT or 33 SAT at the minimum.
I’m not sure you get any edge ED at Brown if you are not an athlete or legacy. I believe the admissions director has said so. Or possibly URM or some target group. But this is not true everywhere.
If you’re unsure about which of the 3 possible ED colleges is right for you then best is to spend some time figuring that out. ED gives you a definite advantage over RD. For example, at Pomona 40% of the class is selected ED. If you can’t decide where to apply ED then applying EA to Harvard is a good strategy.
@collegebobollege, I’m basing most of this response on your description and target schools from your previous thread:
- In that thread you discussed applying ED to Brown. Apparently Pomona and Vanderbilt are now giving Brown a serious run for its money. If that is the case, and you are not certain, then you should not apply ED to any of these schools.
- Also based on your earlier thread, you are a strong applicant. You meet @gibby's basic requirements for applying SCEA to HYPS based on your 4.0 GPA, 2320 SAT I, SAT II scores, AP scores, and curricular rigor. Plus you have some distinctive ECs, including strong performing arts. That's no guarantee, but you are certainly competitive for Harvard SCEA with a reasonable chance.
- Based on the list of target schools from your previous thread, other than your 3 ED targets, the other top schools on your list seem to be SCEAs (HYS).
So I would spend some more time investigating your 3 ED schools. If you are not 100% clear on one of them, then I think you are strong enough to apply SCEA to whichever of HYS you prefer (which currently seems to be Harvard), and then apply ED to your other schools. I think you have a good shot at doing well overall.
@collegebobollege, I’m basing most of this response on your description and target schools from your previous thread:
- In that thread you discussed applying ED to Brown. Apparently Pomona and Vanderbilt are now giving Brown a serious run for its money. If that is the case, and you are not certain, then you should not apply ED to any of these schools.
- Also based on your earlier thread, you are a strong applicant. You meet @gibby's basic requirements for applying SCEA to HYPS based on your 4.0 GPA, 2320 SAT I, SAT II scores, AP scores, and curricular rigor.
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/yale-university/1800514-yale-scea-not-worth-it.html (post #6)
Plus you have some distinctive ECs, including strong performing arts. That’s no guarantee, but you are certainly competitive for Harvard SCEA with a reasonable chance.
- Based on the list of target schools from your previous thread, other than your 3 ED targets, the other top schools on your list seem to be SCEA schools (HYS). I think a reasonable alternative would have been to apply to some plain EA schools (MIT, UChicago), but they don't really seem to be on your list. Swarthmore, Johns Hopkins and Northwestern are all ED schools, so that doesn't help.
So I would spend some more time investigating your 3 ED schools. If you are not 100% clear on one of them, then I think you are strong enough to apply SCEA to whichever of HYS you prefer (which currently seems to be Harvard), and then apply ED to your other schools. I think you have a good shot at doing well overall.
@rdeng2614 As mentioned in comment #4, my stats are all above the numbers you gave, and if you want more information you’re welcome to look at my other thread. I guess my dilemma is deciding whether it’s worth a lower chance of getting into any of my favorites to be able to consider all three, when I really think I’d be happy at any one of them. Thank you for your input!
@renaissancedad In reality, Brown and Pomona have always been fairly even in my mind, but I haven’t visited Pomona officially yet (I’ve been there when visiting my brother at Harvey Mudd but never toured) so Brown has gotten a bit of an edge since I’ve seen it. Vanderbilt, on the other hand, I honestly really expected to hate, but when I visited I loved it and I’ve realized there’s a lot of things I like about it. I did visit MIT and go to a UChicago information session but neither is the right place for me. And I assume you meant “and then apply RD to your other schools”, yes? Thanks for your thoughtful feedback!