I applied EA for four schools (out of the whopping 12 I’m applying to overall) and I didn’t hear until afterwards that EA is supposedly MORE competitive and harder to get accepted through than RD in a lot of cases. I think I’m a reasonably competitive applicant but I don’t know if I have what it takes to stand out among EAs.
Schools: Northeastern, Emerson (honors), U Vermont, Mass Amherst
Stats:
1460 SAT (750 Eng, 710 Math)
31 ACT (retook in Oct, awaiting results)
4.29/4.0 GPA, 4.0 UW
Senior course load (expecting a few Bs in first MP, sadly):
AP Chemistry
AP European History
Yearbook
Honors French 4
Dual-Enrollment Intro to Drama
Dual-Enrollment Calculus 3
plus 4 periods of co-op
ECs: Marching band (10,11), Youth in Government (9,10), school newspaper (9,11), yearbook Editor-in-Chief (11,12), part-time job (public library, 20hrs/week grades 10-12)
Volunteering: This is probably my weakest category. I easily got 80 hours per year in 8th and 9th grade at my local library but I got a paying job there in my sophomore year which occupies a lot of my time. So my volunteer hours for the last 2.5 years is closer to 15hrs/year.