Choosing strategically where to EA @

Applying to College
1

<p>Most of the colleges I'm looking at are SCEA/REA. So I need to choose where...</p>

<p>Can you guys help?</p>

<p>Where would be the most advantageous to apply EA based on last year's EA acceptance rate and the competitiveness of the EA pool at each school:</p>

<p>Harvard 18.3%
Yale 15.7%
Princeton 20.9%
Stanford 12.8%
MIT 11.3%
?</p>

<p>Thank you!</p>

2

<p>If there are other private schools with EA in your application list, you can apply to MIT and those other private schools with EA, since MIT EA is non-restrictive. This lets you get the chance of the others becoming early safeties if any gives you an EA acceptance with enough financial aid.</p>

<p>Some of the SCEA/REA schools allow EA application to any public school, but some allow it only for those in your state of residency.</p>

3

<p>Only apply to non-restrictive EA schools. There is no advantage to the student at restrictive/SCEA schools - do those during RD.</p>

4

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<p>Y changed their policy this year, you can now apply to any rolling public that is non-binding:</p>

<p>[Single-Choice</a> Early Action for Freshman Applicants | Yale College Admissions](<a href=“http://admissions.yale.edu/scea]Single-Choice”>http://admissions.yale.edu/scea)</p>

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<p>Agree w/ucb, the choice isn’t so much which SCEA/REA* as it is whether to apply to one school SCEA/REA vs. several EA schools</p>

<p>*Note: S is different from HYP in that they defer relatively few to the RD round, see their website for details.</p>

5

<p>“Only apply to non-restrictive EA schools. There is no advantage to the student at restrictive/SCEA schools - do those during RD.”</p>

<p>How is there no advantage? Is it because EA applicants are more well-rounded and pretty competitive applicants compared to those in the RD pool?</p>

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<p>^Don’t know about the ‘average’ EA applicant, but those accepted in the EA round are more than ‘well-rounded and pretty competitive’, they’re exceptional. See my comments here:</p>

<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-admissions/1380910-when-does-benefit-apply-scea.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-admissions/1380910-when-does-benefit-apply-scea.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

7

<p>Apply to schools that are the best “fit and match” for you. Don’t apply to schools based on admit rates, especially the schools that have any form of Early Action. Since Early Action (single choice or otherwise) is non-binding, there is no inherent advantage to the school in admitting you early. The one exception to note (based on my years of working in admissions at Ivy schools) is if you are a recruited athlete. </p>

<p>Regardless of whether you apply early action, early decision or regular decision, the single best way to increase the likelihood of admission, is to apply to a school where you can present yourself as a compelling candidate.</p>

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<p>Okay thank you! </p>

<p>Some people having been telling me to apply to Stanford early because they don’t defer students? Do you guys know why that’s a good thing?</p>

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<p>Good because you are likely to get an answer in Dec and won’t have to wait until April if deferred. </p>

<p>Not so good if you don’t like the answer, and the vast majority of applicants don’t.</p>

<p>Not so good if the first half of your sr year could help your application (grades, awards, etc.) and you are denied rather than deferred to RD.</p>