<p>First off, here are the stats and info. Posting what I need help on next post.</p>
<p>Stats.
Asian American, New Jersey
Public school, quite competitive, 20 APs offered. Sends students to Ivies and top 10 colleges every year.
Class Rank: Reported in quintiles. Top quintile.
7 APs to be taken by senior year. That's the standard amount for top students (highest ever was 10 because of school system)</p>
<p>GPA: Probably a 3.67 UW but school reports it in some weird way. I'll post individual letter grades if needed.
SAT: 1390/2120, 1540/2340
PSAT: 219. Commended likely.
SAT II Math II 790 US History 730 Chemistry 710 But I'll tell you my scores when they come Thursday.
APs (expected) Chemistry 4 US History 5 Language 4</p>
<p>ECs (by senior year):
-I play the alto and baritone saxophone, clarinet, trumpet (haven't played in forever), and marimba.
-Marching Band - Section leader, soloist, Assis. Drum Major (11th) Drum Major, Vice President (12th). 4 years. Band awards.
-Indoor Drumline - Marimba player. 2 years. Band awards.
-Youth Orchestra - Trumpet player. 2 years.
-Tri-M Honor Society. 2 years.
-Online Text-Based Writing. 4 years. Wiki it for info.
-NaNoWriMo. 3 years. I can't finish these on time. I'm trying to enter some fall writing competitions, we'll see about it though.
-Interact Club - Vice President. 3 years.
-DECA - Won awards in states and regionals. 2 years.
-UPenn Lab - Volunteer work at the environmental medicine technician lab. 3 years.
-UPenn Biomedical Research Academy - summer program. 1 year, summer.
-Chinese School Volunteering - former volunteer officer. 2 year.
-Virtua Hospital Volunteering. 1.5 years.
-NHS. 1.5 years. (Running for officer, no idea how it'll go.)</p>
<p>Recs: English, Music, Chemistry. English and music will hopefully be great, Chem I'd imagine would be ordinary.
Essays: I can write very well. I'll manage.</p>
<p>So, the problem is I don’t know where to apply early. I’m debating on either Cornell or Emory (I love both equally) for ED. Based on my stats, where should I also consider applying early? I’d prefer a school where I’d have a reasonable (>25%) chance of getting in… NO liberal art colleges, a fairly sized school… yeah, that stuff. </p>
<p>Or should I just stick to debating on Cornell and Emory?</p>
<p>And given my stats, what do you think are match schools? By match schools I’m hoping for colleges ranked in the top 50 USNews. Wisconsin?</p>
<p>Why do you feel that you must apply somewhere ED? If you drop that notion, and just concentrate on getting out your applications in time for RD would your life be happier?</p>
<p>Your grades, test scores, and ECs are decent. What about your budget? Sit your parents down and find out how much they are willing to pay. That way you will know how deep you will have to dig to find your safeties.</p>
<p>Budget SHOULD be no problem unless something catastrophic occurs. Merit aid isn’t out of the question though.</p>
<p>As for ED… what I really mean is that I don’t have a number one anymore. Cornell and Emory I like a lot, but I haven’t settled for one yet and I want to consider one more college. And to be honest… true story, three close friends in the last two years applied without ED to their favorite colleges (Ivies, top 20s, etc.)… they’re at safeties now. So I guess part of my need to go ED is paranoia. And I know admissions is unpredictable, but it’s something that’s on my mind.</p>
<p>Your friends who didn’t get into their favorite schools wouldn’t necessarily have been admitted to one of them had they applied ED. Don’t let that cause you panic. Each year admissions at the selective colleges and universities becomes yet more selective. There are scads of threads here at CC started by people who write “but my friend/relative got into XYZ university five years ago with grades and test scores a lot worse than mine, what happened?”</p>
<p>The most important institutions on your list are the safeties. Be certain that you find at least one that you will be delighted to attend in case everything else goes wrong. Better yet, find two or three so that you will be able to make a choice instead of feeling that you have “settled”.</p>
<p>Actually, I feel set with my safety, Rutgers New Brunswick, and considering my visits and what I’ve heard from other friends attending the school, I like Rutgers so much that I’d keep it in the running even if I get accepted into my would-be match and reach schools. To be quite honest I’m not too worried about safety schools as much as schools I’d apply early to.</p>
<p>Ditto. If you don’t know where to apply early, then don’t apply early. Exception: non-restrictive EA programs (do use this option wherever available).</p>
<p>Many competitive students on CC have the idea that you need to pick an ED school just to game the system into admitting you to the most selective college possible (because selectivity/prestige is by far their most important criterion). The admissions statistics feed this frenzy, because to outward appearances it looks like ED greatly increases your chances at highly selective colleges. Keep in mind, though, that the ED and RD applicant pools do not necessarily have the same profiles. ED will tend to attract relatively more legacies, athletes, and full-pay students. So are they being admitted at higher rates due to the ED advantage per se? Maybe it does give a marginal boost, but not enough to outweigh the disadvantage of locking yourself into a school prematurely.</p>
<p>Hey tenors - the biggest mistake in my years on CC that I’ve seen students make is not applying to enough top reasonable reach schools. The best “safety” is to apply to a wide net of schools - anyone who says you need to "concentrate’ to produce good apps in my opinion is patently incorrect. Its a numbers game. If you don’t get into a “reach” ED that you like, its the best strategy you can employ.</p>
<p>I’m from Jersey also, and the only reason I didn’t apply ED anywhere was that I got the SAT score I wanted in the November test of senior year so it was too late. Believe me, as someone who just went through the process, if you REALLY like Cornell/Emory, apply ED. You will know of your decision from the school sooner and will be able to enjoy your senior year more if you get in, or begin to move on from your top choice and look at other schools that interest you. I can recommend plenty of Top 50 schools for you, but what are your interests? Are you looking to travel far or stay Northeast? Big Greek/party scene or no? Is weather a factor?</p>