Confusing situation regarding ED

College Search & Selection
1

<p>So, even though I'm obnoxious on this site much of the time, it would be very cool if you guys could help me decide whether or not to apply ED.</p>

<p>I've been planning on applying ED to Brown for a while. I've considered many other schools and looked at other schools' offerings, and am usually not as impressed by them as I was by the unique combination at Brown. I visited multiple schools in the Northeast this summer, and Brown was one of my favorites. Plus, I love the open curriculum, as I've only been able to individually choose 2 of my classes throughout my high school career.</p>

<p>But, here's where the problem lies: every time I hear about one of HYPSM, my subconscious is like "Hey, wouldn't you like it if you got in there?! Wouldn't you go to one of those over Brown?!?!", but then the reasonable part of my brain (which hates prestige wh<em>res like my subconscious) is like "But you loved Brown! More than those other schools!". And, so, now I'm conflicted. And, honestly, kind of embarrassed because I used to disparage prestige wh</em>res up until very recently.</p>

<p>But anyway, I understand where my subconscious is coming from. The academic options and resources that HYP offer appear to surpass the academic options and resources that Brown could offer me. Do you think this is true? I'm not sure of what I want to do but I'm thinking something involved with environmental sciences or an East Asian language (like Korean). Also, I managed to squeeze in visits to Y and H this summer, and, in retrospect, I liked them as much as I liked Brown. But, I'm not sure if this is pertinent because the campus isn't really what's drawing me to these schools.</p>

<p>Yet, Brown offers a lot of academic freedom, which might be perfect for me. The people at Brown also seemed to be the friendliest and least Type A, although this is anecdotal and based on my visit and possibly may not be true.</p>

<p>Also, one more thing that might be significant in this discussion is that my senior year grades may not be as "stellar" as the rest of my grades. Throughout my previous grades, I've accrued 1 B+ in total, the rest A's. Yet, it appears as if this semester I may have anywhere from 2 to 3 B's-B+'s, due to some odd circumstances regarding my teachers. Would this be reason to apply ED?</p>

<p>Okay, I'm going to sort this out to help you help me out...</p>

<p>BROWN ED:
-I do really like Brown
-Open curriculum and option of creating a concentration is a big plus
-Might be better because of lower senior year grades
-If I don't get in RD, I feel I would always wonder "What if I had applied ED?"
-I've shown my parents tuition cost, and finances won't be an issue, so I don't have to wait to compare financial aid packages</p>

<p>NOT BROWN ED (maybe Yale SCEA?):
-I don't know if I'm currently in the state of mind to commit to Brown, I sometimes feel I am
-I don't think a core curriculum would kill me
-My senior grades might not be bad enough to lower my chances at these schools too much
-My subconscious might always wonder "What if I had applied to HYP?"</p>

<p>Also, I'm not sure if it's relevant but here are my stats.</p>

<p>Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 2280 (800 W, 760 CR, 720 M)
SAT II: 760 US History, 730 Lit, 730 Math 2
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.98
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 12/500
AP (place score in parenthesis): US H (5), Eng Lit (5)
Senior Year Course Load: All AP</p>

<p>Subjective:
Extracurriculars (I'm only going to put main ones): 4 years as Environmental Club founder + president (involved working with local university, also organized city-wide volunteering), newspaper for 4 years (editor for all 4, 3 articles syndicated in city newspaper), NHS member for 4 years, played guitar for 4 years, took part in play with my tribe
Job/Work Experience: Worked at municipal park for 2 years, worked with tribe for 1 year
Volunteer/Community service: Volunteered for 30 hours at manufacturer of green goods, volunteered with tribe for 100 hours, multiple municipal park volunteer trash pickups for about 50 hours
Summer Activities: Worked with tribe for biological research, 150 hours, worked at city park, lots of hours
Essays: Not 100% sure about EC one, main one is about tribal research</p>

<p>Other
State (if domestic applicant): Southern CA
School Type: Large public
Ethnicity: Native American
Gender: Male</p>

2

<p>Before I got to the NA part my thinking was that HYP were not going to happen and Brown was a stretch. But if you are a registered with a tribe NA, don’t apply ED anywhere, you have a great shot at HYP.</p>

3

<p>Thank you for reading all that! Yes, I’m registered with a small-ish tribe. Do you think that the possibility of 3 B+'s would hinder my application very much?</p>

4

<p>Three B+ will not hinder your application. Good heavens.</p>

5

<p>A Native American with a 2280 and almost 4.0 has a great chance everywhere.</p>

6

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</p>

<p>Haha, I mean 3 B+'s in my final semester of importance (first semester senior year) after a near-spotless record beforehand. I don’t just mean 3 B+'s overall.</p>

7

<p>"A Native American with a 2280 and almost 4.0 has a great chance everywhere. "</p>

<p>Very true. You don’t need any advantage that ED might give as you have the advantage of being a URM with high stats.</p>

<p>I suggest applying to Yale SCEA and also applying to Brown and perhaps HPY RD as well as to safeties. When spring comes, you should have some good choices.</p>

8

<p>Ok, thank you all so much! I’m going to apply SCEA to Yale, I think. I just hope that in the end, if I do earn a few B+'s this semester, that it won’t reflect too poorly on the rest of my application.</p>

9

<p>An update:</p>

<p>I didn’t end up applying early to anywhere…but ended up being accepted to all of my dream schools (Brown, Harvard, Yale, Stanford) as well as to a few others I hadn’t considered much previously (Duke, Pomona). I’m REALLY REALLY thankful for all of the advice I received in this thread and advise others to avoid applying ED unless you absolutely feel it’s the right thing to do.</p>