Cornell v Northwestern ED (as a Cornell Legacy)

34 ACT
96.5 unweighted average
780 World SAT 2
740 Bio SAT 2
2 AP classes Sophomore year, 3 Junior Year, 4 AP Senior Year
All honors except Spanish

I could go into my extracurricular and honors but they are decent- not the best in my opinion. Officer positions in and out of school. I want to be a political science major and my resume definitely reads as one. I interned with a congresswomen, and have poli-sci oriented clubs, however, I am well-rounded and like science.

I want to apply to Northwestern early, My mom went to Cornell, which gives me legacy status and I live in New York. I also love WashU. I want a medium size school with a campus so suggestions wanted as to where I should apply and where I have the best chance.

Thanks!

Applying ED as a legacy will you the most lift. As a legacy at Cornell, it is use it or lose it during the ED round. That being said, you have very good stats, so you would still be competitive during the RD round. You shouldn’t apply to Cornell if it is not your first choice, but I would really examine as to why it wouldn’t be your first choice between those three schools. They are all good schools, similar size/vibe, but at different parts of the country. BTW - if you were my kid and you don’t have a compelling reason not to go to Cornell, I would say use that legacy card.

FWIW, if Northwestern is your #1 choice, I would strongly recommend applying ED. You can look up the stats, but they fill about half of their incoming class from ED. Last year the numbers were roughly 1000 admitted from 3000 applications in ED, but only 2690 admitted from around 32000 applications in RD. ED pools usually have higher admission rates (athletes, legacies, strong application pool), but the difference between ED and RD at Northwestern is dramatic. At the same time, do not apply any place ED unless you are confident you want to be there.