I’m currently deciding whether to apply to MIT and Caltech ea or to Stanford. I’m almost completely sure I’m going to major in CS, but I’m interested in mechanical/electrical engineering as well.
I really can’t decide between MIT and Stanford because I do want a more rigorous curriculum (which MIT has) but I also like the startup culture of Stanford and its proximity to Silicon Valley (I’d like to join a major tech company or start my own, and I think an internship with one of these companies before graduation would be helpful.)
I don’t really care about climate, social life, etc. What would you recommend and do you all know of any resources that could help me make the decision?
I am thinking that you should “go with your gut” and apply EA to whichever is your dream school.
There is however another way to look at this: MIT, Caltech, and Stanford are all long shots. Stanford has a 4.8% acceptance rate (the last time that I looked) which is low enough to be a very, very long shot. If I am understanding this correctly, Stanford does not allow you to apply EA to them and also to other private universities, but does allow you to apply EA to them and to public universities, universities with rolling admissions, and universities outside the US.
Thus the question: Assuming that you won’t get into any of MIT, Caltech, and Stanford, would you want to apply EA to other private schools? To me EA has multiple advantages, including the fact that you might get your answers sooner, which means that you could relax and enjoy your senior year of high school sooner (and focus on high school academics sooner).
Thus, this might depend upon both which of these three schools you would actually prefer, and also on which other universities you are going to apply to. Of course there better be other universities that you will be applying to (whether public or private and US or elsewhere).
@DadTwoGirls I’m really split between MIT and Stanford so I’m not really sure which one is my dream school. I am definitely applying elsewhere, and if I was to apply to MIT ea, I would also apply to Caltech, Berkeley, and Chicago. The thing is, I’ve heard that there’s a significantly higher EA acceptance rate for Stanford compared to their regular decisions, while the acceptance rate isn’t that different for MIT.
Look: MIT EA admission rate is not much higher than in their regular round. In contrast, Stanford EA gives you a bump in your odds of getting in. Both Stanford and MIT EA are non-binding. You can’t decide between the two. So, you apply EA to Stanford, and then to MIT in the regular round regardless of outcome. Seems like a no-brainer.
I think Stanford’s EA acceptance rate is higher because all the recruited athletes are accepted during the early round. The OP didn’t mention that he’s an athlete so his chances aren’t any better at Stanford. In fact, I would bet it’s much worse.
My DD applied Stanford and MIT as CS major(didn’t apply Caltech) and both accepted and choose Stanford over MIT.
I think Both schools don’t work strategy. Stanford early acceptance rates seems to bit higher than MIT. However it includes developmental cases, Sports recruits. extra. So I don’t think Stanford early acceptance rates is higher than regular decision. I don’t think both schools accept who don’t meet their expectation even it is early round.
Just go with your gut. That is the only strategy.
The reason UChicago regular decision acceptance rate is so low is it picked a lot of students in early decision 1and 2. UChicago is not that much competitive in my dd’s school compared than SCEA.
Out of the four schools Stanford acceptance has a lowest probability and its SCEA is quite binary. So, there is a real chance SCEA outcome is rejection. And that can be a crushing psychological blow early in the college app season. With MIT ea you can have three schools going EA at the same time—MIT, Chicago and CalTech and an outright rejection is less likely. If both Stanford and MIT accept you then you have the happiest problem on hand next Apr and you can definitely deal with that easily.