<p>Will applying SCEA to schools like Harvard or Yale give the same little bump that ED might give at another school?</p>
<p>It seems to work in a similar way, yes.</p>
<p>I wouldn’t just say a “little bump.” Harvard had a SCEA acceptance rate of 22.1% last year, and Yale had a SCEA acceptance rate of 15.5%. Keep in mind, the SCEA pool is more competitive than the regular decision pool, and that a lot of legacies apply during the SCEA round. Regardless, applying SCEA is a SIGNIFICANT boost.</p>
<p>@Shutterstock I like to be cautious when considering how much it will help. I know a lot of recruited athletes and legacies make that percentage deceptively high.</p>
<p>SCEA does not have as much of a bump as ED – and that bump is not equal for each SCEA school.</p>
<p>When Harvard went back to SCEA, their early admit rate was pretty comparable to YPS – and it was easy to accept their explanation that your chances in the SCEA round were no different than the RD round.</p>
<p>However, last year Harvard took more than half their class (895 students) early – that’s 246 more students than Yale took SCEA, 198 more students than Princeton took SCEA and 170 more students than Stanford took SCEA.</p>
<p>By taking so many more applicants in the SCEA round than their peers – both in sheer numbers and percentage wise – Harvard is letting student’s know that if you really want Harvard, your chances are better by applying in the early round.</p>
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<p>Keep in mind, HYP recruit athletes in the early round, which is one reason why their SCEA acceptance rates are higher than Stanford. </p>
<p>FWIW: By ivy league rules HYP can recruit a maximum of 230 athletes. Yale does not recruit the maximum number allowed. In past years they have recruited only 177 of the 230. HP probably recruits the maximum number of athletes, so that’s one reason why HP acceptances rates are high than Yale. All of that said, it would seem that your chances (if you have the stats) are better SCEA at Harvard than at YPS.</p>
<p>@dreamchaser50
Yes, there is going to be a higher proportion of legacies and athletes applying early. However, I think your vastly overestimating the amount of legacies and athletes that will apply early. Harvard almost 1000 early applicants last year while it’s class of about 1650 contains approximately 150-200 athletes and 150-200 legacies, and it’s safe to assume not all of them applied during the SCEA round.</p>
<p>Take advantage of the fact that Harvard is desperate to maintain it’s yield (by accepting more and more students early) as it’s losing its position as “the destination” for college students.</p>
<p>First, ED gives more than a “little bump.” It gives a clear advantage. Here’s a Dartmouth admissions officer on ED:
“It’s much easier to be admitted during Early even though most schools tell you it’s just as competitive, it’s simply not true. That’s standard administrative rhetoric, but it is much more difficult to be admitted during regular. We’ve already admitted 30 to 35 percent of the class Early. When you first start reading apps you might think one is great, but reading the same app later after 600 others then that kid no longer seems as stellar.”</p>
<p>Read more: <a href=“Secrets of Dartmouth Admissions Office”>Secrets of Dartmouth Admissions Office;
<p>SCEA doesn’t give you as much of an advantage since you aren’t committing to the school, so there is no guaranteed yield. That’s one of the reasons ED gives such a large advantage: admissions knows that every student they admit will be attending their school. However, there is still a slightly smaller advantage because I think Harvard does admit a disproportionate amount of its incoming class SCEA (I could be wrong). And also, the last line from the Dartmouth admissions officer applies to early admissions at any school. An application might look great, but after reading 600 other, some better, applications, that application no longer looks as stellar. For what it’s worth, the only people I’ve known who got into Harvard got in SCEA.</p>
<p>@gibby
Stanford also has its recruited athletes apply early. </p>
<p>^^ Not all of Stanford’s recruited athletes apply SCEA, whereas all recruited athletes do at HYP.</p>
<p>@gibby
Yes that’s true. But the vast majority of recruited athletes apply during the early round. Stanford also has more athletes than any HYP does. However, no matter which school you apply to SCEA, your chances of getting in will be higher, so take advantage of it if you can OP.</p>
<p>Tulane pretty much says that applying SCEA instead of EA is a way of showing interest, which Tulane does consider in admissions.</p>
<p>yes, it does</p>
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<p>Harvard and Princeton also have more varsity teams than Yale. That said, HP most likely do not recruit the maximum number, although they are unlikely to comment directly.</p>
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<a href=“Future of athletic recruitment remains uncertain - Yale Daily News”>http://yaledailynews.com/blog/2013/10/18/future-of-athletic-recruitment-remains-uncertain</a>.</p>