So I’m not sure where I should apply Early Decision/Early Action, but my counselor wants me to tell her soon. I want to go to the best private university possible that I can FEASIBLY get into ED, because I really just want to get college and worrying out of the way ASAP.
I’m only a junior so far, but my GPA is currently a 3.94 unweighted with mostly AP and several IB, my ACT is 35, and I haven’t taken SAT Subject Tests yet. I think my grades are projected to be pretty good next year.
EC’s is where I am lacking. I was in NHS for 1 year, an environmental club for 2 years, Key Club this year, and no sports or leadership. I played piano for 6 years and violin for 3, both of which I quit before HS. The only real thing I guess is that I volunteer a lot (?) with a couple commitments and misc events and over 150 hrs right now, and I’m planning on getting more in the summer to get a round 200. But then again, I’ve seen people with over 1000 hours, so…
My teacher and counselor rec’s will probably be pretty good. I have no idea about my essays since I’m still a junior.
Where do you think would be a possible, but still a reach early decision choice for me? Could Harvard be one, considering it’s predominantly known for social sciences and I’m planning on majoring in something less competitive (Comp Sci as a girl)? My parents really want me to go to an Ivy League or a top tier private school, made worse by how my sibling is in one (Cornell) currently. Any suggestions are welcome!
If you do not have a college that you are willing to commit to before applying, then do not apply ED anywhere.
Harvard, Yale, and Princeton do not have ED, but do have a type of non-binding EA where you agree not to apply EA to other private schools or ED anywhere (restricted or single choice EA – rules do differ slightly between colleges). But these are reach for everyone schools. Your college list should start with a safety that you know that you will be admitted to, know that you can afford, and know that you will like.
I will no doubt be applying to safety net schools, but for ED, if it’s binding, it has to be pretty prestigious. My parents are willing to pay whatever for me, but they are only going to pay for a very good private school. They’re very much the traditional, hard-line “prestigious” or ivy league advocates, so that’s just what I’m working with.
In terms of my personal preference, I really don’t have much. Honestly, I’m not picky in terms of geography and size and other stuff. Whoever will accept me tbh.
I think that you should start thinking about what you want to do, and what you want in a university. This is not related to “safety” in the sense of making sure that you get in somewhere. This is related to “safety” in the sense of making sure that you don’t end up somewhere and hate it.
Even if “prestige” is all that you really care about, there is still the problem that there are eight ivy league universities, plus MIT and Stanford and Caltech, plus several “prestigious” LACs, plus a few prestigious public schools (such as U. Michigan, UCLA, and UC Berkeley). This is without considering foreign universities (Oxford and Cambridge are quite prestigious, although McGill would be closer both in distance and in terms of being more compatible with the US high school system – also McGill won’t care about your ECs or lack thereof, and the leader of their country has better hair than the leader of our country).
You have the summer to think this through, and perhaps visit a few places.
Where have we gotten to where prestige is the only metric??? Have you visited any of these schools? Would you be happy in a small town like Hannover or on an amoebic campus like Brown or in Ithica where it can get brutally cold and depressing? What if you get into Brand X so your parents can have their fancy bumper sticker and you HATE it?
Unfortunately, my parents adamantly refuse college visits, on the principle that they think they are pointless, and they have to be private, because they said if they are paying extra for something out-of-state, they might as well pay for private where they have more of a guarantee for your desired major. If you can’t tell, they have a lot of the say, because they’re paying for everything, haha.
In terms of me safely liking a university, I’m terribly lost. How does one know if they will like a university, when they have essentially no criteria, other than having to have dorms? (and being within the U.S., although Trudeau’s hair is nice, haha)
Also, I’m used to cold and depressing weather, lol.
You assess the intangibles. Do you prefer urban, suburban or more rural? Do you have hobbies? What sounds better, a day hiking or a day at a museum? It may sound silly, but look up campus pictures. Look up the curricula at each school you’re interested in. Look at the department web page. Etc. etc.
From the original post there is a brief note: “(Comp Sci as a girl)”.
Another thing to think about is what you want to major in. If you do want to major in computer science then this is one way to whittle down the “ivy league plus MIT, Stanford, Caltech, + prestigious LAC” list to a much smaller list. There is a wide range regarding how good these “prestigious” universities are in computer science. If you think that you want to go pre-med, then there would be a different list in terms of which are best (although a few such as Stanford would be on both smaller lists).
Just how soon does your counselor want you to decide where to ED? If it’s this spring, I can’t imagine WHY she wants to know this early - what purpose could that possibly serve? Spend the spring and summer researching and insist to your parents that you NEED to visit a couple schools. If they don’t want to go along fine, but maybe you and your sibling at Cornell could check out a few. While you’re investigating schools, look to see if any you’re interested in do rolling admissions. If so, go ahead and apply late summer and you could have an acceptance that’s not binding in September. That gives you a YES that takes pressure off and avoids the need of a binding ED which could be to your benefit
If your parents will not take you on college visits, find a way to go on your own, at least to a few nearby just to get a sense of urban versus suburban, etc. Do you drive yet? Can you get an UBER? Have a friend drive you? Even if it’s your local colleges/unis that you don’t want to attend, it’s better than nothing to just give a sense of what you like.
I have never heard of a college counselor insisting you pick an ED school this early or at all. That makes no sense especially if you don’t have a clear choice, which you never will if you’re not allowed to visit. Maybe you consider applying to a couple of schools EA (early action) so you have some decisions in hand but they are Non-Binding. Do NOT pick any school ED unless you are 100% sure you would want to go there. There is no reason you have to let your college counselor know that now. Applications don’t even open up until August/Sept.
You need to start researching colleges on your own without your parents watching over you. If you apply only to prestigious schools, you could get shut out. You need to have a solid list of matches and safeties as well. If you put together a well balanced list, I guarantee you will get in somewhere great!
Your parents are also being vague on what they are willing to pay. Ask them, if I get into (fill in top uni) would you be able to pay 65K per year? Find out the NUMBER they will pay. Just saying, “oh yea, we’ll make it work if you get into XX” sounds great until they start looking at actual costs. Maybe they do have some idea if they are currently paying for Cornell.
Not to be unkind, but the idea that Harvard is less competitive for a girl who is applying to compsci is simply wrong: at the top tier / name brand unis, there are plenty of very well qualified applicants in every combination (gender, ethnicity, field, etc).
It is often hard for both students and their families to realize that high stats are really not enough in themselves to get a student into the top unis. The super-competitive schools are looking for motivated, achievement oriented students (have you asked yourself what Harvard/other famous name would get from having you come be a part of their community?). To answer part of the question in your other thread (‘do colleges care what you do senior year?’), the top schools care very much what you do senior year (most are explicit that they want to see a ‘rigorous’ course load). They also care about what you do beyond the classroom and over the summer- not a specific anything, but that there is a something- and based on what you have said here, that looks to be a serious weak spot in your application profile.
College options are more than binary: it’s not just famous names and safeties, unless your parents have said that it’s either UWa or famous name.
OP, this isn’t going to be gentle, but the adults in your life aren’t being helpful–in fact, they’re being anti-helpful. So here goes.
Bad idea to apply somewhere ED if you don’t love the school; HORRIBLE idea to apply somewhere ED if you’ve never even visited, let alone done any research on why you should go there. Don’t do this.
Your own high school should be a good source of information on how students with similar stats to yours do in ED and EA. So ask. Are you coming from a tippy-top high school that is loved by Columbia or Cornell or Swarthmore? Or, is it that only a few students at your high school are being admitted early to Dartmouth and Amherst, and they’re the ones who are athletic recruits or Intel Science winners? Your stats sound great, but (as you say) your ECs are lacking. Unless you’re being very modest, it’s not a resume that is going to grab an admissions officer at the types of highly selective schools you’re targeting.
Do you really want to do Computer Science, or is that just something that sounds cool and fun and it’s what everyone else is doing? Have you programmed before? Are you willing to work hard, or are you looking forward to college as a time to do more social things?
Have you visited your sibling at Cornell? Do you like it or hate it? Does your sibling seem to like or dislike Cornell?
I’ve taken AP Comp Sci before and am planning to do more comp sci classes next year. I definitely want to pursue that and am willing to work hard.
I did visit Cornell, it seems perfectly fine and good. Again, I’m really not very picky, I’m pretty much okay with everything… which I know isn’t very helpful.
My counselor is asking me a lot about my college choices because she is leaving school soon for maternity leave, so she is making me fill out a questionnaire for her. What I tell her doesn’t have to be binding, of course.
Thanks for the tip on automatic full ride, I’ll definitely check those out.
I can’t drive, and not sure if anyone is willing to drive me out of state… I have visited my state university btw, which I will apply to.
And yeah, I won’t necessarily do ED. I mentioned doing EA as well originally. Basically, anywhere I can apply early and get this out of the way. I know it seems bad I don’t “love” any particular school, I’m kinda willing to go wherever honestly.
Sibling has worse stats, better ECs, but not by much.
No full ride at my state uni, and my parents are very picky but if I had no other choice/acceptances, I’m sure they would pay for it. I’d much prefer OOS though, as would they.
You’re a poor candidate for ED because you’re using it as an admissions bump and/or to get your apps “out of the way”, without regard to fit. If you insist on ED, for whatever reason, comparing your sib’s profile to yours will be important. Take a hard look at his/her profile and see how yours stacks up, noting that admissions are more competitive each year. Fit is of no consequence to you, so it’s all about assessing your odds of acceptance. It’s a guessing game, made more difficult because you have very good stats but pedestrian ECs, with ECs being important at top privates.
So it comes down to which school will overlook the ECs/leadership in favor of the better aspects. It’s really hard to say because, usually, a student’s passion for an ED school acts like a trump card. If you had a passion or even a liking for a particular school, it would probably come across in an interview or essay, so your lack of EC quality might be overlooked. But it’s really hard to say which top private will show interest in you, with your credentials, without you showing interest in them.
If you had good ECs, you could take a flyer on a number of schools and have similar odds. But in your case, your odds will improve greatly if you do some research into fit and find a school that you would love to attend, for reasons that you can pinpoint in your application. Without that, it’s a total shot in the dark with top privates.
You should also look more closely at top publics, if cost/fit are non-issues. Many have excellent CS and do not emphasize ECs.