EA or not to EA

Colleges and Universities A-Z Yale University
1

Is it better to apply EA, or to use two extra months to strengthen my application, GPA, and teacher recs?

2

If you do not feel that your app is as strong as it will be later, wait. SCEA is not much, if any, boost.

Good luck.

3

From another of my posts

Students who do not apply SCEA should apply to a broad range of non-binding colleges in the early round, so they have at least one acceptance in their back pocket come mid-Decemeber, and then apply to SCEA schools in the RD round.

4

@gibby I appreciate your constant honesty and looking at the “facts” when it comes to these sorts of questions. I’ve seen you post this same quote several times, and while I fit the “top 1% of all graduates from your HS class”, I have a 33 for the ACT (I’m first-gen, but that’s as far as it goes as far as hooks). Would you still recommend SCEA is a good idea? Or will my application just get muddled with all the higher test scores?

5

^^ @berkdork: Selective colleges, including Yale, place GREATER emphasis on a student’s GPA and course rigor, as a transcript is a 3-YEAR window into a student’s scholastic potential, work ethic, determination and drive. By contrast, a test score is only a 3-HOUR window into the same thing.

If you are in the top 1% of your HS class, then I would definitely apply SCEA somewhere, as . . .
(a) you have excelled at your high school
(b) your ACT score of 33 is at Yale’s mid-50% (see Yale’s Common Data Set, C9 data points: http://oir.yale.edu/sites/default/files/cds2014_2015_0.pdf), meaning you are well within Yale’s range.

Make sure you also apply early to your flagship state college, as well as apply early to any other state schools that might interest you (UMich, UVA, William & Mary, UCLA etc), so that you have at least one college in your back-pocket come mid-December.

Best of luck to you!

FULL DISCLOSURE: My son and daughter attended a feeder high school (Stuyvesant). My daughter applied to HYP with the exact SAME application, teacher recommendations and essays. She was accepted to Harvard, waitlisted at Princeton and rejected at Yale. My son also applied to HYP with the exact same application, essays and teacher recommendations. He was accepted to Yale and Princeton and rejected at Harvard. Both kids were in the top 1% of their high school class, my daughter had a 34 ACT, my son a 36 ACT.

6

@gibby Thank you :slight_smile:

7

Thanks guys. I will wait for RD to apply to Yale :slight_smile: