<p>Would I be better off applying EA or waiting for senior grades and RD?</p>
<p>Currently 3.8 UW, could go up to 3.83 from fall semester.</p>
<p>2300 SAT
780 and 800 on math 2 and physics
average-good extracurriculars
legacy</p>
<p>I'm taking AP Calc BC, AP Physics C, AP Statistics, AP Spanish, and AP Literature this fall.</p>
<p>Thanks for any advice.</p>
<p>If Yale is your first choice then go for it…do EA…but if not look at the college application process as a strategy game…do you think that EA somewhere else would be better and leave Yale for RD? My son did RD and had plenty to choose from…no right answer but I am sure some of the regular experts will weigh in!</p>
<p>I do not know the context of your school well enough to judge your GPA, but what is your class rank? And do SCEA if Yale is your first choice. If you need more time for your essays, I would wait until RD, especially since you claim to have “average to good extracurriculars”. Do note that SCEA gives you no advantage, besides an early notification.</p>
<p>My school doesn’t do class rank so it’s hard to give context for GPA. </p>
<p>I’m aware that EA doesn’t help chances and my main motivation would be to cut down my list of applications to only 2-3 schools where I could possibly receive large scholarships if I happened to get in to Yale EA.</p>
<p>I’m just not sure if that potential GPA increase would be worth waiting for RD.</p>
<p>^^ Your school may not do class rank but you should get a copy of the school profile sheet that your school provides to colleges. Very often, schools that do not rank provide ranges of GPA’s or other information (highest GPA, etc) to help colleges put into context an individual student’s GPA. Typically, 3.8 is at the lower end of the kids who are accepted to schools like Yale but perhaps the grading system at your school is much tougher and you are nearer the top of the class. if so, and this can’t be gleaned from the school profile sheet, you should see whether your guidance counselor can mention this fact in his/her recommendation. Class rank is important. Although, it is generally understood that you have to be in the top 10% of your class to be a viable candidate (barring any unusual circumstances), most of the unhooked accepted kids are at least in the top 3% of their class. </p>
<p>lastly, not sure that 3.8 or 3.83 will make much of a difference to adcoms but the optics of a very strong 1st semester of senior grades can’t hurt. Good Luck!!</p>
<p>I’m about top 5% out of 250 students and will probably go up this semester. Would this be a disadvantage or advantage to include in my application in some form if possible?</p>
<p>Your unweighted 3.8 GPA, which translates to a 95, is fine. If you’re already in the top 5% of your class, there’s no need to wait until the RD round. Apply to Yale SCEA if it is your first choice school. You can also apply to state institutions in the EA round. See: [Frequently</a> Asked Questions - Single-Choice Early Action | Yale College Admissions](<a href=“http://admissions.yale.edu/faq/single-choice-early-action#t184n1810]Frequently”>http://admissions.yale.edu/faq/single-choice-early-action#t184n1810)</p>
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<p>I would apply to Yale SCEA if it is truly your first choice but if your main goal is to cut down the number of applications you submit then a better strategy would be applying EA to the tier of schools lower in selectivity. An admission to a school like Chicago, for example, might cut away a large number of your applications and is easier to come by than an SCEA legacy admit to Yale.</p>
<p>I would further add that gaining a large merit scholarship to a good university is a near certainty if you can get into Yale. If you are not likely to get need based financial aid and you would pass up a Yale admission for a lower tier school with merit money, you might want to skip the Yale application altogether and just apply where you know you have above average stats and can get merit money. Would your legacy parent(s) want you to take merit money elsewhere if offered a slot at Yale?</p>
<p>A 3.8 is not a 95 in the high schools around where we live. If Yale knows your school then they would likely know where a 3.8 puts you in the class. Otherwise, the school profile sheet should help them get an idea. Many schools no longer report class rank but that doesn’t mean that AO’s don’t try to interpolate it nonetheless. You may be aware of the Academic Index that Ivies calculate ostensibly to ensure academic fairness in recruiting athletes. One of the key components of this is class rank. </p>
<p>You should be competitive being in the top 5% but you should check your school’s history of sending kids to Yale to get a better idea of where you stand. Obviously, being a legacy helps but not nearly as much as in the past as I’m sure you know (Yale rejects something like 8 out of 10 legacy kids) so definitely take YaleGradandDad’s advice to heart. Best of luck to you!</p>