Early Action... help or harm?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Harvard University
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<p>I planned on applying early action to Harvard next year, but now I'm not so sure. The numbers say that it's easier to get in with early action (18% versus the regular 5.9%). But some people say that since very few early action applicants are deferred, they're just accepted or denied. Obviously I'd love to be accepted, but I'd still rather be deferred than rejected if it means I still have a shot! My question is would applying early action really help me at all to get into Harvard, or just harm me? Should I apply ED somewhere else (my second choice Yale) or stick to my plan? If you need information about me for some reason, like if you think it affects whether or not I should apply ED, then you can look here: <a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1618755-will-i-get-into-harvard.html#latest"&gt;http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1618755-will-i-get-into-harvard.html#latest&lt;/a>
Otherwise thanks so much for your help and advice!</p>

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<p>

Your facts are wrong. Here, read this: <a href=“992 admitted under Early Action — Harvard Gazette”>http://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2013/12/992-admitted-under-early-action/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>

So, in actuality VERY FEW students are denied in the SCEA round; most are deferred, but Harvard did accept more than 50% of it’s class from the SCEA round this year. Bottom line: If you have the stats and want Harvard, your chances are better in the early round.</p>

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<p>@gibby‌

Just wondering, do you have a link to an article that says this? I’ve been curious about how many made it and didn’t run into one on the Crimson (but might’ve missed it).</p>

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<p>Last year’s overall yield (SCEA + RD) was 82%, but SCEA is thought to be higher than RD. So, if 90% of SCEA accepted students matriculate, that’s more than 50% of the class. See: <a href=“Regular Admits May See 3% Acceptance Rate | News | The Harvard Crimson”>http://www.thecrimson.com/article/2012/3/27/three-percent-admission-2016/&lt;/a&gt;

</p>

<p>Also see: <a href=“http://harvardmagazine.com/2013/05/harvard-class-of-17-yield-reaches-82-percent”>http://harvardmagazine.com/2013/05/harvard-class-of-17-yield-reaches-82-percent&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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<p>I think the only harm is you would be forgoing other ED or EA opportunities in favor of Harvard. For example some ED acceptance rates for the class of 2018 were:</p>

<p>Cornell – 28%,
Dartmouth – 28%,
Northwestern – 32%,
John Hopkins – 33%,
Middlebury – 42%,
Williams – 43%, </p>

<p>Some of these schools’ RD acceptance rates dropped to around 10%. So the window really narrows after the early round IMO. Must you attend Harvard? Are there other schools you’d consider early?</p>

<p>Harvard is arguably the most competitive early applicant pool in the world. Will your application be highly compelling? When you google your name with your high school name, what comes up? I’ve noticed kids from our community who are accepted to Harvard or peer schools tend to yield a lot of favorable output from a simple Google search.</p>

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<p>

Early decision (ED) and the schools you listed above are for students that do not need to compare financial aid offers. If admitted ED, students must agree to attend their ED school and withdraw all other RD applications. That’s not the case with EA or SCEA schools. Students admitted EA and SCEA can wait until May 1st after reviewing all other financial aid offers before agreeing to accept the offer of admittance.</p>

<p>The more apt analogy would be to forego applying early to other non-binding early acceptance (EA) schools such as UChicago, MIT and Georgetown.</p>

<p>

No, that honor goes to Stanford. </p>

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<p>^^^ The point being, the early choice has large opportunity cost, so choose wisely!</p>

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<p>^^ Yes, but when you compare EA to EA, the “opportunity cost” seems to come out more in Harvard’s favor. By admitting so many more students in the EA round than its peers, Harvard Admissions is saying, “If we are your first choice school, your chances are better applying in the EA round.” </p>

<h2>Class of 2018 EA and SCEA Acceptance Rates</h2>

<p>MIT (EA) = 8.9%
Stanford (SCEA) = 10.7%
UChicago (EA) = 12.2%
Georgetown (EA) = 14.1%
Yale = (SCEA) 15.4%
Princeton = (SCEA) 18.5%
Harvard = (SCEA) 21.1% </p>

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<p>@gibby since you seem to know a whole lot about this may I ask one other thing? I looked on Harvard’s website but was still a little bit confused. If I apply SCEA, which looks like is a better option as far as acceptance rates go than EA or RD, then find out I got in by December 15th, can I still apply to, say Yale, before Dec. 30th (which is when their registration ends). And if I get into Yale too and find that it’s cheaper, am I binded to Harvard or can I choose Yale instead. I don’t think I would because Harvard is my top pick, but I just want to be sure.</p>

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<p>If you apply to Harvard SCEA, you can apply to any public/state school early and any other private school RD. If accepted to Harvard SCEA, you are not bound to attend Harvard if you want to attend another school. See: <a href=“Frequently Asked Questions | Harvard”>https://college.harvard.edu/frequently-asked-questions&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>

</p>

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<p>Yes, if you apply SCEA to Harvard, you can apply to Yale regular decision. You can apply to as many schools as you like regular decision. You are not obligated to attend Harvard if you are accepted. SCEA, Single Choice Early Action, means you can only apply early to that one school, and they will let you know their decision early (ie:Dec 15); however, you don’t have to make your decision until May 1st and you can still apply to other schools regular decision.</p>

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<p>Thanks so much for helping me make this decision! I’ve decided to apply SCEA and hope for the best!!!</p>

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<p>For 2018 there were 992 acceptances out of 4692 applications for a 21.1% acceptance rate. This seems awfully attractive given the 3.1% RD rate, but here’s another way to look at the numbers (recognizing there are some obvious flaws in the analysis):</p>

<p>According to the Harvard Gazette,</p>

<p>

</p>

<p>If you were not in one of those categories then the acceptance rate was:</p>

<p>992- 104-98-209-2-9-83-90 = 397/4692 = 8.46%</p>

<p>Further, if you are middle class and not poor then you need to factor in the following,</p>

<p>

</p>

<p>Of course you cannot subtract the full 122 from 397 because presumably there is an overlap with the minority students but you have to subtract something for poor white students so say 20.</p>

<p>(397-20)/4692 = 377/4692 = 8.0%</p>

<p>Now, there are about 240 recruited athletes that need to be accounted for, but again there are overlaps with groups above, so lets say only 100 do not fall in the above categories. So then,</p>

<p>(377-100)/4692= 277/4692 = 5.9%</p>

<p>Development cases, scions of celebrities or the power elite ? Lets be conservative and say 20</p>

<p>(277-20)/4692 = 252/4692 =5.4%</p>

<p>Legacies ? About 10% of the class is legacy or 170 students and most of them apply early. However, again let’s be conservative because of the potential overlap above and say that only 50 are unique from the above.</p>

<p>(252-50)/4692 = 4.3%</p>

<p>The point of this exercise is to say if you are white middle class and are not hooked (athletic recruit, legacy, development etc), your chances of acceptance are not nearly the 21.1% that it seems at first blush. </p>

<p>I did not even begin to account for the “academic recruits” (Intel, Siemens, IMO winners, etc) and the super geniuses. The early applicant pool is chock full of the best of the brightest. In conclusion, applying early for some/most may be not the wisest way to play their “early card”.</p>

<p>Oh, if you think being an Asian applicant is any better, there is another way to cut up the numbers to show this isn’t the case.</p>

<p>Note: Just wanted to start a discussion. I’l let you all figure out the logical flaws in my argument.</p>

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<p>FWIW: Based upon another thread, I believe the OP is African American.</p>

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<p>Thanks Gibby. I didn’t know that but I was also just throwing this out there for anyone who believes that applying SCEA gives you a 3 1/2 times greater chance of being accepted. If you are unhooked, your chances are the same as RD except you’ve wasted an opportunity to plan and utilize an early strategy at another college (or colleges) more wisely. </p>

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<p>Al the things you mentioned (minority, legacy, athletic recruits, developmental cases) also occur at most other colleges in the early round. So, as an unhooked applicant, your chances are diminished everywhere by those things – it’s not something unique to Harvard. Students needing to compare financial aid offers have two options:</p>

<ol>
<li>Apply to one school SCEA (Harvard, Yale, Princeton or Stanford) and also apply to a group of public schools in the early round and hope for best.</li>
</ol>

<p>or</p>

<ol>
<li>Apply to a group of non-binding early admissions schools (Georgetown, MIT, UChicago etc) and also apply to a group of public schools in the early round and hope for best.</li>
</ol>

<p>In either case, they will be confronting the exact same factors that reduce the higher acceptance numbers of all schools in the early round.</p>

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<p>^^ Agreed. It is just a common misconception by many high school students that the chances of acceptance at the very top EA and SCEA schools are much better if you apply early. Not so for the unhooked.</p>

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<p>@Falcon1‌
@gibby‌ I know it’s going to be extremely difficult to get into Harvard no matter what, I am African American which I’m hoping helps but it’s a reach school no matter what. Even if my chances are only one or two percent better during SCEA I’ll probably take it! One other quick question: does the fact that my dad is a veteran help me at all? Just curious because my friend said that might be a hook but he’s in the reserves now and isn’t active. He served overseas in</p>

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<p>No, it doesn’t help at all in the admissions process that your dad is a veteran (sorry). Best of luck to you!</p>

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<p>It sounds like you’ve made up your mind to play your early card at Harvard. That’s exciting. Best of luck.</p>

<p>Finding your dream school is exciting, but it’s the easiest part of the college search. Have you done the really hard work of finding a few target schools that you will also be excited to attend? A lot of kids don’t and it’s tragic: <a href=“How common is getting "shut out" for "reasonably good" students? - Parents Forum - College Confidential Forums”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/1621788-how-common-is-getting-shut-out-for-reasonably-good-students-p1.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>As a writer, you should check out U of Iowa</p>

<p><a href=“BA in English and Creative Writing | English | College of Liberal Arts and Sciences | The University of Iowa”>http://www.english.uiowa.edu/undergraduate-program/creative-writing-track&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p><a href=“Iowa Writers' Workshop, Famous for Training Top Writers, Turns 75 - YouTube”>Iowa Writers' Workshop, Famous for Training Top Writers, Turns 75 - YouTube;