Does early action actually improve your chances or is the applicant pool much tougher during the early round?
I’m not a big fan of Early Decision because there are so many what-ifs (like what if I got into this other school), so what are the benefits of applying, let’s say some top-tier university like Harvard or Stanford. I heard it helps the tippy-top applicants because it prevents their app from being lost in the sea of applications, but is there any benefit to the regular dude trying to reach his dream?
The benefits of applying EA or ED is that you are showing strong interest (especially if you can definitely afford the place) and can possibly have a better chance in the pool if your GPA or SAT/ACT scores aren’t totally in the range of the school. There’s no guarantee you can get in.
Let’s say I apply to an ultra competitive school like Stanford. Does applying SCEA actually improve my chance as I heard that the competition during the early round was extremely intense. Stanford is my dream school (and a huge reach), but I’m not sure if I should use my EA on Stanford if it doesn’t help at all.
It depends on what your stats (test scores and GPA) are. According to this thread (http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/stanford-university/759621-scea-whats-that.html) from 2009, it says (don’t know how reliable though) that Stanford either rejects or accepts SCEA round applicants, not waitlist them. It MIGHT help but like I said, no guarantee. If you don’t have any schools you would want to apply EA too, it wouldn’t hurt to use it on Stanford.
I’m academically qualified for Stanford, like 80% of other applicants so it doesn’t really help.
I just wish there was an ED option for HYPSM. ED to other schools always has the what-if factor in it while if you get into Stanford, at least for me I wouldn’t have any regrets at all.
Schools do like when a student applies EA as it typically indicates that the college is one of the student’s top choices so that can provide a small “bump” However, EA does not increase your chance of admission a ton from what I’ve seen because it is non-binding. I also found that EA schools are more apt to defer students as compared to ED schools. However, I’m not sure about how it works for Stanford in particular.
Statistically, you have a better chance of getting into top schools like Stanford through EA/ED. However, as pointed out by some people, during the early round these elite schools typically select the “top dogs” (i.e. recruited athletes, internationally acclaimed writers, Olympic medalists, and so forth), and then move on fill to their class with less high-achieving but more well-rounded applicants from the regular pool. Point is, if you don’t have anything special on the table then chances are that you won’t get into Stanford even through EA. Of course, this is only a theory but it makes sense when you think about it. However, if Stanford is your absolute #1 choice then I still recommend you go for it!
I did not apply ED or EA. I ended up waitlisted at a bunch of non HYP Ivies. In retrospect I wish I had done EA and ED. I also was afraid to commit. In retrospect it was stupid as I like all the places I ended WL at and would have been happier at any of them. I got off one WL but not in the manner that works for me so had to say no (complicated story, would have been fine if I had gotten in ED). If you are amazing in some way, or you school gets HYPSM and you are similar or better than what they have taken previously then do EA or SCEA only and go to the RD, if you are an ordinary mortal with good stats and you like an ED place, take it. Also if you are a parent legacy at Penn, you have to do ED or so the rumour is. I thought an EA school would not hold a place for me for 6 months and maybe they would not have but from the SCEA and EA threads I have read, they did take people with my stats and without hooks. The only reason not to is if your grades need the senior boost or they are truly awful in November and your January ones will be better. Obviously if finances are a major issue and you need to compare packages then ED is not an option but EA even SCEA is fine.
If I’m a ordinary mortal is it a good idea to apply early action for like top schools or is it just a waste of time, would I even have a better chance in the RD round where I don’t have to compete with the extraordinary people?
I don’t like the idea of committing to one school so early on via binding early decision.
I regret not doing it. I also regret not doing ED as 6 months later I just ended up at the best school that accepted me anyway. If I had done ED it would have been my choice. Go look at the EA threads and RD threads and see where your stats fall
@rdeng2614 Yes. Most schools with EA are not restrictive or single choice. There are only a handful of schools with SCEA, most of those being ivies and ultra selective privates.
If you are all set with your scores and GPA, there is no reason not to apply EA (may be ED too). My D applied to 6 schools EA and 1 RD that has not EA but ED. She was so happy to have most application done early and can work on scholarships applications and focus on school work. For schools that have high EA rejection (instead of defer) rate, then you need to make sure you everything ready for submission and not planning to retake a test or need to improve your GPA. With SCEA/REA, you may be restricted to apply to ED or EA to private schools. You should still be able to apply EA to other public universities. You need to read the details for each school.
^^^I believe with SCEA you cannot apply EA to other schools be it a public or private school – the SCEA does not make that distinction. You can apply to schools that have rolling decision (which a number of public schools and some private schools use).
@happy1 Check out the SCEA at Stanford as an example. You can apply EA to any public schools or if it is critical for financial aid.
Below is from Yale:
From Harvard SCEA FAQ:
From Princeton:
There are not many SCEA schools so one should look up the policy from each school. However, these are quite typical. It is danger to give advise on what you believe rather than what you know.
Note that in my post I did say “I believe” rather than “I know for certain”. Hopefully everyone would take the time to look up the rules of the school they want to apply to.
In my opinion, applying EA has a huge advantage over RD. Here is why:
Every year, the applicant pool is getting stronger and more competitive. In the EA round, the committee is still using last year's students as a benchmark, but by the time it gets to RD, they have a lot of this year's students to compare you to.
You are demonstrating interest in the school. Schools with SCEA- well you can apply to only one of them. Even with non-restrictive EA, its unlikely you will apply to that many schools early. By applying early, the school knows you consider them as one of your top choices if not your top choice, which means accepting you could be better for their yield.
Usually, EA acceptance rate is higher than RD. Although a lot of people will tell you that the early pool is "stronger", they are usually only stronger in terms of stats: higher SAT's and GPA's. Which means if you have strong numbers and overall a strong profile, you are better off applying early, where you don't have to stand out that much in other things. When it comes to RD, with acceptance rates of around 4%, just having really good numbers and EC's won't cut it- you will need something spectacular to stand out.
If your main goal is to just get into one of the top schools, I think one of these strategies work best:
If you know you are a HYPS level candidate, pick the one you like best and just apply there REA.
If you are one step down but still want to get into a top school, apply Early Decision to either Columbia, Duke, or Penn. Make sure you really like the one you pick. Then, take advantage of applying early action to MIT/Chicago/Caltech (you can do these in addition to your early decision school).