<p>I am applying early to Stanford University and am not exactly at par with their accepted students. I have decided to apply early in order to let them know that they are my first choice out of all other universities. Will this be to my benefit? I thought they would give me a slightly higher chance of getting in, no matter how miniscule it may be, to let them know they are number one to me as I attended their summer college program and know that Stanford is the place for me. Why else would kids apply early? And why else would Stanford accept 13% of early apps and 7% of normal apps? Their has to be something to that, no matter how slight it may be...right?</p>
<p>I agree that there must be some very very tiny advantage for applying SCEA. I mean, no matter how selective Stanford is, they have to want kids who want them more than Harvard, Berkeley, Princeton, Yale, etc… so it would make sense. The way I see it, you don’t have a higher chance of getting in early, but if you get deferred then when they reconsider your application they will favor you over an applicant who didn’t apply SCEA. This is complete speculation.</p>
<p>The early admit round from Stanford includes many of the recruited athletes – skewing the sample pool. It’s understood that non-athletes admitted during the SCEA round are stand outs that would have been clear admits if they had applied RD. The boost is non-existent for Stanford, I’m afraid. Best of luck to you nonetheless – it is a beautiful campus.</p>
<p>Thanks very much!</p>
<p>Stanford claims the reason their REA acceptance rate is higher than it is for their RD is because the early applicants tend to be stronger.</p>
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<p>Wrong 3X:</p>
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<li><p>HYPS and other highly selective colleges don’t care about ‘interest/first choice’, they have an overabundance of highly qualified candidates. ED shows interest because it is binding, EA does not.</p></li>
<li><p>Unless you are an outstanding candidate, you stand a good chance of being outright denied and not being deferred to the RD round. Unlike Y, S doesn’t defer many, they like to give a decision:</p></li>
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<p>[Restrictive</a> Early Action : Stanford University](<a href=“http://www.stanford.edu/dept/uga/application/decision_process/restrictive.html]Restrictive”>http://www.stanford.edu/dept/uga/application/decision_process/restrictive.html)</p>
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<li>HYPS only accept in the EA round exceptional applicants that they would take from ANY applicant pool. So, even though the acceptance rate is higher, unless you’re outstanding enough that S wants some extra time to woo you before you likely get accepted by the likes of HYP in the RD round, that rate won’t be applying to you. Why would they accept an applicant who is “not exactly at par with their accepted students” in the EA round? See what Y says about who they accept EA (HYS have the same rational):</li>
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<p>[Early</a> admit rate rises slightly | Yale Daily News](<a href=“http://www.yaledailynews.com/news/2009/dec/15/early-admit-rate-rises-slightly/]Early”>http://www.yaledailynews.com/news/2009/dec/15/early-admit-rate-rises-slightly/)</p>
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<p>Few people are “clear admits” to places like HYPS.</p>
<p>However, it is true that most people applying EA will be either recruited athletes or have great numbers. I say, if you have the numbers, apply. If you have above the 75% GPA/SAT for Stanford admits but don’t have great extracurriculars, you may not be a “clear admit” - but may be admitted regardless. The vast majority of people admitted EA or RD are not clear admits, but the adcoms may have liked their essays, who knows?</p>
<p>Also, SCEA must have SOME advantage, or why would anyone do it?</p>