<p>I am kind of split between early action and early decision right now. I really want to apply to Stanford (First Choice after Harvard) and I've been thinking of applying Single-Choice Early Action. Yet, I also like both MIT and Caltech, and, with EA, I can apply to both early.</p>
<p>Will it be more advantageous to apply single EA to Stanford, or multiple EAs like MIT and Caltech? Is the acceptance rate for early applications sufficient enough for sticking to just Stanford or keep it open for MIT and Caltech. Overall, I would prefer Stanford over the others.</p>
<p>EA generally offers little to no advantage when it comes to admissions, especially if it isn't even single choice. I'd say if you prefer stanford over the others, go for it.</p>
<p>Would Early Decision offer more of an advantage?</p>
<p>Just so you realize -- Stanford doesn't have Early Decision (which is binding). Thier SCEA means that's the only Early Action (non-binding) school you can apply to.</p>
<p>Yeah, I know Stanford doesn't have ED. But, in general, would applying ED to schools like Yale (I think it has ED) improve one's chances over SCEA?</p>
<p>Yale has SCEA. Some schools with ED include UPenn, and Duke, I believe.</p>
<p>ED does often improve your chances, but it's BINDING, so it reduces your options!</p>
<p>Given the large number of qualified applicants rejected (and the deferred generally don't get in) from Stanford's SCEA pool, I'd say that there is a slight disadvantage to applying to Stanford SCEA unless you're very very very good.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, MIT and Caltech defer most of their pools, so it neither hurts nor helps.</p>
<p>The Early Action option at MIT and Cal Tech don't really give you an advantage; they just let you find out earlier than you otherwise would. On the other hand, doing SCEA at Stanford lets Stanford know that out of colleges with early acceptance programs, they are your top choice. </p>
<p>It kind of disgusts me that these early admissions programs have to be strategized, but I guess I'd go with Stanford.</p>
<p>My recollection is that Stanford rejected a huge number of their SCEA applicants, so folks never got to the regular round.</p>
<p>I think MIT EA had a slightly lower acceptance rate than RD this year (but it was within one percentage point). Nevertheless, for our student, applying to several EAs was a successful strategy.</p>
<p>Stanford reject 90% and even the 10% that was deferred, only 10% of those are accepted. Our school val was deferred and rejected with perfect SAT1&SAT2 with 4.0 uw GPA. MIT EA is better.</p>
<p>Thanks for the advice everyone!</p>
<p>So, it seems that there are differing opinions between Stanford's SCEA and MIT's EA. Overall, it seems that everyone's saying Stanfords minimal gain on SCEA is better than MIT's nonexistential gain (except for knowing earlier).</p>
<p>I think I'm leaning slightly towards Stanford at the moment, but I still have time to decide, I guess.</p>
<p>If your school has Naviance data, that might be a good source of info on previous applicants to Stanford from your school. That's how we knew which highly selective schools liked students from S's school and which schools turned down students with the same stats.</p>