ok…here’s the situation:
my school is uber-competitive and i know many smarties and talented people will apply to harvard early action. i feel like my stats are not good enough compared to theirs. harvard usually accepts 5-10 people early from my school and about another 5-10 regular. although there will be more applying regular decision, the competition is less. the people have less amazing stats and my stats are probably more amazing in comparison. but i heard that applying early to harvard can give u a better shot at getting in. so now i do not know if i should apply early to harvard. i don’t want to get deferred or rejected early and have to feel miserable during the whole application process. so i can up with an alternate plan. since mit, caltech, rice, and uchicago all have multiple-choice early action, i can apply to those early and i am pretty sure i can get accepted to at least one of those schools. so should i take the risk and apply to harvard early action or apply to mit, caltech, rice, and uchicago early? thanks.
<p>This is about priority... if Harvard is your first choice, then I suggest applying to Harvard EA. The competition you'll face in RD will be almost/just as fierce as EA. After all, this is Harvard...</p>
<p>do you even want to go to harvard?</p>
<p>polar, don't over intellectualize. This is not about SCEA vs EA; it's about having the best chance at your top choice. </p>
<p>Pick the school that you most want to go to. A test is to ask yourself, "If I didn't get in in the RD round would I forever kick myself for not giving it my best shot early?"</p>
<p>if you get rejected from EA, you were probably going to get rejected during RD
if you get accepted from EA, you were probably going to get accepted during RD</p>
<p>now the nice thing about EA is that you might get deferred which will give your application a second reading during the RD round. so that's one more opportunity for you to be evaluated and accepted (for instance, if you were borderline on admissions, the second read through might bump you in)</p>
<p>but also make sure you want to go there and aren't just applying for the sake of it being harvard</p>
<p>but i heard that applying early to harvard can give u a better shot at getting in.>></p>
<p>Actually, it doesn't. I agree with Techie: After watching the admissions results of both schools for several years, I've found that in general the kids who get in SCEA are usually the ones that would get in RD anyhow, not the other way around. </p>
<p>So, consider this: is Harvard your absolute first choice? Because, applying Single Choice EA means you will be giving up the chance to potentially apply ED or non-binding EA to other schools where you may indeed get a boost from applying early.</p>
<p>If you DO decide to do SCEA at Harvard, consider it the equivalent to buying a lottery ticket. Don't cry over not getting accepted any more than you'd cry over not holding the winning lotto ticket next week. And, be absolutely sure to continue to prepare and send in your applications to other schools while you wait to hear about SCEA.</p>
<p>Yes Harvard is definitely my top choice; i love everything about this ivy, not just its name. and it is so close to my home that i can walk there in ten minutes. but i am just afraid of the competition if i apply early. don't colleges usually compare applicants from the same school? all the applicants from my school applying early are also very deeply interested in harvard and have amazing stats. my stats are simply not as good, so i may not get as good a chance in getting accepted. but the regular applicants in my school are not as competitive and have less competitive stats, so i think i may have a better chance getting in regular. i just don't want to get rejected or deferred early and have to feel miserable all throughout the applications process. i guess i can get deferred and apply again as a regular applicant, but it would be better if i apply to another college early and get accepted. i just want to feel optimistic during the college app process. should i take the risk anyway and apply to harvard early since it is THE college i want to attend?</p>
<p>if you KNOW you want to go there, then apply early</p>