<p>I'm currently in a dilemma on my early decision/action application.</p>
<p>After talking to my college counselor, he said that both EA to Stanford and ED to UPenn are viable choices, with ED to UPenn having a higher chance.</p>
<p>Which leaves me a bit confused:</p>
<p>I could apply to Stanford, and keep my options open (being able to apply to a wide selection of schools regular as well).</p>
<p>However, if I apply to UPenn and get accepted, my options are closed; I wouldn't be able to explore anywhere else.</p>
<p>I'd just like advice and am also curious as to what all you people out there would do, placed in my situation. Thanks a bunch! :]</p>
<p>First, the advice is wrong. You can not simultaneously apply EA to Stanford and ED to UPenn. Stanford has single choice (i.e. restrictive) EA. You apply there, you’re forbidden to applying EA or ED to other schools.</p>
<p>As for whether or not to apply to UPenn ED, is it your first choice? If yes, then yes. If no, then no.</p>
<p>You have to be able to live with giving up all other possibilities (including possibly more generous financial aid) if your ED school accepts you. If you cannot or if you have strong desire to shop around, ED would not be a good choice to you. </p>
<p>ED is for specific applicants who accept certainty or who can be at peace with trade-offs.</p>
I don’t think the OP was asking this nor did the GC. It was an either/or
OP, If you can live with getting into one or the other and pay for them, go for it. The only out for an ED acceptance is if the FA is insufficient. I can’t find any particulars on Penn’s web site but you should be able to apply RD to other schools as well.</p>
<p>Most colleges will allow you to decline an ED offer if the student accepted finds the financial package offered to not be sufficient. Could that be a potential situation for you?</p>
<p>If you are seriously thinking about attending other schools, the ED option is probably not for you…</p>
<p>While I am sure right now that I do want to apply ED to UPenn, I’m also afraid at the same time of regretting the decision somewhere farther down the line.</p>
<p>The financial aid package shouldn’t be a problem for me; so rejecting the school based on insufficient aid won’t be likely in my scenario.</p>
<p>I’m sorry if I was unclear, so I would like to clarify; Yes, this is an either/or situation. I either apply ED to UPenn OR EA to Stanford.</p>
<p>I’m just trying to get some more opinions before I set my choice in stone.</p>
<p>In that case, I think you shouldn’t apply ED. It’s OK not to make the decision right now about where you want to go to school–and applying ED means that you’re making that decision. You’d like to keep your options open at this point, so that’s what you should do.</p>
<p>I agree with SlitheyTove and Erin’s Dad. If you feel that UPenn is the one and only college for you and that you belong there, then you should apply ED…
Do you think you have a chance at UPenn if you apply regular decision? Are you worried that you will not be accepted unless you apply ED?
What do you think your chances are at Stanford?</p>
<p>I vote for ED at Penn, if you really like the school. Sure, you may regret your choice later on, but that could happen at any time … after you send in your May 1 deposit, after you unpack your duffel in the dorm in the fall, etc.</p>
<p>My philosophy on Early Decision differs from the conventional wisdom that suggests “Only do it if you are madly in love with your prospective ED school and are certain you are willing to forsake all others.”</p>
<p>ED gives you a big boost in this crazy, competitive college process. And, if you get good news in December, you can put it behind you and focus on other priorities for the rest of your senior year. So, if finances aren’t standing in your way, and you really like Penn, I say go for ED and don’t worry about potential misgivings later … because you might (or might not) have those anyway, regardless of where you show up next September.</p>
<p>Sally, then why not got for Stanford SCEA which still allows the OP to compare offers? It seems to have all the benefits you mention (early news, etc) and can still change minds later.</p>
<p>Stanford SCEA is certainly a reasonable option in this case, but Early ACTION does not typically offer the same admissions-odds boost that Early DECISION does. ED operates on a sort of bird-in-hand theory (“Well, this guy may not be the most super-duper candidate we see all year, but at least we know he’s sure-thing.”) With EA, however, the admission officials must save a spot for a student who may not ultimately enroll. So they tend to be pickier.</p>