Is it worth applying to Princeton or MIT early action? Or should I apply to Cornell engineering ED? If I apply ED at Cornell, I won’t know if I could have gotten into Princeton or MIT (assuming I get into Cornell). On the other hand, if I apply early to MIT or Princeton, I might be wasting my time and an ED chance at Cornell. Please help. I’ve listed my stats below.
SAT: 2230(M-800, CR-740, W-690 10 essay) I will most likely get national merit finalist
Subject tests: Math 2 and physics in June. Predicted 750 or above
GPA: 3.8-3.9 UW and 4.3-4.4 W. Upward trend starting junior year.
Rank: top 3% out of around 550
ECs: below average by Ivy League standards
Essays: average to above average. My common app essay may be a little controversial.
Recs: All three will be good. Maybe one or two will be great.
Awards: Nothing major. A few school awards and local rotary awards.
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Apply ED/SCEA to the school you actually want to go to, not because you think you will be admitted. For engineering, there are better, cheaper state schools like UMich, Georgia Tech, Purdue and Berkeley - where your admission chances are much higher - as well as similarly priced, higher ranked private schools like MIT, Harvey Mudd, Stanford and Caltech.
If you can’t think of a reason to prefer one over the other you should look at them more closely and visit if possible. Your essays will reflect this and may actually reduce your chances.
Your grades, test scores, and EC’s (by your own admission) are not very competitive for the schools you mentioned. Especially, in the early rounds where the competition is extraordinarily keen. Your best chance out of the three would be ED Cornell engineering but it’s a very tough school to get into. Make sure you apply to some matches and safeties. Good luck!
You can apply to both cornell eng. ed and either mit or princeton (princeton is scea whereas mit is just regular ea),you can only apply to one school ed, but you can apply to as many other schools early action (but not single-choice early action) as you want in addition to that ed application, so if you have other schools you are interested in applying ea to as well then maybe do cornell ed, mit ea, and the other schools ea as well. That way you can still find out if you could have gotten in. But just like other posters said you should only apply ed to cornell if it is without a doubt your top choice.
The cost of these Ivy League schools depends on your family’s income, so no one can flat out say that the Ivies are more expensive than any other school. The Ivy League schools give aid based on need only…no academic or athletic scholarships. If your family makes even up to $150,000 a year, you might find that it is cheaper to attend an Ivy League school than a state school somewhere. You have to run the numbers. I know a person who goes to Princeton and doesn’t pay a penny to attend based solely on family income. That person could not have gotten that deal at a big state school unless a big scholarship were earned. Most of the elite colleges give excellent financial aid based on need. My daughter will attend Vassar College in the fall, and we will pay less for her to go there than we would have if she went to a state school in our state…and we’re not even poor. So, don’t just take someone’s word for it that certain colleges are cheaper. Published costs of elite colleges aren’t even close to correct for most who attend.
All that said, you are a strong candidate, but for sure not a slam dunk and you could easily be denied. Worthy of applying though, so do that. Make sure to have a safety or two.