<p>My brother applied to this very school last year and was rejected ED. It was a huge shock, as we thought he was going to be accepted for a variety reasons. My brother was guided and convinced to apply ED by a family friend who my mom loves, but my Dad hates (it gets complicated)... and long story short, my Dad and brother are SOOO against me applying there ED now, but my mom encourages it. </p>
<p>The problem is, I'm still in love with the school even though I realize my chances there are minimal; therefore, I would like to ED it. It's just that my Dad would be furious and my brother even said something like "I would never talk to you again;" obviously not entirely meaning it, but u get the point... it's not just that he was rejected, but there is also more family drama behind the whole situation that I don't want to get into. </p>
<p>ANYWAY, I come here to ask how do I talk to my Dad/brother about this and let them know I still want to ED there? Hopefully I can get some helpful advice without going into more detail of the situation. FYI there is about a 99.9% chance I will get rejected, so with that in mind is it not even worth ruffling the feathers? (Despite my small chances, however, I still want to apply ED because my (more realistic) second top choice only has EA so I would have nothing to lose, or would I?). </p>
<p>Any advice would be great. Thank you, parents!</p>
<p>Cakebatter, is the 99.9% will not get in realistic or are you actually a good contender when comparing your stats? Is this a top 10 school? If you have only a sliver of hope then I would suggest you do not ED the school. It will stop you from applying to most EA schools where you could get multiple answers back earlier.</p>
<p>Cake- fall in love with another school. Unless you are talking about the Air Force Academy… and you’ve wanted to be a pilot since you were 3 years old, I can’t imagine not being able to find a comparable experience at another college where the drama will be absent from the dynamic. If you are willing to tell us which school this is, the posters here will be happy to provide about a dozen comparable/similar type colleges which won’t set off WW 3 in your house.</p>
<p>Choose another school if really feel like your chances are that small. It cost money to apply, don’t waste money on a fantasy. I think you can choose a stretch school for ED but you need at least comparable stats to back up the belief that you have a chance.</p>
<p>I don’t care about all the drama either. If you feel your odds are that low, don’t do it.</p>
<p>Apply regular decison. Your other threads indicate you are uncertain about your early application choices…Penn or Cornell. It sounds like both are reaches anyway…and you don’t really have a clear number one choice.</p>
<p>It doesn’t sound like this is some dream school, so find another. </p>
<p>I’m not saying that this should be your major concern, but it sounds like your brother would be very hurt if you went to this school (again, not your problem, but could have long lasting ramifications. During family get-togethers, your bro may be constantly throwing out little digs). </p>
<p>I also wouldn’t want to contribute to the drama between mom and dad. Who knows…if you get accepted, your dad may pull out the financial rug preventing you from going. It sounds like this school has a lot of “background noise” within your family (mom vs dad, dad vs family friend, sibling vs sibling). Doesn’t sound like this school is worth is. </p>
<p>College is only for four years…family is forever.</p>
<p>I have been pretty set on one school ED, but now that I have found out 7+ kids at my school who all have way better stats than me are applying ED there as well, I feel as though it is a waste at this point. The school is already a big reach to begin with</p>
<p>If the others at your school truly do have “way better stats” then applying ED to this school seems like a waste of time and unneeded drama for your family.</p>
<p>Do you have an ACT 34+ (or SAT equivalent) and top ranking? If not, this seems like a waste of time.</p>
<p>That information is the reason why this ED choice is not worth it! The family drama is one thing, but seven stronger applicants from your high school is a deal-breaker.
Look at the rest of your list and spend your early option wisely. If this school is still your favorite, use your early on a non-binding option, apply RD to this school and then sort it out in the spring.</p>
<p>@mom2collegekids so that thread is actually about another school (Penn). Truth is, Cornell (the school I am discussing here) has always been my first choice (and was for YEARS), it’s just that I agreed with you guys, it wasn’t worth the family drama so I did try to find another school I liked just as much. But now that I found out 7+ kids way more qualified than me are applying to Penn ED, I’m really second guessing everything. I feel like Penn is a 0% chance now because it is a reach to begin with, and with such strong competition it has literally gone down to none. I do have 3.68 UW (but big upward trend, 3.85 without freshman year) and 33 ACT so yeah I know, I really stand no shot; especially since I would be applying to Cornell AEM. It just bothers me that I will always have to live rest of my life wondering “what if.” AEM is truly a great fit and essay writing is my strength so that is why I see a glimmer (albeit it small) of hope. I don’t know what to do. :(</p>
<p>Also it may be helpful to know my Dad would never refuse to pay or anything like that; he would actually be ecstatic if I got in, he just doesn’t want me to apply because he knows I won’t get in and doesn’t want us to look like fools again.</p>
<p>So what it comes down to is try to talk to my family and do Cornell or just go with Penn where I know the answer already. :/</p>
<p>OP- I don’t know where you got the idea that you have to apply anywhere early. I don’t know where you got the idea that the only two colleges in America worth loving are Penn and Cornell- both reaches for anyone. I don’t know where you got the idea that being a great essay writer is going to catapult you into admissions if your stats are below where successful applicants from your HS have been.</p>
<p>Start fresh. Take a look at your list- hopefully you have a range of colleges ranging from the “almost impossible” to the “highly likely”. Fall in love with one of them, starting in about five minutes.</p>
<p>You will have a much better “rest of your life” if you don’t keep harping on two schools and only those two schools. If Cornell is a great fit then off the top of my head I can think of another ten schools which are also a great fit.</p>
<p>Get going- and find those schools. You do NOT need to apply anywhere early if you don’t have a clear favorite, and frankly, given what you’ve posted, I think it would be a mistake for you to commit to a school this early in the game.</p>
<p>@blossom with all due respect, I never said any of that. I never said the only two colleges in America worth loving are Penn and Cornell, I just have done my research and narrowed it down to those 2; they are the ones I like best. I also never said essay writing would catapult me in. I stated countless times that I know I have little to no chances at being admitted, but I just thought it may be of value to know that I have strong essay writing skills; all I said is that they give me a “glimmer (albeit small) of hope.” I appreciate the help, but I really think you are taking this out of context.</p>
<p>Applying no where ED makes no sense given my situation. I would be beyond elated to attend either of the schools and I wish I could ED both lol, so I am definitely going to do at least 1.</p>
<p>Cake batter, why do you want to apply ED someplace? I’m not sure I understand your reason for feeling you need to apply early somewhere. Certainly, if you wish to do so, go ahead. Just remember, that IF you get accepted ED, you will have a very small window to accept (or not) that enrollment offer. You will get an estimated financial aid award (so make sure you get the necessary forms completed by the deadline dates for ED applicants). </p>
<p>Here is the rub. That ED financial aid offer could be you your best…or it could be your worst. You will have no way of knowing. You will have only that ONE offer on which to base your matriculation decision ED.</p>
<p>If this isn’t an issue, go right ahead apply ED. </p>
<p>Remember also, that sometimes peer schools reportedly do share ED acceptances. If you apply ED to Penn, it is possible that Cornell (a peer school) will know if you decline that ED acceptance. Then again…they might not know…but it is a possibility.</p>
<p>Personally I’m with Blossom. You do not have one clear favorite…you like both of these colleges. Seems like you will be flipping a coin to determine which one to apply to ED. That being the case, why NOT apply RD to both.</p>
<p>cakebatter- students look at the ED stats and think that because the acceptance rate is a bit higher that their particular chances would automatically be better. This isn’t necessarily true. At the Ivies and other top schools, ED acceptances are usually given to athletes, legacies (especially at Penn) and very top scoring students. It is not the place where they decide to take lower scoring and generally less qualified students. These students, like yourself, actually tend to do better in the RD round. You might be one of the lucky ones they take a chance on- but they don’t do that during ED.</p>
<p>The exception to this is the slightly lower tier schools where your stats will be more in line with their top students. Don’t subscribe to the myth that you have a better chance at every school because “they know you will come.”
Truth: The Ivies and similar schools have so many applicants that they really don’t care about your desire to go, which is all that ED indicates to them. It holds no weight whatsoever. If you were that one special URM with stratospheric scores who was also a star quarterback and played the oboe, sure, it would hold weight and they would be inclined to take you. But they will get so many kids with your stats at the RD round that they have no reason to take you early, if at all. Please save yourself the disappointment and family discord and apply to both schools RD, and look for some equally compelling EA school if you really want an early decision.</p>
<p>OP- sorry if I was too blunt but you seem to be getting less than helpful suggestions for your predicament in real life. Applying early will not be a boost if you are not a strong candidate for either school; since applying early will eliminate the chance to apply early to a school where you are a likely admit, you will be “wasting” your early card on one of two very longshot schools. Moreover, applying early will be stirring the pot quite needlessly at home. And applying early will likely keep your hopes alive since you will get deferred at your ED school, which will then prevent you from falling in love with another school until April.</p>
<p>Sorry, you need some candor. I have no idea what kind of applicant you are… but if by your own estimation, there are more than half a dozen kids from your school who are stronger than you who are applying to these schools early, and unless your HS routinely sends 10 kids to these schools, I think you are going about it the wrong way. The fact that you’ll be stirring up a hornets nest with your brother over what is likely to be a rejection- what’s up with that?</p>
<p>Apply to Columbia. Apply to Johns Hopkins. Apply to Haverford. Apply to Northwestern. If Cornell is the “in” school at your HS this year, find a school where your own personality and profile will shine all by itself.</p>
I don’t see why you would conclude you have no shot from these stats. An ACT of 33 is a 75th percentile score. Cornell doesn’t publish average HS GPA, but 3.7 with an upward trend is not unreasonable. Note that all the colleges discussed use a holistic process, so many other factors are important besides just stats. If you check out the decision threads on this site, you’ll see that it’s quite common for lower stat applicants to be chosen over higher stat applicants, and many are accepted with worse stats than you.</p>
<p>In my opinion, your brother’s behavior is unreasonable. He should not threaten to never talk to you again if you apply, just because he was rejected.</p>