I truly do love both Harvard and Brown, and I am having a difficult time choosing which school to apply to early. I have legacy at Harvard, and my test scores put me in the middle 50% for both schools. I know that Brown is ED while Harvard is SCEA. Considering that I like the schools equally (I have done my research), which one should I apply to early?
ED at Brown means that you are committing to attend if admitted, and do not need to compare financial aid offers. If you do not want to make that commitment when applying, do not apply ED.
@ucbalumnus I understand that. Which of the two would I have more of a chance of getting into (Brown has a high ED acceptance but I have legacy at Harvard)?
@ap012199 stats?
Brown will almost certainly give you the better odds. Single-generation legacy at Harvard doesn’t count for anything these days, and even two-gen is pretty minimally beneficial.
3X as likely to get into Brown.
If you are asking yourself this question, don’t apply ED anywhere! (applying to Harvard EA is fine if your essays are ready in time but won’t help you that much over RD) Unless your ED school is unconditionally your top choice, you will regret it later if you are admitted ED and never find out if you would have gotten into your other top choices. Even if you think you won’t care now, you most likely will feel regret in December if you applied ED to increase your chances. Apply to a wide variety of reach/match/safety schools and don’t stress out; you’ll end up somewhere that is a good fit.
Don’t apply ED anywhere unless you are certain it’s your #1 choice over all others.
Don’t apply to either until you know more about them than that you “love” them. Do you have an idea why they should love you back, how you really match, holistically, from their perspectives? It’s the case you have to make, so to say, in your app. Show, not just tell. And being in the mid-50% may not be enough, even for early.
Spend more time thinking about your match/safety schools than which to apply early to ED.
I would only apply ED if 1) one school is your absolute top choice and 2) you have no need to compare financial offers. If both conditions are not met, then I would apply SCEA to Harvard.
You need to recognize that no matter how accomplished your academic record is, that these schools have under a 10% acceptance rate. There is simply not enough space for the schools to accept all of the qualified candidates. Be sure to cast a wide net and apply to reach (including Brown and Harvard no matter what your stats are), match, and safety schools that you would be happy to attend. I would spend time and energy coming up with a good list of match and safety schools.