help choosing ea school

so i’m currently a senior, and naturally, i’m stressing out about the college application process. my main issue right now is that i have no idea where i want to apply early action to. i’ve visited a handful of schools and done a fair amount of research, and am so far considering the following schools for EA:

UChicago
Princeton
Columbia
Harvard
Stanford
Yale

i am looking for a suburban-ish college setting (that is, not too rural and not too urban), and ideally, my classes would be a mix of small seminars and medium-sized lectures.

i don’t know exactly what i want to major in, but i’m probably going to choose stem and then a humanities minor. i’m attracted to an intellectual, and don’t mind a somewhat competitive, atmosphere. i want to be challenged academically and inspired and surrounded by bright, motivated people.

i would describe myself as introspective, ambitious, and adaptable. some of my stats/ecs:

  • SAT: 1590 (ebrw: 800; math: 790)
  • SAT Math Level II: 800
  • AP: Calc BC, US Gov, Lang (all 5s. i probably won’t report the non-5s lel)
  • NM Commended Scholar
  • Co-Editor-in-Chief of school newspaper
  • play(ed) violin
  • used to play volleyball
  • do rock climbing for fun
  • my main EC is probably creative writing, which i’ve been doing for fun for as long as i can remember, though i don't have many awards to show for it--i only got into the competition scene a year or two ago (and have so far only won regional from scholastic art and writing). i've attended a few summer writing workshops.

of course, i want to maximize my chances of getting into my ea school, so i want to apply to a school i can see myself going to, and that generally seeks students like me.

any thoughts/advice/suggestions?

You are academically qualified but all of these schools must be considered to be a reach for any unhooked applicant. Apply EA to the school you most want to attend.

Be sure to create a college list that also includes match and safety schools that appear affordable and that you would be excited to attend.

@happy1 i don’t know which school i most want to attend. i’m not very familiar with the atmospheres of the schools on my list yet, and my research hasn’t given me consistent answers

Well, you said you want suburban, so you might as well take Columbia right off your list if you’re serious about that. Beyond that, if you live near any of the schools on the list, perhaps you can take a day to visit that one to help narrow down your EA choices.

I would also take Yale off the list - not suburban at all.

@JenJenJenJen @4gsmom okay, thanks. i’ve already visited UChicago and Princeton, and i won’t have time to visit Stanford and Harvard before the deadline–i’ll just rely on virtual tours. anyway, now i’m thinking i should probably just choose between UChicago and Princeton, since i’ve visited them already.

If you don’t care then you may want to do some research and see if you can find which school has the higher EA acceptance rate.

Are you talking about EA or SCEA? You can apply EA at many schools. I think my kid will have 6 EA apps in by Nov 1.

I also would not consider UChicago suburban.

@MusakParent primarily SCEA. uchicago only does EA, though, so i might apply to one or two other schools if i choose uchicago as EA.

With respect to considering potential choices by your setting preference, you might look through this Newsweek article, “The 25 Most Desirable Suburban Schools,” in which Stanford and Princeton, as well as other options, appear: https://www.newsweek.com/25-most-desirable-suburban-schools-71867.

I believe UChicago also has ED which is binding - ED typically provides a bump in terms of admissions since an applicant commits to attend if accepted.

@happy1 yes, but i don’t want to apply ED to any schools–i could never be that definite

@merc81 thanks!

Why not do EA wherever you can, if you are looking to maximize chances? At this point your constraint is time to get supplemental essays done…there’s about 18 days left until many EA deadlines of 11/1. For those you haven’t visited, do as much research as you can and in your essays, make sure your interest in each particular school is shown.

@TS0104 The OP can only apply to one college EA due to single choice early action rules.

princeton or standord imo

Columbia is ED - not EA. It is also the most urban of the schools on your list. In fact, the only schools that I would describe as “suburban” are Princeton and possibly Stanford.

Also, among the schools on your list, the only one that has an unrestrictive EA policy is UChicago (but note that they now also have ED1 and ED2, so its unclear how much of an advantage EA would hold). HYP and S are all restrictive/single choice EA.

I wouldn’t necessarily rule out Harvard, at least until you visit. Cambridge is sufficiently large to have plenty of things to do, but it’s very walkable and surprisingly charming for a part of the Boston metro area. As someone with a strong preference for suburban schools with a “bubble” feel (Duke alum here), I’ve always really liked Harvard’s campus and setting – even in the middle of winter.

To highlight a few differences between the schools not mentioned in posts above,

  • Quarter system (Chicago, Stanford) vs. semester system (Ivies)
  • Core curriculum (Columbia, Chicago) vs. distribution requirements
  • Big D1 athletics (Stanford) vs. less prominent D1 athletics (Ivies) vs. DIII athletics (Chicago)
  • Mild weather year round (Stanford) vs. 4 distinct seasons (Chicago, Ivies)
  • House/college system (Harvard, Chicago, Yale) vs. residential halls
  • Mandatory junior paper and senior thesis (Princeton) vs. no required research components
  • Engineering (Stanford, Ivies) vs. no engineering (Chicago) --> depending on your STEM interests

UChicago is VERY Urban, Hyde Park is surrounded by city slums. I won’t call it suburban. Anyway, before they change the admission strategy, EA is a great way to apply. Now, with ED and EDII, EA at UChicago is not so hot, just a little better than RD.