<p>I'm a well rounded student with good GPA and reasonably good extra curricular activities. I'm reasonably good at an instrument, Varsity sport, leader in a couple of clubs, and have strong community service background as well. I participate in math and science competitions and have done well at the national level. I am unable to decide on which school of the 3 to pick for early action - Harvard/MIT/Stanford. Please provide me with your earnest feedback. I like all 3 schools equally.</p>
<p>why now? I’m assuming you are a junior. You have months to decide.
My choice would be Stanford, it is where EA helps the most.</p>
<p>MIT hands down. It’s nonbinding EA so you can apply to MIT and a bunch of other schools, like Caltech, UChicago, Georgetown, Georgia Tech, University of Michigan, Case Western, UNC Chapel Hill, etc. That’s why I did at least. It will give you a lot of peace of mind to have some acceptances going into the regular round, so I don’t like the premise of SCEA/REA.</p>
<p>Cool. I plan to major in Computer Science & Electrical Engineering. Would that make a difference?</p>
<p>Also, could you tell me a little bit about EA at Stanford and why it is a good idea to apply to Stanford - EA?</p>
<p>Is MIT EA very competitive ? Is it harder than RD?</p>
<p>Also, do people mostly apply to the school where they fit in the best or where they badly want to get in ?</p>
<p>Ideally the school you want badly to get in is also the school where you fit the best. I feel like there are significant differences between these schools. Have you visited all of them? If not, you should do so before deciding.</p>
<p>Yes, I have visited all of them. I like Stanford for its weather and Harvard for its diversity. I looove MIT for being techie. But I like all 3 
That’s why I want to know where I stand a better chance in EA and I can apply RD to the other 2. Please turn in all you know about these schools which will help me decide on where to apply EA. I know its several months away. But it doesn’t hurt to start thinking about it.</p>
<p>MIT is equal difficulty RD and EA. The main advantage is you can apply to a LOT of other schools EA as well. Stanford and Harvard SCEA means you can only apply to one school early, so if you get rejected you will have no options going into the spring. On the other hand, it is easier to get into Stanford and Harvard SCEA than RD.</p>
<p>What does Stanford and Harvard look for in their applicants ? What about MIT ? Please let me know.</p>
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<p>On the engineering side, MIT and Stanford are generally considered stronger than Harvard. They are also two of the “big four” in CS.</p>
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<p>You can look in their common data set, section C7.</p>
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<p>Their SCEA/REA policies do have various exceptions like public schools, rolling admissions schools, early deadline for scholarship schools, and non-US schools. It does appear that they mainly do not want someone to also EA to any school that they believe an admitted student is likely to choose over them.</p>
<p>they all look for your potential to succeed in life. measured by (in order of importance):
- transcript 2. test scores 3. ECs</p>
<p>Thanks a lot, @unicameral2013 and @ucbalumnus. what sort of ECS are they looking for ? Do you have to be very very strong in music or sport or debate or whatever you do?</p>
<p>Is community service considered an EC or does it come under volunteer work ?</p>
<p>Everything outside of class is an EC. so all volunteering is an EC and community service is too. Yes it helps to be very strong in what you do.</p>