<p>I am currently a Junior. White, SAT 2300 (1590/1600), 224 PSAT, with an 800 Chem SATII. My mom, thinks that I have to apply ED to either Penn or Brown (Where my parents went) or else I won't get into a great school. I'm more interested in MYPHS (in that order). What should I tell my mom?</p>
<p>bum p</p>
<p>You don’t give a lot of other important data like rank, EC’s, race, state you live in, kind of school you go to.</p>
<p>Your mom has a point, at Penn for one if you don’t apply ED you lose much of the legacy boost. Don’t know about Brown for certain, but most top schools expect legacies to show the love ED if you want their love back in the form of an acceptance.</p>
<p>If you have a 2300, are white/Asian, and are not val or sal, have no over the top ECs and live in a highly represented state, your chances are not great at HYPSM. So it would depend on how much of a risk you want to take for not getting into any ivy. </p>
<p>Many face this quandry and it’s just individual choice.</p>
<p>I am bumping</p>
<p>I am white, and will be Valedictorian. My EC’s are varsity tennis, Editor in Chief and Founder of a school newspaper, and I am somewhat (like an 8 out of 10) involved with my county’s republican party. Also, I am not yet, but will be either Pres. or VP. of both my school’s National Honor Society and Spanish Honor Society. I am from PA and go to public school.</p>
<p>Take a look at the decisions threads on the individual college forums here. You’ve got great stats, but so do a lot of students who are rejected by Ivy League colleges. It’s no secret that the Ivies have a higher acceptance rate for ED (or SCEA) than for regular decision. But you should never apply ED to a college you don’t want to attend.</p>
<p>You have done very, very well so you should be proud of yourself. </p>
<p>But all the schools you prefer have under 10% acceptance rates. Assuming that just about every applicant at these schools is at least as academically qualified as you are, though, gives you a better than 90% chance of being rejected at each of these schools–after all, some of the very, very few who are accepted have much better than a run-of-the-mill excellent academic resume–for example, are winners of international academic competitions, etc.; some are legacy or development hook students; others are academic hooks, etc.</p>
<p>What is it you like so much about these other schools that you do not find at the schools where your parents’ legacy status would give yo a boost in the ED round–other than the fact that your parents are pushing you?</p>
<p>tell your mom where you are interested in and why</p>
<p>just because you have a better shot at getting into brown + Penn is DEFINITELY not a reason to bind yourself to those schools</p>
<p>the process is so random that your best approach is scattershot.</p>
<p>That your best approach is scattershot is perhaps the worst college advice I’ve ever heard.</p>
<p>As a long time Penn interviewer, from what I’ve seen, your being val and having a 1590 would most probably mean you will get in RD regardless. In your case holding off for a shot at your preferred schools makes sense.</p>
<p>I would consider Chicago ED. They have a pretty good %.</p>
<p>@hmom5 I think you’ve misunderstood me, I agree with you. </p>
<p>buddy you have a very good chance of getting in regular to both due to your legacy and great stats
and if you’ve truly reflected on your choices and are interseted in those other schools
why limit yourself to ED? </p>
<p>apply regular to those schools that you listed (b/c they are so selective and random, this basically means scattershot) as well as brown and penn, and definitely don’t simply go where your mom wants you to go.</p>
<p>Admissions officers have hinted to me that if I were to apply to Penn RD, not ED that I would be looked at as a student who is uninterested in Penn because I live near Penn and have alumni connections.</p>
<p>Apply ED to the place that you really want to go to, just be careful that it is not binding.</p>
<p>^^^agree</p>
<p>10 char</p>
<p>"Apply ED to the place that you really want to go to, just be careful that it is not binding.</p>
<p>Hello?
ED IS binding!! EA is not binding.</p>
<p>We don’t know much about you. But I would tell your mom that gaming the system to get into a school that you aren’t in love with might backfire. You might not convey enough interest to get in. Or if you do, you might hate the fact that Brown has no requirements outside your major and start to drift. You might hate the pre-professional atmosphere at Penn and start to party too much. Your test scores suggest that you can apply anywhere you want and have some kind of chance. Your next step should be to think about where you would love to go and why.</p>
<p>I am still very interested in Penn, but its 2 on my list, not 1</p>
<p>Seashore, when you apply ED it is showing all the interest needed and then some. And ivies don’t care about demonstrated interest anyway. This is not gaming the system. When these colleges are accepting a fraction of qualified candidates, a good strategy is not only acceptable but advisable. The OP’s mother makes a good point.</p>
<p>Penn is a school that makes clear the big legacy boost comes by applying ED. By applying RD the OP makes clear it is not his first choice. If Penn guesses he’ll get into HYPS there’s a chance they will choose to practice Tuft’s syndrome and reject the OP to protect yield. If they guess wrong, the OP could end up at a college further down the list.</p>
<p>Many, many of my friend’s kids who are Penn legacies but have a shot at HYPS are taking the strategy of applying ED to Penn anyway because every year we see many high stats kids shut out of all the ivies. The OP’s mother has probabl read the letters in the alumni magazine from alum angry their high stats kid didn’t get in.</p>
<p>There is a risk assessment to be done here.</p>
<p>You could always apply RD to the ones you want, and then in the (sadly likely) event you don’t get into any, just take a gap year, do something interesting, and apply ED to Penn or Brown.</p>