<p>I've been told numerous times that most of my colleges will be (huge) reaches. I was planning on applying Early Action to many of them, but would it be a better idea to apply RD and improve my GPA and rank for first semester of senior year? Would I have a better chance because the RD applicant pool wouldn't be as strong?</p>
<p>Here are the early action schools:</p>
<p>UMich (don't know what's happening with their rolling ad. next year...)
Notre Dame
Georgetown
Fordham
UW-Madison (rolling I believe...)
Boston College
UNC-Chapel Hill
UChicago</p>
<p>Well, while there's no problem in trying, remember that a high GPA and a history of challenging courses will be the ticket in. Furthermore, the EA pool is almost always full of stronger applicants, especially those with great access to resources. So, you may want to wait, especially if you can show an increase in grades senior year.</p>
<p>I can only really speak fot Georgetown. But applying EA to Georgetown cannot hurt you. If you are not a strong enoug candidate, you automatically get deferred. They will not hold your deferral against you and they will reconsider you with the RD pool. When I applied, my application was not strong enough, I was deferred, and later accepted. Personally, I think it was better because my file was reviewed with both pools, they had a better chance to get to know me through my application. I don't know about other schools though.</p>