So I recently heard that Harvard is picking more and more of its freshman class during the early round so it is increasingly beneficial for one to apply SCEA to demonstrate interest.
Is this a trend for all the SCEA schools like Stanford, Yale, Princeton etc.? I saw Stanford’s admit rate for SCEA was still pretty brutal.
If you are ready to apply early, do it. If you need/want to improve your score/GPA, then you should wait for RD. At Stanford, for example, they reject a lot from SCEA and you would not have a change to improve your application once rejected.
TLDR: If you are very serious about HYPS, go SCEA, because RD is really a very big gamble. If you are looking to just get into a top school (and most of them really are very similar) and are willing to bind yourself, pick the ED plus non-restrictive EA route. Not applying anywhere early is a BIG MISTAKE.
I am assuming you have good stats and are looking to get into a top school. If you are currently deciding where to apply early, here is my advice: decide whether you are more like Student A or Student B:
Student A: HYPS SCEA Candidate
One of HYPS is his/her clear dream school, and he/she has been working towards attending this university for a while. He/she may have done research or summer programs at this university, knows the university very well, and has determined its an excellent fit for him/her. He/she has an incredible profile with a perfect/near-perfect GPA, impressive SAT score, stellar letter of recommendations, distinguished accomplishments in extracurricular activities, and a glowing personality. He/she is very confident that if he/she is not accepted to this school, he/she will be getting other great offers from lower ivies or similar schools, but wouldn’t be very happy unless admitted to a HYPS school.
Student B: ED/nrEA Candidate
Is dying to get into any Top 10 University, and often doesn’t care which one it is, as long as it is one of them. HYPS seem out there as dream schools, where admission is possible but pretty unlikely. Has a high SAT score and perfect/near-perfect GPA, but may have the cookie-cutter leadership/community service stuff when it comes to extracurriculars and good but not great letters of recommendations. Decides to apply Early Decision to either Columbia, Penn, or Duke- the one that fits them best. Applies EA to MIT/Chicago/Caltech in parallel.
Student C: Too Slow
Waits for RD and gets wrecked.
Obviously there are exceptions to these stereotypes (especially in the case where people have had a non-HYPS dream school), but these are the 3 types of students applying to top schools that I see most often.