I have applied to Stanford REA. If I get rejected, does it still make sense to apply to other HYPS schools RD or is the early rejection a good sign that I have practically no chance at HYPS?
Stanford is pretty digital, with only a low number of deferrals. I wouldn’t get overly discouraged if you got rejected EA. Plenty of non-cross admits between HYPS. On the other hand if you got rejected (vs deferred) SCEA for Harvard which has a very high deferral rate, I’d be more concerned.
The result of any school’s EA/ED decision should not be seen as an indication of your chances at any other school with a ridiculously low acceptance rate, IMO.
I’ve seen enough applicants who get accepted by Stanford and rejected by HYP and vice versa. I’ve also seen enough applicants who get rejected by P while accepted by HY and vice versa. I’ve seen enough of such cases to know that I know not what rhyme or reason except that each school seems to want to fill a particular class of students at each admissions cycle and it can change from year to year.
I think especially for Stanford you shouldn’t worry because Stanford defers very few REA applicants and rejects most. Now if you were applying early to HYP and you were outright rejected that would something different given that HYP defer a very big number of kids. Still I ave heard many stories where someone got in one or two and rejected from the others. There is no rule really.
Thanks!