I don't know where I should apply EA to????

College Search & Selection
1

Hi everyone, I’m a rising senior planning on majoring in Chemistry or Theoretical Physics. MIT is one of my top schools, but I have had some reservations about applying EA there recently, mostly because I don’t think it would be possible for me to achieve my ideal scores and such by the EA deadline. I’m projected to get a 33-34 on the ACT, but MIT is far more oriented towards 35-36 scorers, which is my main worry. I will be submitting scores for 7 subject tests: Chemistry, Physics, Bio E, Math II, Literature, Chinese, and Korean, and I’m not sure if these will help even out my lack of a perfect 36 on the ACT.

The other EA school I have been considering is Harvard, where I think I might be able to shine a bit more in admissions (?). One main argument for applying to MIT EA instead of Harvard EA is that you would be able to apply to other colleges with MIT EA but not with Harvard. I thought about this for a while and it was my main reason for applying EA to MIT - so that I could also apply to UChicago and Caltech. However, I have recently come to the conclusion that I don’t think I’m actually interested in UChicago or Caltech as much as I had thought I was, so this argument does not really push me specifically in either direction anymore.

Harvard’s EA acceptance rates are also higher- and I know that it is due to the fact that more qualified students apply during EA - however, I feel like I would seem more qualified in Harvard admissions than MIT.

Please let me know what you think, and I will provide yall with some stats to get more of an idea about the kind of applicant I am:
-Female
-Caucasian/Native American
-Science Olympiad captain, school leader for STEM club (we go to elementary schools to teach kids science through labs and activities!), member of SNHS, and president of Chinese club / national Chinese honor society
-I speak 3 languages, I’ve been teaching myself Korean since age 13, and I’ve taken Chinese since freshman year
-3.94 UW GPA
-Attendee of the Stanford Summer Session, where I will be taking CS, Physics, Neuroscience, and Tennis
-Played tennis since sophomore year, was awarded the ‘most improved’ medal
-As stated before, I will be submitting scores from 7 subject tests (I swear it does not feel like I’m taking that many…)
-Will have taken 13 APs total (World, Bio, Chem, US, Lang, CS Principles, CS A, Physics 2, Physics C, Gov, Chinese, Lit, Calc AB)

Thanks in advance!

2

MIT has heavier general education requirements than Harvard. Does that affect which one you prefer?

http://catalog.mit.edu/mit/undergraduate-education/general-institute-requirements/
https://generaleducation.fas.harvard.edu/new-requirements-beginning-fall-2019

3

Have you visited both schools?

Other questions about your profile…

Do you have a Native American Tribal Number?

Home state?

No ACT or SAT yet? In the absence of a primary test score would be helpful to know subject and AP test scores.

4

MIT does not give EA candidates any preference. Harvard does, or at least did, though they denied it.

Without test scores, you really are not ready to apply early. If you want to do a Hail Mary pass to Harvard because it’s your dream school, go on ahead. But early applicants tend to have all their ducks in a row. It’s a disadvantage of early applications that you can’t use later test results. A lot of kids need that second go on tests.

I suggest you get your safety schools secured during the early season, so you know you have a place to go that you can afford. Then you can apply to lottery ticket schools all you want.

Be aware that schools are asking for tribal affiliation numbers for those claiming NA ancestry. Fluency in Asian languages not a rare thing at highly selective schools. An interest and heavy participation in NA culture would have been a better activity. Could even be a hook. Not Asian.

What test scores do you have in hand already? Projections often do not pan out. Have you taken the SAT2 subject tests? The SAT?

5

Have you actually taken seven subject tests? That requires multiple testing days. Only Georgetown asks for three. Some of those testing days could be spent taking the SAT.

6

Both make similar statements that applying EA is not advantageous:

https://mitadmissions.org/apply/firstyear/early-vs-regular/
https://college.harvard.edu/admissions/apply/application-timeline/restrictive-early-action

However, the “Harvard admissions lawsuit” information suggests that there is an advantage to applying (R)EA to Harvard. Perhaps it is not completely a conscious one, but it may exist because it is easier to admit an applicant when the admit pool (or admit pool of those who resemble the applicant) starts empty than when it is already partially or mostly filled in the early round.

7
  1. Do you have tribe membership?
  2. as @cptofthehouse said above , I also don’t think MIT cares about applying EA so there’s not an advantage to that necessarily unless it is your dream school
8

Statistical analysis has long ago given rise to the fact that there is no advantage applying EA to MIT and CalTech. And Harvard for all their insistence that it did not, …the numbers said otherwise. Also no alumi preference for MIT.

9

I am generally a believer in applying EA to safety schools that you would be happy attending. That way you can know that you have a good school to attend, which can take some of the stress off of the process.

It is hard to guess your chances at MIT or Harvard without actual test results. I see these two schools as quite different and would wonder which one would be a better fit for you. You might want to visit both (possibly in the same trip). I will admit that for what I majored in (math) both would have been good choices.

10

EA just means applying earlier.
ED is binding.

For EA I agree you should apply with your best application/scores.

11

Tribal association and official membership will open many many doors for you.

I would caution using it to get into MIT and compete with the premier science students in the world for grades.

Dartmouth has a long history or supporting Native American students as part of a long term reparation for past bad behavior. Long ago. They’ve been doing this for decades.

12

I strongly recommend Cornell for Native students. There is a lot of support in place there.

13

I like MIT better than Harvard for women studying chemistry and physics, because there are more women students, including graduate students in physics, at MIT and because there are more strong female physics and chemistry faculty, which can really be helpful to a woman studying physics in particular. ! I don’t know how much you identify as Native American, or how that affects your outlook, but MIT is really supportive for women in the sciences. Harvard, less so, but trying to make up for 200 years of all male enrollment. MIT as an undergraduate college, is more focused on the sciences, than Harvard’s undergrad student body, so you will have a larger peer group, and many more women in the sciences to study with, and MIT offers a supportive all female dorm, McCormick Hall. Physics will be dominated by men at any school, but you will have more female peers at MIT.

Cornell is very collegial in the sciences, for both undergrads and grad students, especially physics. I think due to its isolation, in part, Cornell has a supportive faculty that engage with students to a greater extent, although at any school, finding a compatible research advisor will make or break your science training and experience, and likelihood of getting into a PhD program.