<p>Who cares about the other kid?</p>
<p>Write better essays, and go for it. Worry about your life, not his/hers. You've not been in school for 13-14 years to back down because the "uber student" wants to go to the same college as you.</p>
<p>When it comes to college admission, I dont object to the idea of the equal opportunity for every student regardless of race, color, sex, age, national origin and/or sexual preference. In the same vein, I dont object to top schools administering the supposedly-nonexisting URM quota. But the fact of matter is that given same SAT scores/ECs/Great Essays and what-nots, an URM will be favored over you, ORM student ;). Allow me point out the fact that there indeed is an unwritten (good) policy in place for promoting diversity in terms of socio-economics, race, and ** geographical location**. Hey, without these quotas, all Ivies and top schools will probably be made of 80% of ORM students and prep graduates ;)</p>
<p>Yeah, if Princeton is your top choice, apply ED. But if you dont mind attending other top schools like HYMS, Penn, Columbia, you should talk to your College Counselor b4 you burn your ED card.</p>