<p>At this moment in time, my son plans to apply to Princeton SCEA. I just don't know if it's wise and if there's a reason to apply SCEA vs. RD. Princeton is his top school but other schools (Penn, Harvey Mudd, and Vanderbilt) are right there on his list. To add to that, two EA schools, Caltech and MIT, have shown some interest in him. I think it might be more prudent to apply EA to those schools and RD to Princeton but obviously, it's his choice. The one positive I see for SCEA is that it's only one school that he needs to apply to and since he's a procrastinator, that seems doable by mid-October.</p>
<p>He's URM (1/2 Puerto Rican, 1/2 Caucasian). SATs are good (2320 w/ 800 M, 790 CR, 730 W), SAT II are good (800 physics, 800 Math II, 730 Lit, and will take Chem in Oct.), APs are good (55554 and will take 3 more senior year). ECs are good (Doing graduate level physics research currently, physics olympiad semis twice, AIME twice, nationally ranked in chess for his age, teaches violin and tutors math, does a ton of music and will submit an arts supplement in violin), and he'll have about 60-70 college credits.</p>
<p>His essays should be good as he's really been getting some good feedback on them.</p>
<p>We're a middle income family (between 70 and 80K) of 5, and I don't think there are any drawbacks to applying SCEA or EA for middle income families but I'm not sure.</p>
<p>If anyone has advice for my son, I would love to hear it. Is SCEA the right fit for this kid?</p>
<p>He is an URM, has the stats, and ECs. If Princeton is his number one choice, he should definitely use the SCEA opportunity. He could be “one and done” --how nice would that be??</p>
<p>It would be <em>very</em> nice but neither of us is that confident. The Ivies seem so mysterious in their acceptances. I just don’t want him to sabatoge his chances at the two EA schools by not applying EA.</p>
<p>I don’t think 1/2 Puerto Rican and 1/2 Caucasian is really viewed as URM, in my opinion, especially if you’re not in a lower income bracket. Otherwise, he has a solid chance at all three. It seems he’s interested in engineering, which to be honest is a lot stronger at Caltech and MIT. Strategically, no early action will explicitly give your son an edge. If you want to be strategic about the whole admissions process, apply to the two EA schools over the one SCEA school if he doesn’t really prefer Princeton too much over the other two.</p>
<p>My son’s probably not interested in engineering at this point. He would most likely major in math and then physics.</p>
<p>Re. URM-I guess he’s viewed as a URM. He’s definitely a person of color and MIT apparently thinks he fits their idea of diversity since they gave him a travel stipend to participate in the special WISE program (we’re across the country). Yes, we are not low income but he does get emails from Questbridge schools for some reason.</p>
<p>His GPA is 4.0/4.84 and he’s homeschooled.</p>
<p>At this point, he does prefer Princeton. MIT and Caltech weren’t even on his list until he was accepted into the visitation program at MIT and the Caltech baseball coach contacted him. (I forgot to say he’s been a baseball player but he’s not good enough to be recruited except by a team like Caltech! LOL)</p>
<p>We visited Princeton and Penn in the spring and he loved both schools. He also has two friends at Princeton.</p>
<p>If it’s his first choice, then I think he should go for it. He sounds like an excellent candidate for EA admission. Although being 1/2 Puerto Rican may not be that big of a deal these days, I think top schools are still looking hard to diversify their stem departments. I think it’s still pretty tough to find strong URM stem candidates.</p>
<p>Besides, he is not giving up his ability to apply to MIT (and others), just his ability to know on Dec. 15th if he is in. My younger son, has very similar stats as your son and is also interested in Math and Physics. He will definitely be applying to Princeton EA. Maybe they will both have good news on Dec. 15th, if not they just move on.</p>
<p>My older son turned down MIT for Princeton and couldn’t be happier with his decision. The culture at MIT seems pretty unique and it’s certainly not for everyone.</p>
<p>It will be interesting to get a report after his trip to MIT. I know another young man who chose MIT over Princeton because he felt it was a better fit. My son has a friend at each college-both are similar-and each seems to be quite happy.</p>
<p>It makes sense for your son to apply given that your older son is there and is happy. I wish I could feel ok about this…You’re right, though. If he’s rejected, he’ll move on and wait for all the RD decisions.</p>
<p>My son applied to colleges last year and had similar interests as your son. We have a similar income level, so where he should apply EA was carefully considered. In retrospect, I think the main benefit of applying early is getting that first application in, this is a huge benefit to procrastinators like our sons. Last year my son’s choices for EA were Stanford or Yale or MIT/Caltech/Chicago. He choose MIT/Caltech (eliminating Chicago) and got deferred at both.</p>
<p>His initial results caused him to add more match schools and drop some of his reach schools, which turned out to be a mistake. I would encourage your son to reach high, he has a very impressive resume.</p>
<p>Since financial aid will likely be very important, regardless of early results, your son will probably apply to other schools, probably no “one and done.” Princeton and MIT had about the same financial aid for us, Harvey Mudd was quite a bit more (not surprising). (Rice and WUSTL also had excellent financial aid - WUSTL had the best overall)</p>
<p>Both MIT and Caltech appear to not give a bump to early applicants. Princeton is likely to give a little bump. I think the effects are so small that you shouldn’t worry too much where your son decides to spend his early card.</p>
<p>sbj - what does your son want to do? If he has the personality where he does nt care if he gets waitlisted/rejected by a school in the early round, should consider Princeton. OTOH, if he is the type to get dejected, applying to multiple EAs is more beneficial.</p>
<p>I made a post in another thread about this topic where I suggested an algorithm to strategically EA or SCEA to minimize the number of RD applications, thereby saving time, money and stress. </p>
<p>There is no risk. It is rarely easier to get in EA than RD, though UChicago was an exception a few years ago. I doubt that Princeton, MIT or CalTech would make it any easier EA.</p>
<p>In my opinion, the only benefit to EA is to eliminate having to send applications for RD. If Princeton is surely his first choice, and if he would actually be one and done and not even fill out the other applications, than it might be worth applying SCEA (see the algorithm). However, if getting into MIT or CalTech would eliminate all of the others except Princeton, than it might be better to do those.</p>
<p>QED, thanks for sharing your story and thanks for the advice about still reaching high. He has 3 safeties on his list (all schools of 50% or more admit), 6 reaches and two matches. I think that won’t change even with an early rejection. I’m still encouraging him to apply to the local UC school but so far, he hasn’t wanted to.</p>
<p>Texas, he wants to do SCEA and that is the plan. He, like many here on CC, hasn’t faced too much rejection but recently, he certainly has had to deal with it. (RSI, Questbridge College Prep) So, he’s pretty realistic. He’s expecting rejection. You know, despite the fact that everyone in your little world tells you you’re one of the best candidates in the country, you know better. You realize there’s a big ocean out there. :-)</p>
<p>Classic, my son’s first 4 choices are Princeton, Penn, Harvey Mudd and Vanderbilt. Since all the other schools have ED, it seemed that SCEA to Princeton was the right thing. Now, if he comes back from MIT next week loving it, things might change.</p>
<p>Your son’s scores are excellent, so are you worried about his ECs? While it is realistic to not believe he is a “shoo-in” you also do not want to be so skeptical that you talk him out of his dream school for SCEA.</p>
<p>The weaknesses you perceive might also apply to his MIT and Caltech applications. Are you having any qualms about the Ivy experience, or the distance?</p>
<p>Caltech is really numbers-based so his stats will have the most pull there.</p>
<p>Just feeling like there are too many top notch candidates and yeah, his stats are excellent, numbers are excellent (no 2400 but plenty good), recs. will be excellent, his ECs are excellent (no international stuff but several national achievements). Yeah, I’d rather have him stay close but he’s a kid who loves adventure, loves to try everything and is excited about college applications despite being a procrastinator. Yes, it’s me who’s having cold feet about the Ivy experience or even living across the country. Sigh. </p>
<p>Weaknesses would definitely be no science competition win (he’s supposed to use his physics research to enter but I don’t think he or his mentor will get it together in time), and no big national competition win (physics olympiad team would be awesome). IMO, those are his weaknesses…and his procrastination and lack of organizational skills…but those won’t show up until later. :-)</p>
<p>Your son is a very strong candidate, AND you are wise to be helping him keep an open mind and keep his options open. Having been through this with one son who had similar stats to your son (even higher SATs), Calc BC in 9th grade etc, I can tell you that there’s no sure thing out there. Princeton was his first choice, and fortunately they said yes. Harvard, MIT no (he applied MIT EA, was deferred – they defer a HUGE percentage of applicants) and then denied in early round. He was also waitlisted at 2 other Ivys and accepted at all his targets and safeties. Princeton did not have early admission his year – your son is fortunate to have that choice … I’d say go for it, unless it feels very important for him to have more of a “sure thing” early admission.</p>
<p>Thanks, Princeton13mom. I think if money were less of an issue, I wouldn’t be second guessing so much. As you say, there’s no sure thing out there. We’ll see what happens.</p>
<p>“Chupacabra mom”- that’s a lovely image, LOL. </p>
<p>sbj- Well the admissions process is fraught with emotional challenges as well as the purely statistical ones. </p>
<p>As for the money issue, Princeton has one of the top financial aid programs. RD would be your best bet to know you are receiving their best offer. Historically, MIT doesn’t come close to P and H aid programs.</p>
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