<p>I have been in love with Yale for as long as I can remember. I'd choose it in an instant over any other school, including Harvard, Stanford, and Princeton and personally I can see myself there because I think it is a perfect fit for me.</p>
<p>I want to know what would be the best choice for me, Yale SCEA or Yale RD? I have heard that although the acceptance for Yale SCEA are higher, it also puts you in a more competitive pool and makes it overall more difficult to be accepted. Plus, if I got rejected in December, I would probably be devastated while applying for other schools.</p>
<p>I don't have amazing stats, so it's not as if I'd be guaranteed at least a waitlist if I applied SCEA, but my stats also are not horrible. My SAT is 2310, my SAT II's are at the mid 700 levels, and although my AP's are mostly 5's and 4's, I also do have a few 3's. My extracurriculars are all right, a few leadership positions and very unique activities, but again, nothing amazing.</p>
<p>I used to think Yale SCEA was the automatic option because I love the school so much. But now I am having second thoughts. I wanted to know what the rest of the people on collegeconfidential thoguht. Did you apply SCEA? Did you regret it? Did you think it was the right choice for you? Don't hesitate from spilling all the details!</p>
<p>I too was sort of in the same position as you. I knew Yale was for me sophomore year and was dead-set on applying SCEA to Yale. However, junior year, I started to have doubts when I thought that my stats would never get me in SCEA.</p>
<p>My advice: If you love Yale as much as it sounds like you do, just apply SCEA. I personally don’t think you can somehow weed yourself through the system RD because of a “weaker” applicant pool. Honestly, I don’t think there is much evidence that the RD pool is “weaker” and if you get rejected SCEA, you probably would not have gotten in RD either. Basically, there’s nothing to lose by applying SCEA. </p>
<p>I don’t really know your stats besides the general you gave here (BTW, I got in SCEA with an SAT score lower than yours), but it never hurts to make sure you do well. Get good grades this year and next year. Make sure you spend time thinking on how to separate yourself from the pack: think about how you will sell your uniqueness to Yale. Spend time on those essays. And also make sure you try and articulate to Yale how much you love the place and want to be there next year. Don’t fret about what you can’t change now (mainly, your AP scores) and spend time on what you can perfect – your essays, future grades, your ECs, etc.</p>
<p>Thanks Bigjoe. Yet, I’m still really uncertain. What if I apply early and am rejected outright? That would be devastating and I’d probably lose heart to work on my other college applications. I’m also terrified of the waitlist. It would be like waiting in purgatory.</p>
<p>Gryffon, how so? Was it because you knew it was your first choice and you didn’t have to apply to other colleges, or did you still apply to others even after being accepted?</p>
<p>Well… I was set on applying to Stanford EA for my entire high school career, then I abruptly changed to Yale in my summer… I was tired of Californian palm trees and such. Then I found out more about Yale and it definitely became my first choice. </p>
<p>I hate mathematics so I’d probably want to concentrate in social sciences or humanities so Yale as a school is a good fit for me. </p>
<p>After I got into Yale EA, I didn’t apply to any other private schools, including Stanford or Harvard. I’m pretty dead set on going now. </p>
<p>I agree that the fear of failure may be depressing at first, but it’s also a rewarding experience to know your results early… also if you get in, you can chill out while your friends struggle waiting for the admissions decisions. :)</p>
<p>OP: If your only concern is that you might get rejected, I suggest you go ahead and apply SCEA. If Yale rejects you in December you should take that as a wake-up call and review your college list to make sure you have some safer schools, rethink your essays, and generally review your package. Most likely if you are relatively competitive for Yale you will be deferred (or, with some luck, accepted). </p>
<p>The only reason to not do Yale SCEA is if you have another less competitive early action school (e.g. UChicago) that you also really like, just not as much as Yale. In that case, getting accepted to UChicago would give you some good news early and allow you to drop schools that are lower than UChicago on your list.</p>
<p>^ Another reason to not apply SCEA is if you think that, in the 2 month window between SCEA deadline and RD deadline, you can do something so amazing/improve so amazingly that it would give you a greater shot at RD than SCEA. If you think that nothing in your application is going to change in those 2 months, then you won’t lose much from applying SCEA. Unless, as vicariousparent says, you think that you can get into another EA school that is less competitive.</p>
<p>To address your fear of rejection: I advice that you work on your apps before hearing back from Yale (if you apply SCEA), just in case. I didn’t do that and had I not gotten into Yale, I would have been in such a bad position. This will also take away from the anxiety if you are rejected SCEA. At that point, you would only have to do a little revision, perhaps if you thought you application was really flawed, and then you’d be fine.</p>
<p>I’ll reiterate, you stand nothing to lose by applying SCEA except that, if you were to get rejected, you’ll be disheartened. To be honest, I think that this will be so minimal (i.e. you’ll get over it soon) that it shouldn’t be a consideration.</p>
<p>On the other hand, if you really think that the possibility of a rejection as early as December is so disheartening that it would hurt your chances elsewhere, then by all means, apply RD. If you do, my only advice would be to make sure you use those 2 extra months to your advantage.</p>
<p>^^ Even if you will become a stronger applicant by RD review time, as long as you get deferred and not rejected you can send in an update on your progress so that wouldn’t necessarily hurt you.</p>
<p>Remember that if you apply SCEA to Yale, you cannot apply early to any other schools (with certain exceptions for rolling admission publics). You should think about this when you craft your list–if your final list has several schools with non-restrictive EA, then think carefully about what you want to do. It is very nice to have an admission in your pocket as you approach RD.</p>
<p>I’m not sure if I could do something between the two-month gap. One of the unique activities that I do is that I am involved in a fundraising organization. Perhaps I could raise a little money between those two months, but I don’t think that that achievement counts as being remarkable.</p>
<p>I’m also a little bit concerned about my SAT’s and grades. I know, 2310 is by all means a good score and my SAT II’s of 800 and 750 really are not bad. But my counselor keeps pressuring me and telling me that to be competitive for Yale, I need to make my stats even better… (I got a 240 on my PSAT so he keeps saying that if I have the potential, why don’t I just get a better score?) I don’t know… maybe the extra two months would give me more time to edit my applications as well?</p>
<p>PS: I guess I’ll just have to apply SCEA… but I’m incredibly nervous to do so because I don’t feel prepared at all to send any college information. I guess I think it would be premature, but then again, it’s not like it would get any better by Dec 31st… I don’t know, this is a problem that confuses me to no end.</p>
<p>PPS: I know this question probably gets asked a lot, but I wanted to know whether SCEA actually increases your chances. Doesn’t demonstrating that Yale is your first choice give you ANY edge?</p>
<p>If you look at the threads for SCEA and RD admit/reject, it’s hard to make any kind of generalization about whether it improves your chances or not. The same kinds of applicants get admitted in both rounds, and very strong applicants get rejected in both. I suppose you could look to see how many people deferred in SCEA get admitted in RD–that would suggest that at least with SCEA, you may get two bites at the apple.</p>
<p>I think SCEA improves your chances in one key area–if you get deferred to the regular round, Yale <em>knows</em> that they were your first choice, and you are more likely to attend if admitted. After I got deferred, I sent them a note telling them that, and I think that probably pushed my app over the edge in the RD round.</p>
<p>I’m in the same position as you bluewatermelon. I’m also a junior hoping to apply SCEA.</p>
<p>I feel like I have nothing to lose by applying early. My application isn’t gonna get that much stronger in a few months and I plan to work on all my college apps this summer and have them done by Nov/Dec. I’m not gonna depend on getting in SCEA…I just want to apply early to get a decision earlier. I’ll have all my other apps done before Dec 15 either way but if I get rejected, I’ll just have more time to fall in love with my other schools. If I get accepted, I’ll probably eliminated most of the other schools off my list even if I had already applied (I’ll probably keep a few top options just in case…and a financial safety)</p>
<p>Plus, I’m not really interested in applying to any other schools that offer EA and I’m definitely NOT gonna apply ED. I’ll apply to some rolling admissions public universities as safeties and whatnot so …what’s there to lose? (Being deferred would really suck though haha I just want a yes or a no…not a maybe.)</p>
<p>I just can’t imagine applying early anywhere else. (Although I did consider several easier EAs but they just didn’t seem worth it compared to Yale. I want to know my Yale decision first)</p>
<p>My SAT scores are definitely not as high as yours (in the low 2200s)…I’m retaking in Oct just because my CR and M scores are quite low. My counselor strongly recommended me to retake it and get as close to 2400 as possible. But…she doesnt really mean I should take it a million times to do so…she just meant I need to aim for the highest score possible in Oct. I think your 2310 is just fine. I’m sure she would’ve told me to just leave it if I had that score. </p>
<p>I’m not sure saying Yale is your top choice will have much of an effect since SO many people will say that. But maybe if it comes down the 2 very similar applicants…that might give you an edge since you’re more likely to matriculate…?</p>
<p>Southeasttitan, Yale doesn’t necessarily know that a SCEA applicant has Yale as his/her first choice… he or she could just be an opportunistic Harvard/Princeton wannabe. But your point is still valid to an extent I think.</p>
<p>I would HIGHLY recommend applying SCEA to Yale if it’s your top school. I don’t have any idea whether it helps in terms of admission relative to RD; I just think that it helps in terms of your application timeline. I think that people need to get working on their applications much earlier than they are, particularly given the importance that essays have been given (over the last year in particular). I started my essay-writing process in August, and I wouldn’t have had it any other way. The Yale app is a good one because it allows you to get your common app and your supplement, two essays that are very much up to you in terms of content, out of the way. You can sit out on your front porch on a summer day when you feel so inclined, and find creative ways of expressing yourself. I think you can be more reflective then than during the deluge of your first semester of senior year (I don’t know how other schools work, but my workload has been comparable or a touch higher compared to that of last year… I realize that I’m probably a relative anomaly) when you have to do work and get involved again. I sent my application in 2-3 weeks early after a zillion revisions and proofreadings, and by mid-October, I had the material for Harvard, Princeton, and Columbia apps (which are similarly open-ended apart from P, and my essays just worked out to fulfill their requirements). As a result, the process was much more relaxed for me. I had done my research/visits before senior year, and could keep up with work and activities without having to pack college essays in. I think the notion of packing college essays in during December or whatever when your personality and voice is so important is a totally scary proposition.</p>
<p>So, in conclusion, if you love Yale and are a junior, do research and visits from after APs through July (to fill out your list, presumably), and then start writing essays in August when an idea strikes you. You give yourself much more time this way, and I’m sure that it always helps to have your application in a little earlier than they ask for it. If Yale SCEA doesn’t work, you’re in a much better spot for RD because you have a lot of time to work on other apps just in case.</p>
<p>I’m a parent whose child did SCEA this year and I can tell you that the months between December and March can be very cold and silent. D was deferred then ultimately rejected. The deferral, since we didn’t expect an acceptance, at first was taken as good news, but as time wore on and classmates were hearing from their schools early, D was the only senior without a single acceptance in hand. It did get to her. We thought Yale’s response to her application might indicate how she would fare with other schools and while it did show her app wasn’t a complete long shot, her final results were so varied that I can’t draw any conclusion, except to say it can be bizarre. There’s nothing to stop you from completing your Yale application early, as if you were doing SCEA, then submitting it RD. I don’t think you’re going to get many posters on this forum who did Yale SCEA and were denied - they’ve moved on. A denial in the dead of winter, when you have no other chances at early news, can be miserable. </p>
<p>And watch the news - perhaps Yale will decide to do away with EA.</p>