Hello! I’m a senior in high school and I’m super confused about what college I should apply EA/ED to. As I’m an international student, admissions are already 1000x harder for me (rip). I really really want to apply to Stanford early but from what I’ve heard only legacy/athletes get in EA (please correct me if I’m wrong, I genuinely have no idea). In addition to that, Stanford seems to take roughly 60 (?) international students in the EA round. I really don’t want to ruin my chances by applying EA. I’ll be the only girl from my country applying with an ISEF award, if that helps (I’m Asian tho). Is that a significant enough achievement to be considered in the EA round or should I apply RD?
Hi! Based on my research on interviews from Stanford admissions representatives, if an applicant were to apply EA, they would receive the same admissions decision if they applied ED. In other words, if you’re qualified, it won’t matter if you apply EA or ED. The reason that the percentage of accepted EA applicants is higher than the percentage of accepted ED applicants is–like you said–because some percentage of athletes are recruited during that time frame. So, if it were me, and Stanford was your first choice, I’d go for it and apply EA. If it’s not your first choice, you may want to choose otherwise.