<p>Here's the thing. Yale has been my first choice school for a few years now, and up until now I was determined to apply SCEA next year (I'm a junior right now).</p>
<p>However, I just realized that 4 schools on my list - MIT, Chicago, Georgetown, and UNC-Chapel Hill, the first 3 of which I am very serious about - have EA options.</p>
<p>So I have to decide between applying SCEA to Yale or EA to MIT/Chicago/Gtown/UNC.</p>
<p>At this point I'm leaning towards applying EA because then if I get into one of those schools early then I won't have to apply to any more safeties or matches which would save money, time, and stress. Plus, I'd rather spend January, February, and March saying "I got into MIT/Chicago/Gtown/UNC" rather than "I got deferred/rejected from Yale." Y'know?</p>
<p>However, my really good friend is telling me to apply to Yale SCEA because it could help my chance of getting in (and she thinks I have a decent chance of getting in) since it's the only way I can let Yale know that it's my #1 choice. And I know that if I apply to the other schools EA and then don't get into Yale then I'm going to wonder forever whether I would've gotten in or not had I applied to Yale early.</p>
<p>this post is very inadequate. What is your financial situation? If u need aid, SCEA is not a good thing as there arent options open. My gut feeling is go for EA to MIT... (also cause I hate Yale... think its a useless overrated place) but choice is what is important!</p>
<p>i say listen to ur friend and apply ea to Yale. You never know what can happen...
Aid is not really important in deciding whether or not to apply ea somewhere, as you can always use your aid packages from your rd schools to bargain with ur ea school if you get in
Also, if you are concerned at all about EA helping your chances, then apply to Yale. EA might help you slightly at chicago or georgetown, but it won't help at all at MIT (it might even hurt, as the pool is stronger for ea mit)
At Yale, the boost ea gives you will be significant.</p>
<p>Antarius - I'm not applying for need-based aid. Money isn't an issue. But saving money (by applying to fewer schools RD) is always welcome. :)</p>
<p>juzam_djinn - Yeah, I've heard that MIT wants its EA admissions rates to reflect that of the RD pool, so it's actually harder to get in EA. But realize that my reason for applying EA to MIT, Chicago, and Georgetown would not be to gain an admissions advantage, but rather to save money, time, and stress.</p>
<p>According to RSI, schools have been known to share EA lists, which means if you apply to a bunch of school's EA, they might get mad (the president of RSI explicitly cautioned us to not apply to more than 1 EA school even if it's not single choice; something like 10 people did MIT and Caltech both though).</p>
<p>Yeah, I'm sure they share SCEA/ED/EA lists to make sure nobody applied to more than one school ED or SCEA. Eeks. I hope it wouldn't count against me too much, though. I mean, MIT wouldn't see Gtown and Chicago as much competition since they specialize in different fields, right? Well maybe not Chicago as much...</p>
<p>Thanks for the thoughts, guys. Keep them coming!</p>
<p>summerskter's right. Yale fills about 48% of their entering class with SCEA admits, and the admit rate is usually ~20%. I would apply somewhere with rolling admissions so you know you're in somewhere, and then apply to the others RD. That's what I did, and it worked out all right for me.</p>
<p>I thought SCEA didn't have an impact on admission decisions? I know early decision for Ivies (Brown etc.) increases your chance of getting in. But I remember reading Harvard and Yale explicitly stating that EA is only a way of knowing your acceptance earlier. So theoretically two kids of same credentials, whether EA or RegD, should have the same fate.</p>
<p>Spectrum303 - Well, IMO, it may not be easier if you apply SCEA, but it may be harder if you apply RD. Therefore, in effect, SCEA does help, but not directly. It's more like not hurting your chances as opposed to possibly hurting your chances.</p>
<p>warblersrule86 - I'm applying to Rutgers (rolling, in-state) for sure, and probably Michigan, too, just because it's rolling. I don't know of any other good rolling admissions schools. I'm also applying to CALS in Cornell, and I think that's Rolling, too. Any other ideas?</p>
<p>I would apply EA to Yale, but what are your stats?
If you are a competitive applicant for Yale, you should get into Gtown/UNC and maybe Chicago RD. And if yale is really the school you want to go to, you are giving yourself the best shot. That said, if getting admission into Yale is a longshot by EA, you might want to consider applying to the other schools.</p>
<p>3.9 GPA, 4.8 WGPA, 800/720/720 SATs so far, 800 x 2 on SAT II's, very dedicated + officer in a few EC's</p>
<p>Apparently Yale's SCEA deferees get reviewed after all RD applicants in the RD round. Still, deferees have a 14% RD admission rate and a 20% SCEA admissions rate.</p>
<p>I'm leaning towards Yale now. Ah I'm so indecisive!</p>
<p>I visited Georgetown and hated it. I'm not considering it at all now. I'm not considering UNC either. I'm considering Stanford more seriously, now, though, since I'm on the east coast and I hear it helps in admissions. So now it's...</p>
<p>Yale SCEA v. Stanford SCEA v. Chicago/MIT EA</p>
<p>Stanford accepted 853 out of 4300 or so applicants SCEA, which is around 20%, which is higher than the RD rate, so I guess it helps.</p>
<p>Stanford > Yale in my book because I'm an East Coaster and California is, well, California. Stanford was gorgeous when I visited, and I can't wait to go back for Admit Weekend (even though I'm probably not going to Stanford).</p>
<p>If you apply to Stanford SCEA you're less likely to get deferred than you are to get rejected, they reject a large portion of their SCEA pool each year. A lot of schools defer and then ultimately reject, but Stanford rejects a lot more in the beginning, I don't know if the east coast is an advantage, sorry.</p>
<p>apply SCEA but i seriously think it is arrogant to believe that u will get into uchicago and MIT and thus be able to safe app fees. Those schools rn't given for free to anyone. U better write great essays for them.</p>
<p>The boost just isn't what most people think. The majority of the early admits are hooked. Lots of recruited athletes, urms, legacies (though not major at Yale), development candidates, prodigies. Since you don't tell us you're hooked, your stats are average for Yale and no exceptional ECs, I don't think you'd risk much going RD.</p>