<p>hey all,</p>
<p>i visited yale recently and totally loved everything from the strong research opportunities to the sense of community, etc. but i like penn a lot too. i was planning on applying ed to penn to give myself an edge and get in, but i really like yale... but i want to be done with apps during the early admissions stage if possible. what do you think? should i go apply to penn early or yale scea?</p>
<p>Thanks, good day.</p>
<p>It might help to know your basic stats. In general, I would recommend against applying ED in cases like this, but there are some CCers who disagree with me and value the ED advantage more.</p>
<p>-GPA Unweighted:4.2533 (we don’t have unweighted); we don’t know rank yet but def. top 10%
-all 5’s on AP stats, us history, biology, lang and comp (during my jr yr, which is the first yr we cann take aps. avg. # that students take is 1 or 2)
-next year i am taking ap spanish, ap bc calc, and ap govpol if possible and the rest are honors.
-SAT: 2250
-SAT sub test: US history 770 and I am taking math 2c in oct. (shooting for 750 and above)
-excellent ECs—my strength along with a great essay in which i will discuss very unique ECs and volunteer
-good teacher recs/counselor rec
-internship at a public health and reserach center— president’s volunteer service award.
-research internship at columbia university’s insitutute of economic research and policy
-jobs: caddy at a country club, violin teacher
-oh and i dont qualify for financial aid.</p>
<p>Penn. Your stats are fine, but they aren’t a shoo-in for Yale SCEA, while they pretty much are for Penn ED. Yale EA is tough, partially because of self-selection, and partially because a ton of super qualified applicants decide they want the flexibility of EA (the same holds for Stanford). The admissions stats back this up.</p>
<p>the kids from my school who have gotten into yale are not always highest gpa/perfect sat scores; several had stats lower than mine, but their essays and personalities and unique experiences helped them get in.</p>
<p>Sorry but no one is a “shoo-in” as you put it for Penn even through Early Decision. You have a good chance for sure but no one can really be classified as a given anymore.</p>
<p>tinfoyl,
you’re totally right. i’m not trying to be cocky. i just want to think about how applying ed will help me get into penn (which has the perfect academic major) vs. yale (which has the perfect campus/overall environment/college life).</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>That’s what I was referencing when I was talking about being a “shoo-in.” Mega grammar mistake on my part - I didn’t realize I was using the word “you” to refer to two different people. The second part was directed towards “you,” yunmoonc. You definitely have a good shot at applying to Penn ED. Sorry 'bout that. </p>
<p>Honestly, with schools of that caliber it really becomes a crapshoot thus no one can be classified as a definite lock for any top school. I know where you are coming from though. Penn notoriously accepts around half of their class through ED and has a very high early acceptance rate in comparison to the schools around it. Yale’s Early Action plan only differentiates from their regular decision acceptance rate by a slim margin. The question you have to ask yourself is whether or not it is smarter to apply to Penn early rather than Yale. You do seem to be a bit torn between the two, but I notice a slight advantage in Yale’s corner. It is a massive gamble applying to Yale early though so keep that in mind. Penn’s early admissions is nothing to scoff at, but it does accept a very large portion of applicants - much more than it does for regular decision.</p>
<p>penn thats all i have to say</p>
<p>I am also in the same situation as you yunmoonc!</p>
<p>But does anybody know the acceptance and deferral rates for Yale EA and Penn’s ED?</p>
<p>To me personally, Yale > Penn. But getting into Yale is as difficult as getting into Harvard. Penn’s admission rate is a bit more lax (not much though), and Penn is still a great school. So I could recommend applying to ED for Penn, because who knows, you may not get in to Yale, so why take the chance?</p>
<p>wormABC, what do you think you’ll do? It’s like should we risk it or play safe? i mean they r both wonderful institutions with a lot to offr.</p>
<p>I honestly have no idea. I recently visited both campuses and I must say, my gut feeling told me Yale for sure. But after talking to some friends and looking at some stats, (almost 50% of EA are deferred! 
) I’m really leaning towards Penn.</p>
<p>Have you considered any other schools or are you dead set on either of these two schools?</p>
<p>yeah, scea yale doesnt really help in terms of admissions; but i want to be done with apps and find out where im going before jan. </p>
<p>penn and yale are my top choices. if i get deferred ill be applying to columbia dartmouth cornell williams amherst swarthmore brown etc. </p>
<p>what safety schools are you considering? i was thinking colgate?</p>
<p>^ Im-patience can be a bad thing you know. In this case, it could mean if your going to Yale or Penn, or none of them at all.</p>
<p>Which school are you applying for at Penn?</p>
<p>Who really wants to live in New Haven?
Come to Penn!</p>
<p>Just FYI, the “edge” you talk about for ED at Penn is speculative at best. The admit rate is much higher during ED because that is when almost all the legacies (15% of the class) and recruited athletes (10% of the class) are admitted.</p>
<p>^ Penn has a bad community and surroundings.</p>
<p>^ WRONG.</p>
<p>At least according to The Philadelphia Inquirer, Washington Post, Boston Globe, and Wall Street Journal:</p>
<p>[Penn</a> neighborhood blooms around a top school | Philadelphia Inquirer | 04/05/2010](<a href=“http://www.philly.com/philly/education/20100405_Penn_neighborhood_blooms_around_a_top_school.html]Penn”>Penn neighborhood blooms around a top school)</p>
<p>[Urban</a> Colleges Learn to Be Good Neighbors - washingtonpost.com](<a href=“http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/01/08/AR2006010801164.html?sub=AR]Urban”>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/01/08/AR2006010801164.html?sub=AR)</p>
<p>[Penn’s</a> $500m project could be Harvard’s model - The Boston Globe](<a href=“http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2009/05/03/ivys_growth_transforms_a_city/?page=1]Penn’s”>http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2009/05/03/ivys_growth_transforms_a_city/?page=1)</p>
<p>[Colleges</a> Teach ‘Urban Development 101’ - WSJ.com](<a href=“Colleges Teach 'Urban Development 101' - WSJ”>Colleges Teach 'Urban Development 101' - WSJ)</p>
<p>Both Penn and Yale are best of the best, your collegiate experience will basically be the same at both institutions. If you like them equally go for Penn, if you like Yale better go for it.</p>