Penn’s web site has been becoming more vague on this subject over the years. https://www.alumni.upenn.edu/s/1587/gid2/16/interior.aspx?sid=1587&gid=2&pgid=20995 now says only that “Legacies who apply to Penn receive thorough consideration in the application process.”
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I think each of these places is different. And it is to your benefit to understand the personality of each of them to decide where you are a good fit, and apply there. I think there are reasonable differences between HYP, and certainly S.
Yes. I meant as an alternative to applying ED to Penn and EA to MIT - apply REA to P or S (based on fit) and RD to MIT. Sorry, should have been more clear.
Thanks everyone for the advice!
I’d be tempted to go REA Harvard, EA Michigan (and other state schools), and then apply RD to the other schools (as selected based on your REA/EA results)
Hmm…does REA give a boost?
That said I would consider Brown CS. Think about size, location, “vibe.” Tufts might be better for you than BU.
Thanks for the suggestions. I was considering Brown, but I like the “vibe” of the other schools better and I don’t want to apply to too many. I’ll do some research on Tufts.
If having to say no to MIT (however small the probability of being in this situation) isn’t acceptable then I’d suggest applying REA to Stanford or Princeton along with EA to UMass, UMich, UIUC and UMD.
Yeah on second thought I don’t think ED UPenn would be a good idea. Would I be more likely to get into Stanford or Princeton than Harvard?
If someone is interested in “HYPSM”, it says they are interested in prestige
Yeah I’m looking at prestige because it opens up a lot of opportunities, especially for grad school/jobs, but I’m mostly interested in HYPSM because they have a lot of resources, very good math programs, and most importantly motivated but supportive students (main reason MIT is my dream school). Harvard is my second choice because you can take classes at MIT, Princeton my third because it has arguably the best pure math program in the world (and because Terence Tao lol).
Legacy and athletics are the biggest hooks out there in terms of number of students affected. MIT doesn’t care the least bit about legacy, and it cares less about athletics than any of the HYPS colleges.
In addition, you have demonstrated very strong math skills, and that is also a plus for MIT. Among the HYPSMs, it is the only one that asks you to actually list your AMC and AIME scores. And for the very strongest math kids (the ones that represent the USA for the IMO), in recent years, about 90% of them have attended MIT. Your acceptance at MIT is certainly not guaranteed, but your chances are higher there than at the others for these reasons.
By the way, any chance that your math research will turn into a paper? That also will help.
Based on data from the Harvard litigation, for the classes used in the analysis, yes.
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I think you will find that graduate schools care less about “prestige” than you do. I think you will also find that they care less about where you go than what you do once you get there.
Also, cross-registration may not work like you think it does. First, the usual rule is to cross-register, MIT needs to be offering a course that Harvard does not. Second, travel time is non-trivial: you can’t take a 9AM at Harvard, a 10 AM at MIT and an 11AM at Harvard. A guy in my living group took a number of classes at Harvard. It was not simple and it was not easy. Finally, what makes MIT MIT is not the classes - it’s the work outside of classes, especially in groups with your peers.
That said, I would love to see the expression on the admission officer’s face when he reads “Harvard is my safety school”. 
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Disagree on the difficulty of going between MIT and Harvard. Maybe it was difficult back in your day, but it’s not now. It requires just a bit of planning.
Buses run regularly, and my son can catch the bus that passes by his dorm 20 minutes before a class that starts at MIT (in the main building).
Also, you can cross register for classes at MIT even if Harvard offers them. There might be sometimes be an issue getting credit towards your major, but that’s only happened sometimes.
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If you apply to UMass Amherst for computer science and not Math, it becomes a match and no longer a safety/likely. UMass Lowell for CS should be a very good in-state safety option. Best of luck you will have many great options.
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I think you will find that graduate schools care less about “prestige” than you do. I think you will also find that they care less about where you go than what you do once you get there.
I agree…but the school you go to can provide a lot of resources, or even networking (for example, I feel very fortunate for all the opportunities my current school has provided). Also it just happens that my top choice schools are “prestigious” (as most students’ are)
Finally, what makes MIT MIT is not the classes - it’s the work outside of classes, especially in groups with your peers.
That’s what I said…
That said, I would love to see the expression on the admission officer’s face when he reads “Harvard is my safety school”.
I never said that? Harvard (and all my reaches) is nothing but a dream school. Sorry if I came off the wrong way
I think I might consider REA Harvard or Princeton, but I’m going to ask my GC for further advice. Thanks everyone
Time between classes is less than 20 minutes.Travel time, including waiting, is closer to 30 minutes.
It was certainly easy during the pandemic, but before and after, with classes that have no remote option, it’s a logistical challenge IME. Historically, at least on the Harvard side, relatively few students availed themselves of the opportunity.
Also, the two schools are on different academic calendars, which means breaks do not often align.
But the hardest part about cross-reg? One has to be accepted by one of the schools first. 
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My example was back-to back classes. It can be hard enough to do that in one campus. (Indeed, MIT has them offset on the extreme east and west sides of the campus)
I was denied cross-registration (in the other direction) because a comparable class was offered. (It worked out well - the prof. at Harvard retired and taught that class at MIT)
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The MBTA used to say “on average, there’s a train every six minutes”. Turns out that meant “once an hour ten trains go by.”
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You obviously have a chance at any of these schools, but you’re applying from a particular HS and its record of sending students like you to any of these colleges is the best indicator of your chances. For unhooked students like you (qualifying for USAMO isn’t a strong-enough “hook”), EA to MIT or REA to Stanford offers little boost, if any. On the other hand, Harvard and Princeton (not sure about Yale) do seem to give their REA/SCEA applicants some admission advantages, so I’d suggest you REA/SCEA to either Harvard or Princeton if your goal is to maximize your chances. However, these schools aren’t interchangeable, especially if your ultimate interest is in CS. Do you intend to apply as a math or CS major (even though you can declare any major once you’re admitted at any of these schools)?
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I agree that in light of the competitive CS major at UMass Amherst, it is more of a match and I also agree that UMass Lowell has a fantastic program.
Hmmm…sorry that I wasn’t clear, I’m actually more focused on math than cs, so I’ll be applying to the colleges of arts and science. My goal is to become a mathematician, but I know that’s not always feasible so I’d be more than happy with pursuing either field.
Given your emphasis on math, consider adding NYU. Its Courant Institute is very strong in math, but NYU is often overlooked by strong math students.
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Perhaps correctly so. Because you don’t know if you are going to change your mind. But it is taken more seriously for math grad school. Certainly for areas like probability. Even Columbia is taken seriously. Apparently Princeton is losing a bunch of probability folks to Columbia. NYU is good for TCS as well. For example Subhash Khot is at Courant.
I know this is off topic but this has got to be the most perfect description of US public transportation that I have seen to date 
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