Please Help Me. Should I apply EA?

<p>Hey Everyone!
These are my stats. Could you please tell me whether applying EA to UChicago will boost my chances of getting accepted? </p>

<p>I'm doing CIE A Levels.My subjects are : English (AS) , Maths, Economics, History and Accounting. Predicted- A<em>A</em>A*A a^(highest in eng since it's AS)</p>

<p>This are my extra curricular and academic achievements.</p>

<p>IGCSE's : 6 A*s,1 A.
Accounting and Business Studies 100 UPM.
Economics 97 UPM.
Received Student of Year Award and 5-6 other academic and extra curricular awards.
Top 1% of class.
Vice Head Girl of School
Volunteer at National Blind School since 2009 (About 250+ hours)
6 Year diploma in Dance with 1st distinction (About 600 hours)
Done an internship at a renowned Private Firm.
Done a summer internship as an assistant trainee in the Economics dept of a firm.
Organised 2 Huge Charity drives at school. (Joy of giving)
Volunteer at the local children's center.I teach them dancing.
Worked for 2 years part time at a charity organization which helps children
in remote parts of India.
Worked on the Editorial Team of The School's Magazine
Editor of the school Economics Magazine.
President of the Security Council in school MUN.
High School curriculum: Very rigorous. </p>

<p>However, my SAT is-
SAT : 720 Math 660 CR 630 Writing Total- 2010</p>

<p>221 views,and no replies? Please help people. I am very confused whether or not to apply EA.</p>

<p>You have nothing to lose by applying EA, unless you have your heart set on another school with a SCEA policy. The acceptance rate for Chicago’s EA round last year was higher than that of the RD round by around 7%, but as with other top schools with EA(esque) options, this could be due more to a stronger applicant pool in the EA round than the RD round (not sure how much this argument holds up with U Chicago though, considering that absolute top students might be more tempted to apply to ED/SCEA schools like Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Stanford, Columbia, etc.). Either way, expect a drop in both acceptance rates this year. The university has over enrolled the last two years so they will, or at least SHOULD, make up for this by aiming for a smaller class this year, so they’re probably already planning to accept less applicants. Moreover, the number of applications has been rising over the past few years, and if U Chicago manages to stay in the top 5-7 this year in the 2013 US News rankings then you will probably see even more of an increase (I suspect the number will plateau around the next two to three years) in applications. It would also be reasonable to predict a slight rise in 2012’s 47% in yield rate if this happens, which would provide more incentive for the university to accept less students. </p>

<p>So what does this all mean for you? Well, as I said before, you have nothing to lose by applying EA to U Chicago if your absolute #1 choice doesn’t have a SCEA/ED policy (in which case you might be better of applying to that school early). Your EC’s certainly are extraordinary and your class rank is excellent as well. I’m not very familiar with the A Levels system, but U Chicago likes to see its candidates challenge themselves with a rigorous curriculum so you also have that working in your favor. SAT scores are not amazing, so in that sense you might be better off applying RD after having re-taken the test in the first semester, but I see no reason for the university to deny you admission based on that. I don’t feel comfortable giving percentages or throwing around terms like “low-reach/high-match”, because frankly no random poster on an internet site is going to know for sure how the adcomm will see your application. To ME (a naive incoming freshman) it seems like you have enough to be a competitive candidate. Work hard on those essays and make sure to pick professors that know you well inside and outside of the classroom for the letters of recommendation. Don’t stress out too much and have fun with whatever prompt you pick. Good luck!</p>

<p>PMCM18- Thank you so much! Invaluable feedback! :D</p>

<p>Hi! I’m a little confused on SCEA/ED and applying to UChicago EA. I am planning on applying ED to a school (don’t know where yet, deciding between 2) and EA to UChicago as well as EA to a state school. Is that possible? Thanks!</p>

<p>It depends on the policies of each school. For example, Georgetown also has an EA option but it explicitly states that candidates can not apply to both Georgetown EA and ED/SCEA to another school. The U Chicago site says that candidates can apply to Chicago EA and ANY other school by November 1st, so it seems like their EA policy differs from that of Georgetown’s. Single Choice Early Action schools don’t give you a choice, you have to wait until December to apply to any other colleges. As for ED schools, my guess is that they also vary in terms of where else candidates can apply to. I now know that Columbia, for example, allows you to apply ED there and EA to other schools as long as you withdraw your others applications if you’re accepted into Columbia. I STRONGLY recommend that you get in direct contact with the admissions offices of all the schools you’re considering in order to be completely clear as to what you can do. An excellent way to start would be by asking our resident admissions counselor about U Chicago’s EA policy: <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-chicago/1181310-uchicago-questions-ask-admissions-counselor-82.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-chicago/1181310-uchicago-questions-ask-admissions-counselor-82.html&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

<p>You should check with individual schools regarding the ED/EA policy, however, I’ve never heard of there being a problem with applying EA/rolling admissions (not SCEA) to multiple schools. Even if the ED school you have in mind doesn’t allow for applying to EA schools, you should ask about the state school – if it’s rolling, they really shouldn’t care.</p>