Princeton ED easier than Harvard RD?

Princetonwannabe · February 12, 2005, 10:13pm

Since some people believe that EA, esp ED, gives applicant a huge edge, does that mean princeton ED is a lot easier to get into than say Yale, Harvard, MIT RD?

I am an deferred International ED from Princeton. Does that mean the chances of getting into another top school RD is very low?

mensa160 · February 12, 2005, 10:32pm

What we know is that princeton ED is a lot easier to get into than princeton RD.

The other schools may assess you differntly than princeton.

ctnjpamom · February 12, 2005, 10:47pm

<<what we="" know="" is="" that="" princeton="" ed="" a="" lot="" easier="" to="" get="" into="" than="" rd.="">></what>

That's not knowledge, it's opinion based on limited facts.

ForeverZero · February 13, 2005, 12:04am

Statistically, yes, applying to any school ED/EA is advantageous. However, it's also been shown that the two pools are somewhat different. A lot of legacies and recruited athletes are selected in the early round. For most applicants, it's much harder to stand out in the early pool. And to answer your original question, Princetonwannabe, getting into the top schools RD are virtually impossible nowadays. With regular acceptance rates of 7% or so, you can never tell.

yy0712 · February 13, 2005, 12:36am

All random--depends on your luck

Amused · February 13, 2005, 12:38am

simple answer: yes

gianievve · February 13, 2005, 1:11am

I would'nt say it is "easier". Perhaps there is a slightly greater strategic advantage in applying ED, as a school knows it is your first choice and might give this some consideration in the process. Admission to Princeton, as with Harvard, is generally tough. Comparing the two is comparing apples to oranges.

Princetonwannabe · February 13, 2005, 4:01pm

i kinda agree with gianievve, but i still kinda think even though princeton has a higher ED admit rate.. it admits less ppl and has a smaller class, so athletes and legacies are a bigger portion of the smaller admitted group...

christopher · February 13, 2005, 5:10pm

I agree with the previous posts.

First of all, the difference between RD and EA/ED is much smaller than you'd think. You might look at Harvard's EA vs. their RD numbers and think that you're 4x as likely to get in EA than RD. That, obviously, would be wrong. The early pool is not just a little bit stronger; it's in a whole different dimension from the regular pool. That's one big reason why EA/ED admit percentages are so high: there are simply tons of qualified students who apply early. Actually, at my HS, the general consensus is that in many cases it's harder to get in early than regular, because the school has to be absolutely sure that they want you if they admit you early (because who knows what kind of applicants are lurking around the corner for RD that they might want more?)

Many people look at Pton's early numbers and see a higher admit rate and lower SAT averages than RD, so they think that Princeton lowers its standards for early applicants. While there might be a small advantage to applying early, since the school knows it's your first choice, the advantage is not very significant. The major factor that makes Early look less competitive than Regular when you look at the numbers? Recruited athletes. Nearly all recruited athletes are taken Early (and remember, their admit rate is close to 100%), and these athletes are a very large part of the early app pool, more so than at other schools (because princeton uses its binding ED policy to its advantage in recruitment). This raises the % accepted to misleading numbers. It also drops the average SAT, giving the illusion that you have a better shot early than regular. So, don't give up hope on RD applications if you didn't get in ED: for a regular non-athlete, the difficulty of getting in ED/EA vs. RD is not very significant.

Another thing I have to agree with is that just because you were rejected from one school doesn't mean that you'll be rejected from an equally competitive school. Harvard and Princeton are not necessarily looking for the same people to admit. Let's say you're an accordion player. That's what you wrote your essay about; that's what you volunteered in the community with; that's your big hook. Well, different schools look for different hooks different years. Princeton, for instance, has been heavily building up its music programs lately, so maybe your hook would catch their fancy. Let's say that Harvard, on the other hand, has too many accordion players already. It doesn't even matter if you won the American Accordion Association Player of the Century Award: if they don't need an accordion player, your "big hook" simply won't help you very much. So, don't make predictions based on what happened for you ED. Maybe you're exactly what, say, Yale is looking for. (And maybe you'll get into Princeton RD.)

gianievve · February 13, 2005, 5:33pm

christopher - good point about hooks.

ForeverZero · February 13, 2005, 7:10pm

I can attest to christopher's statement about athletes. Three out of the four people who got into Harvard EA from my school were recruited athletes. The two people (out of 10 who applied) who got into Princeton ED from my school were both very athletic. They weren't recruited, but sports was certainly their hook.

mensa160 · February 13, 2005, 7:31pm

The Early Admissions Game controlled for all the factors you mentioned. It found an overwhelming advantage for applying ed/ea.

ivyguy · February 15, 2005, 3:59pm

On Harvard's website it says that there is no advantage in applying early but the people applying early have higher stats.

Amused · February 15, 2005, 4:25pm

"On Harvard's website it says that there is no advantage in applying early but the people applying early have higher stats."

Doubtful

Princetonwannabe · February 17, 2005, 8:32pm

that's already established as hardcore bs.

Princetonwannabe · February 17, 2005, 8:34pm

omg. lol christopher..

"Let's say you're an accordion player. That's what you wrote your essay about; that's what you volunteered in the community with; that's your big hook."

i dont know if this is a coincidence or you've read my essay regarding accordion.. i do play the accordion.. i wrote a short essay on that.. but i dont volunteer in the community with it :)

and since you got the first part right, let's pray and hope that you've also got the second part right ;)