I’m an international student intending to apply to Stanford, Princeton and a few ivies. My first choice would be Stanford with Princeton coming second. I want to apply to Stanford under REA but I may have better chances at Princeton. Firstly, I’m applying for financial aid which makes Stanford need-aware – my request for financial aid will be a factor in their admission evaluation. Also according to stats, REA admission rate for 2015 is around 9.5% for Stanford and 18.6% for Princeton. I’d like to add that my major is likely Physics/Engineering. Would it be wise to apply to Princeton for REA instead of Stanford? Does it make a difference either way?
The need-blind vs. need-aware issue is one to consider. Admission rates are not - both have distinguished early applicant pools which skews the % acceptance early. Also, Stanford rarely defers candidates, and those who are deferred have an excellent shot at RD admission. Princeton defers ~70% of early applicants, which makes admission for them hard in the RD round.
I would normally say apply to the school you like best, but the need-blind issue is a rather compelling one. Perhaps some other more experienced people on here could give you some insight on choosing. @T26E4 comes to mind.
Is early action application given a better chance of admission due to preferred commitment and preference? Im attempting ACT for the first time late october and there is a slight risk that I might not get the best score due to the lack of months of practice. Is is better to apply regular decision hoping for a second attempt of ACT in december? Or shall I just go for Early and hope for the best as I really want to get to Princeton.
@silkroad777 you should start your own thread instead of hijacking someone elses
The endowment for each of these schools is in the neighborhood of $22B so in principle neither should be overly concerned in general about a student’s ability to pay “full freight”. The reality is that Princeton (and most likely Stanford) could afford to pay for every student’s tuition from the residual income of their endowment if they so chose.
The main difference between the schools is that Princeton does not distinguish financial aid for international from domestic students. All admitted students receive full demonstrated need regardless of their nationality. This differs from Stanford from what I understand, which offers limited financial assistance to internationals. So while you may be admitted to Stanford, getting FA as an international may be more challenging than at Princeton.
Ultimately gaining admission to either school as an unhooked applicant will be extremely challenging and likely even more so as an international student. Applying EA doesn’t offer a significant statistical advantage as most hooked applicants also apply in that round, skewing the admission rate upward. I’d suggest treating them both as a far reach and apply to whichever one you are most interested in, and the other in the regular round along with some safeties and matches.
My undergraduate major at Stanford was Engineering Physics. It is a little more theoretical than Mechanical Engineering or other Engineering curriculum. I enjoyed it.
I can’t offer any helpful advice about admissions. As some say, “The hard part for Princeton or Stanford is getting admitted. The easier part is getting the degree.”
@jsnow3520 I think in general the best strategy is to apply early to your absolute first choice, so in your case Stanford. Yes Stanford is need aware but it still does a decent amount of money to devote to internationals. Your best chance of admission is during SCEA. If you are absolutely sure that you will not regret it and you will be ok with lowering your chances for Stanford by applying SCEA to Princeton then of course it could make sense since admission chances are a bit higher for Princeton than Stanford to begin with and Stanford is need aware which means your Stanford chances will be even lower than for most applicants.
Go with Stanford if it’s your dream and you have the qualifications for it. Don’t give up your first choice out of fear… go for it. Just my two cents.