<p>I'm a junior and I'm thinking about applying through Questbridge next year. I'm not sure whether I should participate in match, early decision, or just regular decision. Here are my stats:</p>
<p>Stats:[ul]
[<em>] ACT: 34
[</em>] SAT IIs: 800 World History
[<em>] GPA: 4.0 UW
[</em>] Rank: 1 of ~480
[<em>] Activities: Marching Band (Drum Major), Concert Band (First Chair Flute), Quiz Bowl (Captain), Student Council (Secretary), Friends of Rachel (Co-Founder), and other little things I do (mostly for social reasons)
[</em>] Income: ~35K
[<em>] State or Country: IL
[</em>] School Type: Public, 80% free lunch =/ (including me)
[<em>] Ethnicity: White (Jordanian)
[</em>] Gender: Male
[/ul]
Some of the schools I'm looking to apply to: Yale, Princeton, Dartmouth, Columbia, Georgetown, University of Chicago, Stanford, Fordham, Notre Dame, UPenn.
My top choice would be Yale, and then Dartmouth close behind. Should I apply early to Dartmouth or would I have a decent shot at some other schools during RD with Questbridge?</p>
<p>Thanks :D</p>
<p>My son has applied this year via Questbridge and has similar stats, maybe a little better (36.0 ACT, 2 800 SAT IIs, 1/400 rank, captain of Scholastic Bowl, defacto captain of Math Team, but no music background). Also white from Illinois with free lunches.</p>
<p>He applied to MIT and Yale early action and was deferred, which didn’t surprise us – most of those placed in the initial round are minority students. He probably would have been taken by mid-tier elites such as U. of Chicago or Notre Dame, if he would have made the exclusive commitment to attend. We decided to rely on the regular decision process, where he could choose from multiple offers – about half of the Questbridge finalists get placed during RD. While we’re still awaiting the outcome, he’s already been accepted at his flagship, with an $18k a year merit scholarship; his flagship, UIUC is a top 10 college nationwide in his chosen field of computer science, so there’s really no downside from here – apart from a bruised ego, perhaps.</p>
<p>It’s up to you whether you’re willing to give up a shot at Yale for Dartmouth. Yale is a long-shot for anyone, but if you’re solid for Dartmouth in ED, you should also get in RD. Your list is long enough that you should have no trouble getting into at least one or two of your choices during the RD round.</p>