<p>I'm a low income Asian (ugh) female, whose dream school is Stanford. I am 100% sure I want to go here. The problem is, I'm not nearly as competitive as other applicants. I've got good (not great) test scores, the salutatorian position, lots of EC's and a good amount of leadership positions - nothing outstanding or super unique though. My strong point would be that I have taken initiative and done a lot of charitable work, which demonstrates my passion for community service. Basically, what I'm saying is I have a decent chance, but it's no where near a match. I had always intended on applying RD, but I actually mustered up the will to start on my essays this summer, and found that I quite liked them. If I worked hard, I could certainly have a strong application ready by the REA deadline. At the same time, I've heard about how the REA pool tends to be even stronger than the RD pool and that is what is stopping me. I would love to get accepted REA and not have to waste money on other apps, but I don't want to completely crush my chances... Any thoughts/advice?</p>
<p>It is my dream school and i am applying EA as well though my stats are not exactly on par with other competitive students. Really, be more optimistic. Besides, i would rather get rejected EA, put the school aside, and work on other schools RD. Do what suits you best. If you decide to do EA, my application(God-willing) will be right there along with yours. Good luck. Make sure your passion for service SHINES</p>
<p>Thanks for the input/encouragement. I agree with what you’re saying; I’m just worried about regretting my decision, but I suppose that can’t really be avoided (unless I get accepted of course). Good luck to you too, hopefully we’ll both get in.</p>
<p>My advice is to apply somewhere else early action, like Georgetown or Yale. You can then get feedback on your application and essays. Also understand that Stanford will usually either accept or reject REA, but they hardly defer applicants to regular.</p>
<p>I had considered REA but went for RD instead. Stanford’s early round is killer, and I improved my application significantly in December after I heard back from my early apps. So… in my case, I would not have been admitted if I had applied REA. </p>
<p>And remember that applying early for Stanford isn’t really a hook at all, since it’s non-binding, and its yield rate is so high. It just puts you up against a lot of the best applicants who will likely be cross-admitted at HYPM + recruited athletes.</p>
<p>Just a thought. Go with what you think is right for you.</p>
<p>JakeAndFinn has very good advice that even i may consider. I am definitely not the 2400/4.0 student. I think you should consider it too. Sometimes i wish colleges will tell rejected early applicants why they were rejected so they can improve regular round.</p>
<p>That does sound like a good idea. One of my other choices, Notre Dame, has early action so that certainly is a possibility.</p>
<p>Stanford defers approximately 10% of SCEA applicants, outright rejects approximately 80%.</p>
<p>I’ve actually read that the early action pool is in fact weaker than the overall pool of applicants to a university like Stanford. The super outstanding student’s don’t usually worry as much about applying early and they want to apply to more of the Ivies at a time to see all their options when they get in. Also, the book I read says that low income students tend not to apply early action because they want to compare financial aid packets from multiple schools. Plus the early action acceptance rate is more than double or sometimes triple that of the regular decision. When you see that 7% acceptance rate, the SCEA is like 16% and the RD is only like 5-6%. Yes, that sounds very scary to me too. If you really want to go there, apply SCEA, because I know I am. And hey, it can’t hurt. You should also read into the SCEA rules. It only states you can’t apply to other private schools EA (so you can public schools) and also applicable scholarships. For example, I know Notre Dame has a scholarship that you can apply for only if you get in EA, so that would be one of those situations you could apply EA to another school.</p>
<p>The SCEA pool is actually more competitive, but that doesn’t mean that your chances are any less. Here’s a recent post of mine expounding on this point - see #1</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/13024493-post3.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/13024493-post3.html</a></p>
<p>If Stanford is your first choice and you feel that you can prepare a strong application by the deadline, there’s no harm in applying. If you don’t get in SCEA, then you wouldn’t have gotten in RD - that’s a fact that the admissions office has made clear in emphasizing that they intentionally give as many final decisions to SCEA applicants as possible. If you have a better chance in the RD round, they would defer you, not reject you.</p>
<p>That said, being a low-income student definitely helps, even if you’re Asian. Stanford is trying to increase its socioeconomic diversity (already 18% of the undergrads are low-income students), and just recently hired a staff director specifically for the low-income/first-generation community at Stanford. I’d advise you to make it clear what your socioeconomic status is in your application, what adversities you’ve faced, etc. which you can do in either the main essay or the additional info. Since they don’t have access to your financial aid info (Stanford is need-blind and the financial aid office is separate from the admissions office), you need to make it clear what your situation is. It will only help.</p>
<p>You might also consider applying through [Quest</a> Bridge | Quest Bridge | college loan consolidation | student loans | student finance](<a href=“http://www.questbridge.com%5DQuest”>http://www.questbridge.com). It’s a great program that matches low-income students to full scholarships at top universities like Stanford. In fact it was started at Stanford, by Stanford grads/students, and is now the most successful program of its kind. It could go a long way in helping you to flesh out any adversities you’ve faced as a result of your situation, and also allows you the opportunity to apply early to more than one school, including Yale, Princeton, MIT, etc. among many others. If you become a finalist, you automatically get fee waivers to any of the partner schools, so no application fees (though if you’re a low-income students, there are many other fee waivers available to you, like the NACAC ones on the Common App). And if you look at the student profiles of those who were matched, you’ll find that a great many - nearly a fifth of the matches and nearly a third of the finalists - are Asian, of course also low-income. You’ll notice that over the years many of those matched to Stanford are Asian students (some immigrants, some not).</p>
<p><a href=“QuestBridge”>QuestBridge;
<p>Definitely something to look into, but even if you don’t go for QuestBridge, it’d be worthwhile to apply SCEA to Stanford if it’s your first choice (and if you feel you can complete an adequate application in time). But don’t fall prey to the myth that “my chances are worse SCEA, if I had only applied RD, I would have gotten in,” etc. because it’s just not the case.</p>
<p>Thanks for the input everyone, especially phanta. I’ve got a much clearer idea of what to do now.</p>