I keep hearing that (especially from Stanford, one of my dream schools) REA has no bearing on your acceptance chances, but every time I hear this I consider this hypothetical scenario I thought of. Let’s say that that Stanford needs five tuba players. Five tuba players apply REA and get in. Doesn’t that mean that every other tuba player (even with equal skill) that applys normally will have less of a chance to get in, since their niche to play at Stanford (or twist in their application) is now irrelevant because of the five tuba players that have already been accepted? Kind of a “we already have five of you guys” situation? Could that be a thing that could actually happen?
In that case wouldn’t REA actually matter?
If you worry about stuff like that you’re going to go crazy. Just focus on your application and pray to the deity of your choice for good luck.
REA has no bearing on your OVERALL acceptance chances. But you need to be aware that most early acceptances go to the really special WOW [ walk on water] types of students, recruited athletes, some children of faculty who are qualified, some children of alumni who are qualified, and some development admits [ whose parents have given big $$$'s] That means - net, net, that there are not too many early slots are left for students who dont fall into one of the above categories.
Stanford is pretty brutal about rejecting REA and not deferring. In a way it is just as well so you can move on mentally to your other schools.
^^very true- they only defer about 10% of early applicants- the rest are either accepted or rejected.