Rising Senior - Where I'm Applying - Help me

Applying to College
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<p>Hey everyone, I am a rising senior and would like some advice and tips on where to apply.</p>

<p>I am looking for as much aid as possible, so I looked at this list I found: Need-blind</a> admission - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia</p>

<p>I am also looking to take full advantage on Early Action and Early Decision, so I am working on a list of schools I will be applying in the early round (regular will come afterwards).</p>

<p>Using that wikipedia list and this list of schools that offer EA (<a href="http://www.scholarshiphunter.com/collegeshaveearlyaction.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.scholarshiphunter.com/collegeshaveearlyaction.html&lt;/a&gt;), I picked some colleges. </p>

<p>I had already settled on Penn ED, so that's that.</p>

<p>But here are some other EA schools that I am applying to. I have pretty good stats and I chose schools that were in the top 50 in the USNews ranking... sorry if I just came off as a d**k for saying that, but I don't know any other way to know if a college is good. I do value education, so if there is a less superficial way to know if colleges are good then let me know! </p>

<p>-Boston College EA
-U Notre Dame EA
-Umiami EA
-Umich Ann Arbor EA
-Upitt (safety) EA
-MIT EA (likely rejection but I'm gonna gun for it anyways :P) </p>

<p>Well, I guess the reason I'm posting this thread is because I'm wondering this: Am I doing everything right? My counselor has left me in the dust this summer (Not sure if she'd help much anyways) and I'm just doing things on my own, using the internet as my resource. Please give me advice or instructions on what to do, or any helpful information. Thanks</p>

<p>My stats are 2200+ SAT, ranked top 3% of class, club leadership, science fair awards, violin stuff, and I'm asian. That's me in a nutshell lol.</p>

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<p>If you apply to Penn ED, then you can’t apply anywhere else ED or EA.</p>

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<p>Yeah, ED is binding. You shouldn’t apply ED to a school unless you REALLY REALLY REALLY want to get in, not just to make it easier to get in.</p>

<p>I’m not sure if you’re allowed to apply early for multiple schools either. You might be able to, but I’m not sure.</p>

<p>And while your stats are pretty good, I’m pretty sure that all the “top 50 colleges” would be reaches for everyone. Boston, Notre Dame, and MIT are all colleges that would be reaches for pretty much everyone. Even UMiami is kind of a reach for you. Michigan and Pittsburg might be okay, I guess, but you should consider some safeties and other factors. Like majors, I suppose. Some majors are better at some colleges than others. And if you’re unsure of your major, you should probably find a college that gives you more oppurtunity.</p>

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<p>I can still apply EA</p>

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<p>Where did you get the information that you can still apply EA? Early decision means that you can’t apply early at all for any other institution. Other colleges that have the option of early action, on the other hand, may allow applying EA for multiple colleges.</p>

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<p>You can apply early to other places if you are applying to Penn ED, but only if the early action schools aren’t SCEA (like Yale and Stanford are.)</p>

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<p>How about UVA ea?</p>

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<p>@justspice: yes, that is my understanding.</p>

<p>@marshfrog: just by the website I was looking at… it says UVA - Wise has EA. What exactly is this “wise” campus? is it not the actual UVA?</p>

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<p>A school’s being need blind has nothing to do with how much aid they give; NYU is need blind but gives relatively poor financial aid. You probably want a school that meets full need.</p>

<p>You can apply ED to UPenn and any other schools EA.</p>

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<p>If you’re looking to maximize aid, I strongly suggest you read lots and lots in the Financial Aid forum. A number of regular posters there are parents or college FA officers who have shepherded many kids through this bewildering process.</p>

<p>And almost all of those people will tell you that if you’re trying to maximize your aid, applying ED anywhere is a bad idea.</p>

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<p>^ Yes, indeed. ED is for maximizing your chance of admission to your number one choice, your dream school; RD is for maximizing aid when you don’t care so much which school you attend. It’s hard to get it both ways!</p>

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<p>Well, UPenn is need blind AND full aid. Doesn’t that make it the best of “both worlds” so to speak if I ED it?</p>

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<p>The catch is there is no fixed definition of full aid; schools use different formulas, so theoretically you could get more elsewhere, including merit money to sweeten the pot.</p>

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<p>And UPenn, not you and your family, will be the judge of what your “full need” is. UPenn guarantees that if they admit you, they will meet 100% of what they say you need. This figure may be very, very different from the one your parents have in mind.</p>

<p>Really, you need to take this discussion to the FA forum.</p>