<p>While it is recommended to apply SCEA/EA/ED to a school if it is your absolute first choice, many people are of the opinion that it is harder to get in in this round than in the regular decision round since the applicant pool in the early round tends to be academically stronger. Is it true? Though the official statement from Stanford is that people applying SCEA would have had the same outcome if they had applied RD says otherwise. Could I get any insight on this?</p>
<p>bumpp 10char</p>
<p>Its easier to get in Early if you dont apply for fin. aid. Whereas if you apply for aid & you’re a really good candidate then 99% times they will defer you & only 1% times accept you.
Applying Early helps if you have a legacy or are recruited athletes.</p>
<p>Ah. Most of the questions coming up on this board require such detailed answers so that the inquirer’s opinion is not one-dimensional. But I am so lazy.</p>
<p>Therefore:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>SCEA/EA/ED are self-selecting. The people who are really sure that they’ll get in or those who really want to go to a particular college apply early there. Hence, the high acceptance rates.</p></li>
<li><p>Ideally, being international, we should never ask for aid for having the maximum chances of admissions.</p></li>
<li><p>RD has a lower acceptance rate just because more applicants apply. It’s like the IITs or UPSC. Around 200,000 applicants apply just for the heck of it. Though the comparitive number in top US universities takes up a much smaller relative percentage of the applicant group.</p></li>
<li><p>Stanford’s statement is correct to the core.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>@Tizil7, but aren’t the high acceptance rates a little misleading? Since recruited athletes and strong legacies tend to apply in the early round hence resulting in the acceptance of a higher percentage as compared to the RD. </p>
<p>I do not require aid and till recently I was clear on applying early to Stanford, but now I’m not so sure. Any opinions?</p>
<p>Eactly, idream. That’s my point. Due to the self-selectivity of the applicant pool, the high acceptance rates are misleading. However, it can be argued, that the same way, the low acceptance rates of RD are misleading as well. This is because of those people who apply to the university just because of the prestige of having applied to such a university.</p>
<p>You’re in 11th grade right? A sure shot way to get into Stanford would be to attend EPGY / SuMaC in 2012 and 2013. That’s because it shows in-depth involvement with the university. Check these programs out on Stanford’s website. I did try for SuMaC 2011 but due to extenuating real life situations could not possibly have applied.</p>
<p>Though I must warn you, the selection process for these is quite competitive. However, you can get excellent practice for filling out college applications in the future ;)</p>
<p>Yeah I want to apply for SuMaC. I’m not leaning towards biology so EPGY is not on my radar. But I also wanted to know, which will be better, the Stanford summer session for 8 weeks or SuMaC? I’ve also been looking at RSI and SSP. But I’m getting worried because I haven’t decided anything yet and they say its rolling admissions and the program gets filled up pretty quick. I’ve registered for the summer session but I haven’t started on anything else. Could you give some suggestions on what programs should I apply for? Thanks :)</p>
<p>Oh I’m sorry, I confused EPGY with SIMR 
I was just researching on the net and got it all mixed up. I’ll probably apply for EPGY too. But as I said, not sure.</p>
<p>EPGY is not only for Biology. There are different topics that you can look up on EPGY’s website. Apply early. As for RSI, India is no more a participating country now,(at least last year when I had made the inquiry). SSP is very good if you are interested in Astronomy. I think it is Astro based, but i could be wrong.</p>
<p>And though it does help in admission, it is definitely not a sure shot at Stanford.
Get good Test scores, good GPA, show leadership activities and good extracurricular activities, and write excellent essays. All those things will get you admitted to HYPSM</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>I was assuming good test scores, good GPA and the rest of the things. Because you know how if you have all of those things but cannot produce an example of past-involvement with the university, your chances are more or less, the same as others :p</p>
<p>Yes I know EPGY isn’t only for biology, hence the correction. I got it mixed up with other medical programs. Yeah SSP is astro-based and I am interested in astronomy so I will apply for it.
Also, is it possible to apply to SUMaC, EPGY, Stanford summer session and SSP all at once? I know, of course, that I can possibly attend only one, but can I apply to all of them? The 1st three being Stanford’s own programs.</p>
<p>And have either of you attended any summer sessions? (If you don’t mind me asking)</p>
<p>None of those programs are “sure shot” ways to get into Stanford. Only a handful of people from my year at all three of those programs combined eventually went to Stanford. A large proportion did not get into Stanford. The admittance rate to top schools who went to these programs may be higher, but only marginally, and simply because it IS a concentration of dedicated, intelligent kids. For all practical purposes going to one of these programs does not directly increase your chances 
As for the non-admission benefits of these programs, there are LOADS. I went to EPGY and it was wonderful, if you need anyone to advocate for it i would be glad to do so :)</p>
<p>@speachy, could you answer my question above? thanks :)</p>
<p>And another question, this may sound stupid but I have no idea and I really need to know, don’t you get the F1 study visa AFTER you’ve been admitted somewhere?</p>
<p>Lol it took me like 5 whole minutes to find a question other than “And have either of you attended any summer sessions?”</p>
<p>If you mean the SCEA thing, well, I don’t think it’s safe to think one is easier or harder or anything like that. Nobody say that your chance in EA is x% and in RD is y% because well, the sample size is way too small (just one applicant!). If there IS a difference, though, it’s marginal and not worth worrying about.</p>
<p>If a college wants you, they’ll take you. Colleges are pretty darn sure about their EA admits because if they weren’t sure of an applicant, if there was an inkling of doubt, they would just defer. Some schools defer like 60% of applicants.</p>
<p>And high EA admittance rates - 18%, 21% - doesn’t make EA “easier” or anything. A HUGE proportion of the EA admits are recruited, legacy, etc so they were going to get in anyway. It’s very self-selecting.</p>
<p>Moreover a college isn’t going to let the time of applying get in the way of making good decisions (hopefully :S ).</p>
<p>About applying to multiple programs at Stanford - as long as there’s nothing on the program’s website actively discouraging you from doing so, and as long as the application infrastructure allows you to do so, you probably can apply to multiple programs? I don’t know, you should scour the programs’ websites and see if they specifically say anywhere that you can’t apply to multiple. I can’t see a reason why they would say that, though.</p>
<p>And yeah, as far as I know you get your F1 after you get admitted, because you need to be sponsored by your college.</p>
<p>Once the College decisions are out and you confirm acceptance by sending an initial deposit, the College then asks you to send proof that you have sufficient funds to cover the cost of educational and living expenses in US. </p>
<p>The College will then issue a form called AFCOE - Application For Certificate Of Eligibility to apply for F1 visa in your country.</p>
<p>Once you submit the AFCOE to the College they will send you a form called I-20.</p>
<p>After you have both the forms , you then arrange for an appointment to get your Visa. </p>
<p>Pay SEVIS Fee online before making an appointment. Student and Exchange Visitor Information System - SEVIS I-901 Fee.</p>
<p>And Visit the following link and you will get answers to all questions related to F1 Visa.</p>
<p>[Student</a> Process Steps: How to Navigate the U.S. Immigration System](<a href=“http://www.ice.gov/sevis/students/]Student”>Student Process Steps: How to Navigate the U.S. Immigration System | ICE)</p>
<p>Nope, never been to a summer camp at a US university :p</p>
<p>One important thing to remember please apply for visa at least 6-8 weeks prior to your departure or as early as you can. Trust me this is one stress that is totally not required among the whole circus of chaos and emotions, planning and preparation - emotional as well as logistical - and booking and packing and lectures and conflicts, the Parents trying the last ditch effort to hang on and the children trying to break free. Now that I have been there and done that I can laugh about it but it was not funnay this time last year.</p>
<p>@idream:
Yes, I have been to 2 summer programs. EPGY at Stanford and CTY at Johns Hopkins.
And I had excellent experience at both times. And Speachy is right, think about how that course will enrich you in addition to helping in admission.
It helps in the admission process only in that it shows your passion, curiosity and thirst for knowledge. And I think that does help in college admissions when scores and GPA are good.</p>
<p>SCEA/REA is not a strategy. Both EA and RD are equally competitive at Top universities. People say that REA/SCEA pool of applicants is more competitive because only students with strong resume usually apply for EA. So it has no added advantage over RD.
In Universities having Rolling admissions, it would definitely help to apply earlier.</p>
<p>About F1 visa - once you are admitted and you enroll in any one university, that university will send you I-20. After you receive that you will be able to apply for F1 visa.</p>