I’m a rising senior trying to decide where to apply Early Action. I’ve narrowed it down to Harvard and MIT, my top choices, but logic and my heart seem to be warring a bit.
In Harvard’s favor:
-they have a much larger difference between EA and RD acceptance rates than MIT (although of course some part of that must be due to the larger number of throwaway apps they get…)
-both of my parents attended Harvard for undergrad (and I’ve heard they’re harsher on legacies in RD than in EA?)
-I want to major in STEM, but I’m also looking for strength in the humanities, with particular departments that MIT does not have
In MIT’s favor:
-it’s been my “dream school” for as long as I remember
-I can’t articulate anything that I like about Harvard that isn’t true of other top universities, whereas I love the specific culture/vibe/way of doing things at MIT
-I think the MIT application gives me a much better opportunity to showcase my unique strengths
My parents think I should apply to Harvard, and it seems the more logical choice. However, I worry that my Harvard app will seem more generic than my MIT one will, and some part of me feels like I’ll always regret not applying early to my true first choice.
Am I being ridiculous? Should I just bite the bullet and do Harvard SCEA? Your thoughts are appreciated.
I’m not a college counselor, but I can try and give you some advice. There is little to no difference in EA/RD rates for MIT. Theoretically there shouldn’t be a difference with Harvard SCEA/RD either, but I think there’s a slight difference. I would apply early to Harvard, then regular to MIT. It WILL NOT make a difference for your MIT application. Anecdotally, I know someone whose dream school was MIT, but our college counselor told her to apply to Princeton early. She got into Princeton early, applied to MIT regular, and then matriculated to MIT. Had she not gotten into MIT, she had a backup.
Don’t be mislead by the different rates between EA and RD. Harvard’s website specifically says there is no benefit and that the difference in rates is purely attributable to a stronger applicant pool. Common sense would say there are probably a lot of long/no shot applicants in the Harvard RD pool that think they can “win the application lottery”. This is probably much less so for MIT since it is so STEM focused. Also remember Harvard has over 200 athletic recruits in the EA around that also skews the numbers. That having been said, there is some speculation that legacies should submit to their legacy schools EA to get the maximum mileage out of their legacy status. Before you apply to any school EA or ED, you have to make sure your app is totally buttoned up and you don’t need the extra semester of data or additional test scores to improve your app.
Hope you get into MIT, you can take classes at Harvard if you do and vice versa. Like the previous posters say EA will not help in either case nor will it help at any top school. The only advantage is you get something back in December, accepted, deferred, or rejected.
Something you should note is that EA at MIT is not SCEA. If you apply EA to MIt, you can also apply to other private institutions who do not practice Restrictive Early Action programs, such as Caltech.
@percyfowl I agree but there was something on MIT’s admissions blog about how its not done. That you don’t apply SCEA to another elite school AND EA to MIT, that’s its rude or something to that effect.
@prepparent SCEA- Single Choice Early Action, basically an agreement that you’ll only apply early to that school.
Applying SCEA to an elite school and EA to MIT would invalidate the agreement with the SCEA school. Probably why it’s called “rude”, going back on an agreement.
Note that (in addition to Caltech) the list includes Purdue, Georgia Tech, Illinois, Rose Hulman, …
@PercyFowl is correct. You cannot apply to any of the EA universities, if you apply to a SCEA university. Obviously, you also can’t apply to more than one SCEA university. That’s what “single choice” means.
All of the universities I’m applying to are either public and/or foreign (and can therefore be applied to in conjunction with SCEA), or offer early decision/restricted early action programs which limit the number of applications you can send. The ability to apply to other open early action universities is a definitely a pro on MIT’s side in general, but for my specific situation it unfortunately doesn’t confer any benefit.
(Edit: and thank you to everyone who has weighed in so far!)