Should I apply EA to Stanford?

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>When I visited Stanford last spring, the admissions officer said that all applicants were reviewed equally whether they applied under restrictive early action or regular decision. Stanford is my absolute first choice and my mom is a graduate, but I figured I would just wait until regular decision so I'd have more time to prepare my essay and have another semester of excellent grades. I'm the captain of my school's FIRST Robotics Team, an IB Diploma Candidate, and National Merit Semifinalist.</p>

<p>My test scores are:
SAT: 2320 (R-740, M-800, W-780)
SAT II: Math II - 800, Physics - 800, Biology - ?
AP: US History - 5, Physics B - 5, Calculus AB - 5, Biology - ?, Chemistry - ?
IB: SL Spanish - 6, SL Physics - 7, SL Chemistry - ?, HL History of the Americas - ?, HL Biology - ?, HL Math - ?, HL English -?</p>

<p>Unweighted GPA: 3.9959, top 1% of my class (I go to an outer-city public high school).</p>

<p>I have read that for some schools, such as Cornell or John Hopkins, legacy affiliation is only a large advantage when you apply early. Is the same true for Stanford? Should I put in a couple late nights to have my application ready for early action?</p>

2

<p>Legacy advantages are usually the highest during early applications, so yes, I would wager that it is worth your time. Given your stats and legacy status I would say you stand a fairly strong chance at admission if you go EA.</p>

3

<p>I think that you should do RD. No question.</p>

<p>So that you don’t take my EA spot :D. Seriously, you’ll probably get in SCEA if you write good essays, and if you really want to go to Stanford, then you should go for it. Worst that happens to someone with your stat’s who’s a legacy is you get deferred.</p>

4

<p>ughhhhhh why do you get to be a legacy and not me?</p>

5

<p>If you can finish your application by the EA deadline and are happy with it then, send it then. If not, keep working on your essays or whatever else and send RD.</p>

<p>I’d suggest EA if you aren’t going to apply EA/ED anywhere else, though.</p>

6

<p>Absolutely do EA if you can - I’m pretty sure Stanford will look unfavorably upon a legacy applying RD. Especially with your great stats, they would really wonder why you didn’t apply RD - and that’s not the message you want to send.</p>

7

<p>monstor344 and CaliforniaDancer: Either you are wrong, or the admissions officers are lying through their teeth. They claim to give applications exactly the same consideration in the EA and RD rounds.</p>

8

<p>For anyone interested, I did apply EA and was deferred :(</p>

9

<p>That’s actually pretty good. Unlike many other top schools, S does not defer a large proportion of students:</p>

<p>[Restrictive</a> Early Action : Stanford University](<a href=“http://www.stanford.edu/dept/uga/application/decision_process/restrictive.html]Restrictive”>http://www.stanford.edu/dept/uga/application/decision_process/restrictive.html)</p>

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</p>

<p>S doesn’t give actual numbers, but compare that to Yale who deferred 47% of EA applicants:</p>

<p>[Yale</a> Daily News - Early admit rate plunges to 13.4 percent](<a href=“http://www.yaledailynews.com/news/university-news/2008/12/15/early-admit-rate-plunges-to-134-percent/]Yale”>http://www.yaledailynews.com/news/university-news/2008/12/15/early-admit-rate-plunges-to-134-percent/)</p>

<p>p.s. three years ago a kid from our HS was deferred EA and later accepted by S in the RD round. Good luck!</p>

10

<p>Thanks everyone for the advice, I was accepted! See [my</a> info](<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/1064445562-post132.html"]my”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/1064445562-post132.html) on the [OFFICIAL</a> Stanford University REA Decisions - Class of 2014](<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/stanford-university/824187-official-stanford-university-rea-decisions-class-2014-a.html"]OFFICIAL”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/stanford-university/824187-official-stanford-university-rea-decisions-class-2014-a.html) thread.</p>