<p>So the Early Action deadline is slowly approaching for many schools. In the meantime, I'm almost ready to submit mine! Here are the schools to which I'm applying early:</p>
<p>MIT
Caltech
Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology
Case Western Reserve University
Bradley University
Kettering University</p>
<p>The two in question are the first two: MIT and Caltech. Those are the two hardest schools I have on my list. I'm thinking I will continue to apply to MIT Early Action. However, I feel like my first semester grades might help a bit with admissions. In junior year, I took AP Calculus BC and two advanced science classes, but no APs. This year, I'm taking two AP sciences, AP Stats, and AP English Lit and Spanish. </p>
<p>Additionally, I'm concerned about testing requirements for Caltech. Right now, I'm involved in a big situation in which my band director doesn't want me to take the SAT Subject Tests in October because it conflicts with an important competition. But if I don't take the October date, I need to push my Caltech application off to Regular Decision.</p>
<p>So my question is, would it be wider for me to push either or both applications off to Regular Decision? My ACT scores are: 33C, 36M, 35M, 33S, 27R, 10W. I know they're a little low, which is why I'm wondering if my first semester senior grades might help a little. Any thoughts?</p>
<p>So, if I understand this right, you are applying to 4 early action schools for certain. (The latter 4 on this list). Your ACT is very healthy for those schools, so assuming your GPA and the rest of your application is solid, you should be in good shape to have one or more early admissions in hand by December.
So you have 2 “lottery” schools. Your ACT is acceptable but not stellar for these schools, they want the SAT subject tests, and your assessment of your transcript is that you’ve lacked rigor prior to senior year. Therefore, to have the best shot at getting into these most selective schools, I would suggest you wait until RD. The benefit (EA bump) is going to be small for both MIT and Caltech, and the cost relatively high (you lose the opportunity to favorably impact your application).<br>
Best wishes with your decision.</p>
<p>Agree that it may be a good idea to wait on MIT and Caltech, but put in your other EA applications for sure where you don’t need the subject tests. You will feel better with some acceptances in hand.</p>
<p>@intparent Any reason why you think I should hold off on MIT and Caltech? Keep in mind, MIT will accept the November date, so I could still apply early EA. I have everything completed except the testing for MIT and Caltech (I’ve taken the ACT with writing, but not the SAT Subject Tests). </p>
<p>I also will be submitting a music portfolio for MIT, but I have until late October to prepare it and submit it. </p>
<p>I agree with @VSGPeanut101 that because of your added rigor this fall, good grades in those classes could help your application. Of course, if your grades aren’t going to be great, then go ahead with the EA plan.</p>
<p>And too bad about the band director if you decide to go ahead with the EA. You need to do what you need to do for standardized testing.</p>
<p>@intparent As of right now, I have all A’s in my classes. Although, I’m a little worried about AP Biology this year…the teacher is really tough and the tests are insanely difficult. I think I should be okay though.</p>
<p>That’s what I’m thinking as far as the competition. But I feel like it would make for a very simple switch to go from Early Action to Regular Decision for Caltech and to change the test date. Do Early Action even give any advantage for admissions? It may give me better chances to wait until regular decision.</p>
<p>Whether EA gives an advantage is often debated out here. I can’t answer that, I don’t know. Some colleges have a policy of not turning down EA candidates, they all move the RD pool if they aren’t accepted. In that case, it seems like it could be a small advantage (they will review your application more than once, that seems like an advantage to me). But I don’t know what the policies in that area are for MIT & Caltech.</p>
<p>Early Action has essentially no benefit at MIT, I don’t know CalTech. So the only downside of waiting for RD at MIT is that you have to wait until later for the decision. For my money, I’d rather put the absolute best application in and wait than get a rapid answer. </p>
<p>I definitely agree. Do you think that my grades from first semester would help significantly? Having the five AP classes with high grades on my transcript?</p>
<p>I also think that if I pursued Early Action, I could potentially get two chances at admission if I get deferred. Is this worth the benefit?</p>