Should I apply early action?

Applying to College
1

Hello!
I am from Bulgaria, Eastern Europe.
I want to study cognitive science and some universities that I’m interested in are UPENN, Lehigh, Case western reserve, and ohio state.
I’ve got approximately a week until most of the early deadlines. I will have my recommendations till the end of the week by an english literature teacher, IT teacher, and a Biology techer I want to take the December SAT to improve my score as I am not satisfied with my current one. Although, there are less people attending EA so my score would be considered enough?
My main dilemma is whether I should apply EA and risk being rejected without raising my sat score and possibly taking SAT 2 Biology in November, and having more time to write essays, etc…I am also thinking whether to volunteer at Red Cross if it is going to be helpful for my application, even though I am senior this year.
Also, if I am admitted EA to a university, would other colleges consider my application RD even though I am accepted EA? Financial aid is also a concern.
Here are my stats:

SAT: 1190/1600 English: 630 Math: 560
GPA: 3.83
TOEFL: 105/120

EC:
President of an aviation club ‘Young Wings’ for three years
Boxing for three years

Academic:
participated in a European parliament programme as a delegate
participated in European model parliament educational meeting
B1.2 in French

Thank you very much!

2

And Rochester as well. :slight_smile:

3

bump

4

I think you need to relook at your schools. Your current SAT scores put you well below the 25th percentile. For Lehigh, the acceptance rate for your SAT band is 13%. That band and below make up 4% of the accepted population. You also state financial aid is a concern. Lehigh states “Each year we anticipate a fairly small and highly qualified group of non-U.S. citizens to be offered financial aid”. Also, I don’t think tOSU give financial aid to international students.

5

Agree with the above comment. Your SAT does not make you a competitive candidate for the schools on your list. You should google the class profile or common data set for each school to see if your academic stats are competitive for admissions.

Also it is imperative that you look carefully at the schools websites and take the time to read and understand the admission plan options at each university. I am fairly sure that Penn and Lehigh only offer ED (early decision) plans in which case you can only apply to one and it is binding.

But to answer your question, if you are accepted at a university EA (non-binding early action) you may apply elsewhere. That would not be the case for a binding ED school.