Should I apply SCEA Princeton, or Open EA at Georgetown and Chicago

College Search & Selection
1

So, I looked at my calendar, and its already October! Which of course means Halloween, and early action deadline dates are quickly approaching. I love all three schools: Chicago, Pricenton, and Gtown, but I don’t know if I should just apply to Pton early, or apply to Gtown Early as well as Chicago (because they have open EA). I love all three schools, and I just want to maximize my chances of getting into at least one.

Demographics:

African American Male, live in Southwest Ohio

Stats:

3.82 GPA- In Top 8% of a class of 720 kids. I go to a large decent public school

7 AP classes- 2 Junior Year, 5 Senior Year

31 ACT (32 Super score)

700 bio sat 2, 600 Math 2, 480 Latin (only Gtown requires 3 subject tests. Princeton requires 2, and Chicago none).

Essays:
Essay 1: About being a quadruplet and how that led to me finding a passion for IR and Arabic- and my Nsliy trip to Morocco
Essay 2: About racism against Afo-Arabs in the Middle East
Essay 3: How language relates to culture (particularly Arabic) and how me learning it gives me insight into Arab culture, and how hopefully one day I’ll be able to help bridge the cultural gap between the Western and Arab worlds.

ECs:

Nsli-y: Arabic study abroad scholarship funded by the U.S. State Department (selective)

Council on American Islamic Relations- Governmental Affairs Intern

President of my school’s culture club

Volunteer at Refugee Center (helps me practice my Arabic)

I tutor the multitude of Arabic speaking kids at my school in English

Boys Council- I tutor disadvantaged kids at a local elementary school

Model UN- Pretty Self Explanatory

Football and Track (I’m varsity but not recruitable)

Planning on doing ROTC in College- I’ve met with the recruiting officers at all three schools and they said I’d likely receive a scholarship and that “I have a strong Academic and Extracurricular background, and they’d love to have me” — At Princeton, the ROTC office recommends students to the university whom they’d like to have.

I plan on Majoring in International Relations, with a minor in Arabic.

Thanks!

2

Applying EA doesn’t give you as big a boost at schools like ED would, since it is not binding. Therefore, you should likely make your decision based on which school you would like to hear from early.

However, you should take into account your statistics in comparison to the school. Your ACT score is below the 25th percentile for Princeton, below the average for UChicago (34), and for Georgetown it is in the middle of the 25-75th percentile range. But, of course your rank and your extracurriculars kind of counterbalance that.

I would recommend applying early to Georgetown and UChicago- at Georgetown, your arabic skills will be of interest to them, and your ECs definitely seem to lean towards a political interest.

3

Okay thanks for the advice @yonceonhismouth. It’s so hard to choose, because all three are my top choice (but Princeton is my super reach, like never gonna happen, reach). Also, it was the Princeton ROTC officer who said I was “a strong candidate they’d love to have” because I have “a strong academic and extracurricular background”.

4

If you want to apply SCEA to Princeton, then do so. Unless you think your first semester senior year grades are going to bring up your GPA significantly, or you’re going to retake the ACT, your admissions decision probably (although of course I can’t say for sure) won’t be different whether you apply EA or RD.

5

Bump. Any other opinions? Do y’all think I have a decent chance at any of these programs.

6

You may want to consider taking the SAT subject tests again in November. Your current scores are not competitive for any of these colleges (Biology 61st percentile, Math 2 18th percentile, Latin 12th percentile).

7

Chicago, doesn’t require SAT subject tests, but I’m already planning to retake @siliconvalleymom

8

But since those scores won’t be in before EA, do y’all think I’m a competive applicant in general.

9

Have you reviewed your whole list and application strategy with your college counselor? It is unlikely that an applicant with ACT scores below 3/4 of last year’s freshman class would be admitted.

10

@siliconvalleymom I don’t have a college counselor. My school counselors only deal with enrollment. And doesn’t being a URM (Black) help? (That’s what I’ve heard, I don’t know if this is actually true, and I’m not counting on it). My essays are very good (I think, I wrote about being a quadruplet), and so are my recs. My ECs are decent to strong too. Pretty much my only point is my test scores, but I was hoping all that could kind of counterbalance them

11

@NikkuWadde I’d suggest applying to slightly less competitive colleges, with Princeton, Georgetown, or Chicago as possible reaches. I think your grades and ACT are fine. I’d suggest retaking your subject tests, if at all possible.

I’d also not rely on your underrepresented status helping you out too much. These schools are recruiting the cream of US students, and there are black students who have done really well (at the least, valedictorians of their high schools, even higher ACT/SAT). I still think you’re a competitive student, but you may be reaching too high.

I think, in your case, regular EA is a better choice. You can get into your safeties early along with hearing from one of these top schools. Then, you can apply to other schools regular decision as well, with more peace of mind.

12

youll probs get into all 3 (lol) so just apply where u want.

13

@frontpage. Yeah those are just 3 of my reaches. I’m applying at all the Ivies plus my safeties, and some near Ivy schools like Vanderbilt and Johns Hopkins. But I’ve still got my safeties, (like lots). I got the fee waiver so it won’t be to expensive.

@guitar321- That’s a little optimistic don’t you think?

14

Also, can anyone explain this whole “URM boost” thing to me. I’ve heard it helps a lot, but I’ve also heard it helps not at all.

15

Have you considered applying SCEA to Princeton and, if you get denied or deferred, applying ED 2 to Chicago? There are long discussions on the U Chicago forum about their new application options. In addition to EA, UChi is now also offering ED1 and ED2. Of course, if you go that route and get accepted, you would need to commit and pull your other apps. Even though your scores are a little on the low side for the schools you mentioned, particularly Chicago and Princeton, you have compelling interests and ECs. Coupled with being a URM and any score improvement from retakes, applying early may make sense. Chicago is a D III school for athletics. If you have any interest in participating in athletics at college, it may be worth contacting the track and / or football coaches.

16

@GraniteStateMom I can’t do ED at all because money is an issues, so I have to compare aid packages.

17

@NikkuWadde Gotcha. My HS senior is in the same boat which affects her application strategy. Good for you for having a firm understanding of that. So many HS kids don’t seem to get it. In that case, my strong recommendation to my HS senior (and older children) was to not SCEA anywhere since that limits other EA applications. I advised them to apply EA at every school on their list that they could and submit RD apps to the others. For my family, cost is a factor and our experience has been that even “meets full need” schools vary tremendously in FA offers.

I can’t speak for the other schools, but there is speculation that the RD admit rate at UChi will be more ridiculously low than normal because of the 3 different early application options. Let me know if you have any questions about the school - you can PM me. One of my older kiddos is a 3rd year there. Best of luck with the process!

18

"I’m applying at all the Ivies plus my safeties, and some near Ivy schools like Vanderbilt and Johns Hopkins. But I’ve still got my safeties, (like lots). "

Seriously?? How many schools are you applying to? It looks like you are on 15+. It is not possible to put that many high quality applications together while you are trying to get A’s in senior level classes. You should pick your 4 - 5 favorite Ivies and drop the rest. These schools are very different so one cannot love all 8 Ivies.

19

@londondad that was an exaggeration on my part. I’m applying at Stanford, Princeton, Yale, Gtown, Harvard, and Chicago, Huntsman at UPenn, Cornell, Brown, Vanderbilt, Washu, Duke, Columbia, and Johns Hopkins as my reaches. I worked non stop on my Common App throughout the summer, so that’s been done for a while, and I started the supplements as soon as they came out in August, and they are strong (according to my lanuage arts teacher who is known for reviewing essays). I have all A’s in my full ap coursload right now, because I don’t have to worry about apps so much. I just have to choose where I want to apply early. My targets and Safeties include: OSU, University of Cincinnati, Jackson state (an HBCU), University of Michigan (more of a reach), and Boston University.

In hindsight, I’m really glad I started early, rather than procrastinating, because it would’ve been impossible.

20

Got it. Looks like a good list!