<p>Hi guys, I'm thinking of applying to Washington University in St. Louis early for two reasons: first and foremost, I really do love the school and feel I would feel at home there, academically and socially. Second, I know that ED increases your chances at WashU significantly.
I also really like Claremont McKenna (where my dad went), Pomona, Brown, and Stanford (where my mom went--I have huge legacy but it's still nearly impossible to get in).
My older sister who goes to Stanford is encouraging me to wait and apply to all of my reaches in January. She says you never know where you'll get in. I'm concerned that, with my low SAT math score and my B+ in AP Physics, those schools could be impossible for me. I feel I would be happy at Stanford or Brown, and I would probably choose them over WashU. Should I listen to my sister and wait? Here's my info:</p>
<p>SAT: M700 CR760 Wr800 -- Composite 2260
SAT II: Chemistry 730, English 760, US history 750
GPA (4.0 unweighted): 3.97
GPA (4.0 weighted): 4.53
Grades: all As except two A-s in Calculus BC (second semester) and AP Physics (second semester), one B+ in AP Physics (first semester).
Extra-curricular activities: student newspaper (two years on staff, Opinions editor for one semester, editor-in-chief junior year, copy editor senior year), choir, volunteered at local hospital, research intern summer before junior year at UCSC EMS department, work as a waitress, interned at local paper summer before senior year
AP: Euro History (5), Chem (4), US History (5), English Language (5), Calc BC (5), and Physics (4)
Awards: Brassler Prize for outstanding journalism (given by the NSPA), English Department Award.
Interests: chemistry, human biology, psychology (I want to be a psychiatrist).</p>
<p>I stopped reading here. You should only apply ED to a school if it truly is your number 1 choice. If there’s any school you’d prefer over WashU, I would not apply ED just for that little bump in chance.</p>
<p>Don’t (potentially) throw away any shot you have at your top choices. Your sister is right, you never know where you might get in. (And you definitely are competitive wherever you apply, so acceptance is definitely not out of the picture)</p>
<p>RyanMK and Johnson181 are right. Only apply ED if you’re absolutely sure that’s it’s your top choice. That being said, WashU is a terrific school and you could look into some of the scholarship programs here which are great.</p>
<p>Agree with @Tubacaflaca, wait unless that’s your TOP TOP choice. Think about it. Would you love to go there, or would you rather the other schools?</p>
<p>Hey @hopeful1111, sorry this is coming late haven’t been on in a while. i applied ed to washu and got in, will be attending in the fall. happy as can be!</p>
<p>I wouldn’t be so quick to poo-poo the idea. I think if you have Naviance, you can assess your chances of getting into each place. You could also assign a “happiness” number to each school and maximize your expected happiness. </p>
<p>If you do that, and your chances for Brown and Stanford are low enough, I can see ED at WUSTL making sense. </p>
<p>However, given the Legacy and your fine credentials I would take the probability that a Naviance spits out and double it for the legacy (does Stanford consider legacy). For Brown, estimate your chances RD. </p>
<p>If you can estimate the probability of getting accepted by each school, you can also estimate the probability of getting rejected. The probability of getting rejected from both Stanford and Brown is approximately the product of the two rejection probabilities. </p>
<p>Next you need your chances for WUSTL RD vs ED. I’m guessing ED would double it. </p>
<p>Now you can calculate which approach (ED vs RD) maximizes your happiness. </p>