Should I bother EDing to Harvard when I like Cornell just as much?

College Search & Selection
1

Heyy guys! I’m gonna be a senior and I’m from a pretty top notch public school from NJ. I’m a middle class Indian girl with sa special needs brother (he’s gonna be my common app essay in some capacity). I fell in love with both Harvard and Cornell and because of my organization The Coding Girls - people say I have a decent shot at Harvard. I’m not sure, so I was wondering what you guys thought. Otherwise, I was going to try out for Cornell’s Hotel School or their Arts and Science’s school (not sure yet). Anyway, here’s my life story.

Classes: All honors
5 APs this year (Lang 5, Comp Sci 4, Calc AB 5, APUSH 4, Bio 4)
4 APs next year (Lit, Comp Sci Prin, Stat, Macro, mb French)

GPA: 3.7/4.0 (unweighted)…4.2 weighted
SAT: 1560
SAT 2: 780 Bio E, 780 Math 2

Extracurriculars

President/Founder of The Coding Girls - national organization with 4 chapters (and more hopefully). I think I can get this to 10 chapters by the time college apps comes around.

President Geek League (library tech help)
Principal’s Leadership Academy
Principal’s Council Executive Board

Volunteer Services of the Arts - Special Needs Music Teacher

Editor, Exec Board Model UN (Nationals, North American Invitational, bunch of awards)
Vice Pres Hindu Society

Science Olympiad (2nd state anatomy, 6th region bio blitz, 4th state forestry)
Science League (Biology 2 - school 8th in state)

Her Culture - Blog Editor, Magazine Writer, Blog Writer
Clover Letter - Remote Intern, Article Contributor, Brand Ambassador
Her Campus High School Ambassador
Intern for Phil Murphy (governor’s election) - in charge of school’s high school dems chapter (president I guess)
Sand Cloud Brand Ambassador
Intern at Axa insurance
Writing on Her Culture, Powered by Girl, Spark Blogger, Clover Letter, hopefully germ magazine too

Do I really have a chance at Harvard if I apply EA? I’m not sure if I should take the risk when I think I have a solid shot at Cornell. What do you guys think? I fell in love with both schools. Also, I would major/minor in computer science and hotel management/marketing/economics.

Any other schools I would be matches to?

2

If you are going into hotel management, then definitely you should apply early to Cornell. Your stats and ECs look great, so you should have at least a shot at either school. However, applying SCEA to Harvard will not offer you an advantage. So if you are looking for an admissions advantage, then apply ED to Cornell. I would lean towards applying ED to Cornell based upon the fact that you like them both “just as much,” you are interested in hotel management, and are interested in (and apparently financially able) to apply ED. Harvard’s SCEA gives you more financial flexibility since it is not binding. Better talk to your parents in coming up with your final strategy.

3

Cornell seems to offer programs of greater appeal to you. However, you would need to choose your undergraduate school carefully there after fully researching their policies regarding course access and majoring/minoring across divisions. I’d think CAS would give you the widest range of academic options, but this would largely depend on your specific interests.

4

Lots of threads recently about choosing one early app vs another. My own feeling is no one should apply early until they know a lot more about their match at their target colleges, what the schools look for, not just what you think you like.

Your resume is just the bones.

5

ED to Cornell, SCEA to Harvard would most likely get you deferred to RD.