<p>“from a full range of backgrounds and interests”= SCEA is used to recruit the most highly qualified minorities, athletes, legacies and uniquely talented students (true musical prodigies, math prodigies, etc).</p>
<p>“The important thing to note is that an Early Action applicant must meet the same criteria for admission as an applicant in the regular pool.” = you should have accomplished in 3 years what most successful applicants need 4 years to accomplish.</p>
<p>Going through old posts about who got in and who got deferred on the SCEA round, it seems clear to me that it is harder to get in SCEA than RD.</p>
<p>i’m sorry i’m stepping a bit on your thread here, but my dilemma is whether to SCEA or ED at an easier ivy (i like Brown and UPenn a lot too)</p>
<p>having read this, if SCEA isnt easier (but rather harder?!) then i feel like i’m wasting the early option, and i’m someone who really needs it. i really really like brown and upenn and i’m so much more confident in getting in if i applied early, but yale has been by dream FOREVER, and it is still by far my top choice school. i’m just scared that i apply early and get rejected ultimately (then or RD) and not get into brown or upenn either, and i’ll probably regret not applying RD to penn or brown…</p>
<p>I’m not sure if the strictness of SCEA applies to ED at other ivies. I have always been one to believe that you have a greater chance of getting into a school by doing ED (simply because it’s binding) than RD. Of course the trade of is you are forced into going to that school.</p>
<p>The question you need to ask yourself is: “Is Yale my top choice” Before reading this thread, I would have thought you should do SCEA if your answer to that question is “yes.” However after reading that it is actually harder to get in SCEA, I think you might want to just do RD. However, if you do RD to Yale, you can do ED to brown or Upenn (of course if you get in, you must go there)… So, it’s a really STICKY situation there sweetnsticky (hardy har har)</p>
<p>To respond ot an earlier point. I’m not convinced you’ll see apps go down due to the economy. While a State U is cheaper than Yale, Yale was cheaper than every other school I got into (and I applied to private schools and publics outside of my state) so I think apps will stay the same or go up somewhat because people will go for it even if its a long shot since they can’t afford to go to the vast majority of other private colleges that give less aid.</p>
<p>My family is in that peculiar position: we are not poor enough to qualify for much financial aid (my dad has tried several financial aid calculators, none of which look too promising) yet we are not rich enough that college expenses will not be a serious financial endeavor.</p>
<p>idk about yale yet…does it have a financial aid calc?</p>
<p>my dad did the college board general calculator, and maybe the one at dartmouth as well…I didn’t actually see the numbers but he just told me that we wouldn’t be getting much financial aid</p>
<p>yale probably has soooo much money that they might be able to give us something, ill have to try it</p>