@CollegeEndeavor The issue is that in many cases of those deferred from REA, the only problem is that they don’t have enough room. They limit how many they accept REA based on the projected acceptances from the RD section. Usually, they’ll overestimate a little, which is why they’ll accept the deferred students because they’re usually second-tier, compared to the remaining RD applicants, who are third-tier.
Since the acceptance rate for deferred students in higher than the average RD rate, doesn’t that mean that they’re being accepted more than the average RD applicant? Wouldn’t this disadvantage the RD applicant, because not only are they competing against 40000 other students, of which some are legacies and whatnot, but they’re also competing against kids that might’ve been deferred just on a space availability basis? So the deferred kids would actually have a better shot than the RDs?
@CollegeEndeavor so your saying it’s harder to get in REA
@futuredoc99 I’m not saying it’s harder (nor am I an expert by any means). All I am saying is that wouldn’t it be logical if there are three groups for REA: the students accepted, the students deferred, and the students denied, and if those students deferred are still “better” than the average RD student based on acceptance rate in the RD pool, there is a portion of the students that were denied REA who are “better” than the average RD student. Also, I applied REA so I’m not just coming here to say you all should have applied RD because it’s easier (which I don’t believe). I’m just saying I found that interesting and worth pointing out.
Do you think Stanford would overlook low test scores if you had a personal hardship?
I wonder how many of us on this thread will get in
@Cabothedog Let’s hope 100%, lol.
I’d argue your chances are better REA across the board. Of course you could get all into logistics with percentages and such but just think about it. It’s 8,000 applicants vs. 40,000. Will there be shoe-in athletes and legacy cases? Of course, but those number of admits are not going to exceed 300 spots (that’s still on the generous side IMO). Also as noted above, not ALL recruits apply REA in the first place anyway. By applying REA, if Stanford is your hands down first choice, you are directly communicating that statement to admissions. That means that if you are accepted, admissions can almost 100% count on you to attend, making their lives with yield easier. A competitive applicant is competitive whether they apply RD or REA. The difference is that those who apply REA are sending a much stronger message to Stanford’s admissions committee. There’s a video on YouTube interviewing the dean of admissions, Richard Shaw, on this topic and he shares the same sentiment.
@futuredoc99 did you mention it in an essay or in the additional info section of the common app?
@futuredoc99 From what I’ve read, Stanford is very wholistic as far as considering test scores, essays, teacher recs, extracurriculars, etc. So I would imagine that they would recognize hardships or access to resources like APs or tutors. I don’t know what hardship you went through or how your low test scores are, and I don’t think they would “look over” anything, but they get it. Whatever you’ve gone through, if it’s part of the application, they recognize it and consider it.
Sorry for whatever hardship you’ve gone through, and I hope you get in!
Thanks @CiteYourSources I saw the Richard Shaw youtube vid! Good Luck! I think you have a good chance 
@CuriousBobby I put it in optional section. Everyone who read my essay said it was really good and cried
@CiteYourSources However, you do have to consider that during REA you are in the middle of a much more competitive pool, which could easily skew admissions officer’s perceptions of an “average” vs. “competitive” applicant. A great applicant next to a terrible one looks much better than a great applicant next to another great applicant.
@Cabothedog I see where you are coming from. However you have to realize that out of those 40,000 RD applicants, not all of them are going to be that much more unqualified than the REA applicants. There will be those other thousands of super stars who may have have applied to one of the Ivy leagues SCEA or ED and was rejected/deferred that will definitely shoot their shot at Stanford just because. (Who doesn’t love Cali weather?) When it’s all set and done you may have to fight your way through even MORE super qualified applicants in the RD round than REA (Perhaps something like 11,000 vs 8,000 and that’s IF every applicant in the REA round is even qualified. I’m sure there are a number of people who just threw their hat in the bucket early because they thought they would fair better.) PLUS the deferred candidates from REA. Students in the RD around are hardly a whole bunch of dummies y’know. I’d also like to think that these officers have been in the business for awhile now and are able to discern between two great applicants in the REA round and possibly mediocre prospective RD applicants. I also like to account for the human factors as well. The REA bunch is a significantly smaller pool, allowing officers to really be thorough with each applicant and not be so reject trigger-happy. Those extra moments, maybe even extra readers can REALLY make a difference.
This girl on youtube got into stanford with a 1560/2400 do you guys think this is still possible today?
@CiteYourSources That last point is something I didn’t even think about, and that’s a really good point. 8,000 vs 40,000 applicants has got to make it a lot easier to thoroughly read each application, plus the officers won’t be nearly as stressed about the whole thing. Overall I definitely agree though, REA is probably easier to get into. If I thought otherwise I would’ve applied RD lol.
@CiteYourSources
I’m gonna need a source for those stats before I believe you.