Stanford’s my top choice next year, and I think I have a decent chance stat and extracurricular wise (as long as I put a lot of effort into my essays and such).
Even though rea has 10% acceptance vs 5% normal, is that statistic misleading? I hear a lot of people who get in during those 10% are top athletes, child prodigies who cured cancer or made huge advancements in certain areas, etc. On the other hand, the reason why the 5% is so low is because a lot of people hail mary stanford and just apply because why not.
Is it actually better to apply rea or will it be harder?
REA is probably not harmful if you’re really a qualified applicant, but whether it helps at all would likely depend on how unique your ECs are. If they are average (this includes if you have heavy involvement but nothing that would be rare among applicants) it won’t make a difference because that aspect of your app won’t significantly help get you in anyway. On the other hand, if you’re really so unique that you’re sure no other candidate can provide what you have to offer, then that unique quality will be an equally big boost regardless, as you’d be the first person like yourself they see either way.
The scenario in which REA might actually help would be if you’re fairly special at something but definitely not truly unique among applicants. For example, if you’re a nationally recognized tuba player, if you’re lucky enough Stanford might actually need a tuba player for their band that year, making you a much more attractive applicant. In that case EA would help because they might just take the first applicant who fits that need, whereas if you apply RD they might have already filled their tuba need with a slightly less accomplished tuba player who applied EA. In contrast, if you founded a new scientific field that seriously advances humankind, you don’t have much danger of someone else being able to fill that need, so you’ll get that boost no matter when you apply.
If Stanford is your first choice, then apply REA. At worst, it’ll be the same difficulty as RD but you have a chance to get in early. At best, it might be worth a slight admissions boost.
It’s always a trade-off, right? Where else could you be applying ED or SCEA that you are giving up in order to do it at Stanford. If the answer is that there is absolutely no where else that you’d rather be, then take your shot and be glad that at a minimum you will have a data point to work with by mid-December (deferred=competitive at comparable schools so stay the course, rejected=probably aiming a bit too high so make sure you’ve got a viable list.)
Of course, if you are giving up ED or SCEA at a school with a significantly higher acceptance rate, where you think you’d be nearly as happy, then you might want to go that way instead.
Or think of it this way: Whatever happens, you will end up somewhere wonderful, be happy and have wonderful experiences that change you in ways you can’t even begin to predict. How’s that for a happy ending?
Stanford was my top school coming into the fall of senior year. I was also deciding whether it was worth it to apply to another school like Princeton or Harvard which are still very competitive but have a higher acceptance rate for SCEA or REA. In the end, I decided to apply to Harvard early with the hope the chances were in my favor. Luckily they did, and I thought that applying RD to Stanford would be impossible, but I had a fear of missing out since Stanford was a dream for such a long time. I say you can’t go wrong with whatever school you choose. If you are a truly unique candidate, you will stick out whether it’s REA or RD. I don’t have any serious achievements like international awards or cured cancer, but I received a likely letter from Stanford. There are a lot of kids who were accepted to other top-tier schools who will apply to other top-tier schools so the RD round is still very competitive. Many kids who apply REA also are applying on a whim since they believe they have a better chance, but if you judge competition for just quality of the applicants, then I would say there isn’t much of a difference, if not there is more competition but also more kids who are applying for the sake of applying. If Stanford is your top choice by far, then apply to Stanford early. If you are considering other schools and are fine with going to them, it may be in your favor to apply to those schools instead. I am very fortunate for things to work out both ways, but this could also happen to you. Best of luck!!!
Beware. Stanford is notoriously harsh in REA. They defer much less than other schools - choosing to outright reject instead.
You are correct that the 10% figure is a bit misleading because of the applicant pool (legacy, athletics, etc). If there are some other schools that are close on your list, maybe you would want to go with them instead. At least at the others, you typically get two kicks at the can (early, then regular) if you need them.
I’m not sure the “two kicks at the can” idea is accurate for other schools. At many places, a deferral is just a soft rejection with a very small chance of gaining admission.