<p>Like many others, I have a shot at Stanford and I am certain that out of all the schools this is the one I would pick(prestige is just one factor)</p>
<p>But seeing how EA really has not advantage, what is the point? Should I bother applying EA? Who should apply EA?</p>
<p>If you do get in EA, knowing it in December makes your senior year of HS infinitely more enjoyable.</p>
<p>I believe applying EA might give you a little bit of a leg up in admissions, but i'm not sure. i think it kind of depends on the school...</p>
<p>nngmm has a great point, but i also got rejected (not deferred) on an EA and that makes senior year less enjoyable, plus it was not as fun to fill out my other apps, although it was nice not to be in purgatory (aka deferment) for those months.</p>
<p>Just know that you could be sitting there with a deferment/rejectment and have that be the only school you know about for a few months. Its tough if it happens, but if you get in then you will feel fantastic (just don't get senioritis too fast!)</p>
<p>Getting rejected in December must feel awful, but at least it's a "heads up" warning that makes you fix your other applications or add some safeties to the list, so you don't end up in April with no place to go. If you do apply early, make sure to have a good quality application on time, not something you've scrambled to put together at the last minute.</p>
<p>Applying early gives you a significant advantage in gaining admissions be it under the EA, SCEA or ED options. </p>
<p>Read some very informed opinions on another thread:</p>
<p>But, specifically in regard to Stanford, what is the advantage of applying early? I mean, look at the rates of admission: 19% (EA) vs. 13% (RD). This is a far lower margin than other schools (such as Princeton, say, which gives a lot of love to the ED).</p>
<p>Applying EA has some indirect benefits, but it's up to you to take advantage of them. For example, you only have to deal with one application. If you go for RD, you'll have 10 more apps to work through and write essays for. If you're at a huge public high school, telling your counselor and teachers to write rec letters for you in September / October will definitely result in much higher quality recommendations. You'll also spend more time on your app, making it better, coming up with clever ideas, etc. Also, if you get in, your senior year will be heaven. Trust me!!!!</p>
<p>comparanza1212, I am not sure if the early acceptance rate that you have quoted is correct (I was under the impression that it is slightly higher), however, even if it is, would you not want a 6% increase in your chances of getting into Stanford?</p>
<p>6% is an enormous difference in admissions to elite universities.</p>
<p>inuendo: Just because the acceptance rate for SCEA is 6% higher than RD (I actually thought it was more, because 13% was the overall rate, so RD must be lower than 13%), that doesn't mean that the same applicant has significantly better chances getting in early. The two threads you cited were about Harvard, and the only mention of Stanford was how its applicant growth comes mostly from early applicants.</p>
<p>I'm not dismissing the possibility that you can increase your chances by applying early, but the difference of 6% or more exaggerates the difference. Stanford claims on their undergraduate admissions FAQ that their "early pool of applicants is a very strong group and the admit rate is a reflection of that strength, not of any preference on our part to admit students earlier." Maybe they are bending the truth, but you need data about both groups to prove anything either way.</p>
<p>i would DEFINITELY say that applying SCEA is the way to go if Stanford is your first choice school. No matter what the stats say, it seems to give you quite a large advantage!</p>
<p>turtle, if you are in the mood of arguing the advantages of applying early to an elite university, state your point of view to Byerly. He seems to have much evidence that suggests that applying early gives an applicant a substantial advantage.....</p>
<p>Byerly, where are you?</p>
<p>I thought Stanford only offered EA?</p>
<p>What is SCEA? Never heard of it. Also, what does A/S and SEAS stand for?</p>
<p>Does Stanford still provide ED? I would love to apply ED></p>
<p>No, Stanford provides SCEA (as do Harvard and Yale) which is not very different from ED. SCEA stands for Single Choice Early Action, which means that you can apply early to only one university, like ED, but it is not binding, unlike ED. </p>
<p>SCEA differs from EA, as employed by the University of Chicago for example, which allows an applicant to apply to any number of universities early and is, of course, non-binding.</p>
<p>the 13% admissions rate is an overall rate--the rd rate is significantly lower, since the overall rate includes the 20% or whatever SCEA rate. If the rd rate is 10%, which is probably closer to reality, but maybe still high, then you've got 20% vs 10%, a 100% increase.</p>
<p>However, Stanford takes a significantly smaller portion of its class SCEA than its peers, who seem to take close to 50% early.</p>
<p>That is a good point idler.</p>
<p>Great, I will apply SCEA</p>
<p>My schools forces people to apply to only one school for either ED or EA anyways</p>
<p>I beg to differ with your assertion that "Stanford takes a significantly smaller portion of its class SCEA than its peers."</p>
<p>For the Class of 2009, Stanford admitted 867 SCEA applicants for a class roughly the same size and perhaps a bit smaller than Harvard, which admitted 885 SCEA applicants.</p>
<p>Assuming a 90% yield rate on the SCEA admits, Stanford will be filling about 48% of its freshman class via SCEA.</p>
<p>Note also that an unknown number of SCEA deferees will also be admitted from the RD pool.</p>
<p>Strikingly, Harvard, Stanford and Yale each admitted enough early applicants to fill almost precisely the same 53% of the class - if each admit were to matriculate!</p>
<p>An accident? I don't think so. Each of the three managed to fill the class with as many early admits as possible, while staying slightly under the "magic 50%" level.</p>
<p>Well, I looked it up, and you're right--I must have confused it with legacy acceptance rate.</p>
<p>Byerly is right, of course.</p>
<p>Going SCEA will about double your chances.</p>