<p>Hey everyone. I'm currently in my junior year and I am thinking about colleges I want to apply to next year. I've already finished all my visits and such for pretty much every school I've thought about, so getting familiar with schools shouldn't be a problem. I was originally very keen on the idea of applying to Yale SCEA, hoping to get in since it is my #2 choice. But then I considered how my junior year grades have gone down slightly, albeit in harder courses, and I was hoping to possibly do better my first semester senior year grade-wise, have a little extra time to work on essays, and spend more time with my teachers, before sending in my Yale App. I figured since there isn't really any noticeable advantage to applying a few months earlier for Yale unless you're an athlete, minority, or other hooked applicant, so I'm thinking it's a better idea to hold it off to polish off my app more.</p>
<p>That leaves my "early action" option open now and I'm still planning on applying to some target/low-reach/safety schools early on and then reach for my top choices come regular decision. I'm considering applying to Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Stanford, Columbia, Penn, Northwestern, Johns Hopkins, Tufts, and possibly Carnegie Mellon regular decision. So far I'm going to apply to Boston College early action. Any other schools in a similar selectivity/strength tier as Boston College that have the Early Action option that you would recommend to me would be very helpful, specifically ones that have the Common App option. </p>
<p>If anyone wants more information about me concerning grades, ECs, course rigor, etc., I'd be happy to provide that. Thank you very much!</p>
<p>I don’t see a clear Academic Safety on this list. You need to sit down with the college matching search engines and find at least one institution where your grades and exam scores place you clearly in the top 25% of the admission pool. Better yet, an institution where you would be guaranteed admission based on your grades and exam scores.</p>
<p>I also don’t see a clear Financial Safety. You need to identify one or two institutions that you can pay for out of pocket with no aid other than federally determined (FAFSA) financial aid. Talk with your parents about the money so that you know what your real budget is. If you might need financial aid, run the calculators at [FinAid</a>! Financial Aid, College Scholarships and Student Loans](<a href=“http://www.finaid.org%5DFinAid”>http://www.finaid.org) and at [College</a> Calculators - savings calculators - college costs, loans](<a href=“College Board - SAT, AP, College Search and Admission Tools”>Calculate Your Cost – BigFuture | College Board) Remember that most places will expect you to pay more than just your EFC.</p>
<p>If you can find an institution that is both an Academic Safety and a Financial Safety, and in addition is a place where you believe you can thrive, you will have the safety we parents write about when we say that the first rule of this process is “Love thy safety!”</p>
<p>My academic safety/target would be Boston College. My scores and grades put me well into above the 75th percentile, and in comparison to students from my school specifically that have gotten in, I do think I have a strong likelihood of being accepted.</p>
<p>However, I’m looking for more safeties that are similar to Boston College in terms of strength and selectivity. </p>
<p>Financial requirements should not be a problem for me.</p>
<p>How about state schools with rolling admissions? University of Michigan? (although I have no idea how good of a match it will be)</p>
<p>Boston College’s early action program is single choice.</p>
<p>Not only is BC’s EA program single choice, but so is Yale (SCEA stands for “Single Choice Early Action”). However, Yale does have some exceptions. Specifically, you can apply to any public university’s “rolling admission program,” you can apply to a public school in your home state (for example, in your case, Rutgers), and you can apply to a “Round 2 Early Decision” or “ED 2” program, such as those offered by Emory University and Carnegie Mellon.
If, as your username suggests, you really are from Jersey, I would suggest applying to Rutgers, as USN&WR ranks it the 23rd best public school in America.</p>
<p>It’s not single choice, taken straight from their website:</p>
<p>Does Boston College offer admission under an Early Action or Early Decision policy?</p>
<p>Boston College offers Early Action as an option to applicants. Early Action at Boston College is a non-binding process and is intended only for outstanding candidates who view Boston College as a top choice for their undergraduate education, and who wish to learn of their admission early in their senior year. Boston College does not permit students to apply under our Early Action program if they are applying to a binding Early Decision program at another college. Students are free to apply to other Early Action and Regular Decision programs. The university aims to fill no more than 30% of the freshman class through the Early Action process, therefore, Early Action at Boston College is more selective than Regular Decision. Students interested in applying Early Action must submit all required application credentials no later than November 1st of their senior year. Students will be notified of our decision before December 25th and have until May 1, the Candidate’s Reply Date, to decide where they will enroll.</p>
<p>In addition, I have thought about Rutgers since I live in NJ, but I’ve decided that the only reason I’ll stick around NJ for another four years is if I somehow get blessed by the gods and get into Princeton. If not, I’m outta hurr. Any other suggestions? This is really helpful feedback, btw. I really appreciate it.</p>