Where should I apply ED?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Brown University
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<p>So, I’m stuck in a bit of a sticky situation here. I’m almost positive that my top choice school is brown, but I have legacy at penn and obviously want to have the best chance at a top college as I can. My grades are on the low end for both of these schools (more like in the category of no way), 3.66 weighted, ~25th percentile class rank I assume, and my SAT isn’t spectacular either (1920, 670 M, 670 CR, 580 W) retaking, SAT II’s: math II 670 (retaking) USH 720. I’m the president of the math honor society, had an internship at a tech startup this summer where I did software development, captain of the lifesmarts team that went to nationals, will probably have an officer position for red cross club, started a computer science program for kids in middle school that will start this October, and I’m active in politics club and philosophy club. I consider myself to be an excellent photographer and plan to submit some of my photos, I have been playing the piano for 14 years and counting, and I played ice hockey from around 9 until this year, and I’m not playing senior year for reasons I’d rather not go into. </p>

<p>I’m really beating myself up these days about my grades. My parents getting divorced in middle school wasn’t exactly the best thing for me grades wise or socially. It was a long and grueling process that took 7 years to finish, and was filled with 7 police visits to my house during elementary school and middle school. I switch between my parent’s houses every week which disrupts organization and school work. In the beginning of 8th grade I had to move into a new place with my dad, and I’m still in the process of moving (since last September) to my mom’s new place that she is renting. I became friends with kids who had essentially no intellect in middle school (probably a result of the divorce), and until about the beginning of tenth grade, being friends with those kids made me content with a b+, and I was also content with not enrolling in the hardest classes (only honors math in 9th grade). It finally hit me that those grades were far from ideal once I was back to normal again and became friends with motivated, smart people. Peer pressure, huh? I think I have really come into my own the past year and a half, but my grades didn’t reflect that. I got straight A-'s when I had been aiming for straight A’s. I was extremely disappointed.</p>

<p>I have taken 3 AP classes and 3 years of honors math, and I’m enrolled in 4 AP’s next year (hopefully 5 if they don’t cut music theory). My questions are as follows: 1) is it worth explaining any of the stuff I explained here about friends, divorce, etc.? 2) Where should I apply early decision? (regardless of if I would even get into either one, just where I would have the best shot) and 3) what are my chances of either of those, or other schools on my list (EA for all that apply, RD for all that don’t) NYU, UVA, BU, UMICH, Penn state, USC, Wesleyan, CMU, WashU, Syracuse. (for liking brown the best, none of the aforementioned schools are really similar to there except wes maybe…)</p>

<p>I already know that most of you will think I have no chance at upenn or brown, so please, unless you have something intelligent and helpful to contribute, don’t spill your vacuous thoughts of hate on this post. Otherwise, suggestions of other places to apply and answers to one or many of my questions will be greatly appreciated. Thank you all for your time!</p>

<p>P.s.- I’m white middle class male from god foresaken long island if that matters…</p>

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<p>Also, if you want to know anything else about me, please ask.</p>

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<p>IMO, if you don’t know the answer without asking other people’s opinion, you’re not ready to apply Early Decision anywhere.</p>

<p>I’m not saying that to be snarky. I mean it sincerely. You should be able to answer the question for yourself, without any hesitation or equivocation. If you can’t, you’re not ready to settle down with any college or university.</p>

<p>But I bet you others won’t see it that way, so if you stick by this thread, you’ll probably get plenty of opinions.</p>

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<p>Don’t worry, that’s not snarky :). I am “definitely” sure that my first choice is brown, but obviously I can’t go wrong with Penn so what I’m saying is that I want to know which one I have the best shot at so I can judge my ED choice off of that. I would not be disappointed at all if I was “forced” to go to either one. Thanks for the reply!</p>

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<p>I think those scores will hurt you for either. If you retake, put some effort into building the scores. Go to the SAT-preparation subforum of the SAT/ACT prep section and read the pinned threads on boosting your score. Doing some serious prep work and increasing the score significantly will do far more to boost your chances than applying ED. But if you have legacy, you have a slight boost for admission. I think it is going to be a very long shot for you, so have some good matches. And be sure to put effort into selecting a safety or two that you will be satisfied with.</p>

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<p>JMO: it’s impossible to quantify what effect, if any, applying Early Decision would have on your application. People on College Confidential will trot out all kind of statistics about whether there is or there isn’t a “bump” from applying early, and they’ll argue their side with great confidence and conviction. But they’re talking about statistics, averages and populations in the tens of thousands. The only thing that matters to you is whether applying early has any benefit for you, personally.</p>

<p>I think that’s unknowable. (I expect others may disagree.) So I think, if you have a clear first choice, that’s where you should apply early. If you have a couple of universities that you’d be equally happy with, I guess you can pick one. If you don’t have a favorite, don’t settle down any earlier than you have to.</p>

<p>I didn’t always think this way. When my daughter was applying to colleges, I kind of badgered her about applying early. She resisted. She didn’t have a first choice. She had a list of four or five universities that she really liked, and she wanted to apply RD to all of them so she could keep her options open as long as possible. As it turned out, the university that was originally back of the pack emerged as her favorite during April. She chose it, and it’s worked out well for her. That was when I learned to love regular decision.</p>

<p>ETA: I only skimmed your original post. I’m afraid I must agree with BrownParent. The combination of those SATs with your GPA is going to make either Brown or Penn highly unlikely. If you want one of them, you would be better off raising your standardized test scores, even if you can’t get the testing done by the ED deadline.</p>

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<p>Yea well part of me thinks that ED might not be so great for a few reasons. 1) I won’t be able to send in first quarter grades, and 2) Idk if this is true or if I should care, but Brown claims that the reason ED acceptance rate is higher is due to a more competitive applicant pool academically, which I clearly do not fall into. With Penn, at least they say explicitly that ED applicants receive some sort of benefit, so it’s just very hard to say…</p>

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<p>I meant Legacy Applicants at penn*</p>

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<p>Bump 10 chars</p>

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<p>I’ll echo this from sikorsky with an addendum: if you have a clear first choice, that’s where you should apply early. If you have a couple of universities that you’d be equally happy with and do not need to consider various financial aid packages, I guess you can pick one. If you don’t have a favorite or financial aid will be a major factor, don’t settle down any earlier than you have to.</p>