No, not it all.
To me, the Claremont University Consortium https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claremont_Colleges sounds more in line with your criteria than Caltech, U Chicago or MIT - and it’s colleges offer an ED edge, I think.
Best of luck!
@PurpleTitan I’ve always been a STEM type of guy from day one, but after discovering history this year (I had a blow off Geography class freshman year, and my WHAP teacher was terrible, but my APUSH teacher is amazing) I started doing some research on where that would fit (Ill admit this was mostly on the Stanford website lol) and once I saw their programs it seemed to sort of speak to me. lol I’m falling into the hole that every other kid falls for-stanford. idk If I’m pretty competitive, like I have things in history from before, but I’ve been emphasizing it much more this year. I guess if you want me to post my stats I can.
I guess I want to do something with my life and right now the cominglement of Physics and History seems amazing.
After talking to a few friends: some have said that go with your first choice, and others have said to go with MIT/Uchicago/Caltech, a lot of people are conflicting.
lol a lot of people seem to be disagreeing on the board. I’m glad I at least have the summer to decide. I’m gonna be pretty busy doing stuff and hopefully that will show up on my app.
I guess I will defiantly apply to some of the Claremont Consortium places next year- I didn’t really look at it before.
I’m totally head over heels for Stanford, and I know that is really really dumb after reading that link that the other poster posted before, but Idk if I can just forget it now. I’ve watched too many youtube videos lol.
@cardinal2020mom you bring up great points, but idk they want me as much as I want them 
the 4.6 rate is daunting… The EA rate looks better (lol not by much) but I dont want to become another stressed out senior scrambling to throw together apps in spite after getting rejected by my top choice
This is super overwhelming honestly I hope I’m making sense on why this is hard to decide between realism or that offhanded chance of acceptance
Thanks for everyone that is helping me out, i look forward to y’alls further thoughts
Get a college guide. Barron’s or something like that.
Look at some LAC’s.
Tons of privates let you double major.
Focusing on only the top names is not the best way to conduct a search.
You feel overwhelmed because you are hyper focusing on one school. You identified some areas of interest. That’s great.There are many, many schools where you can go and have fantastic studies.
@usastudent101 From what I can tell, Stanford is notoriously harsh during EA. Not that they are easy in RD, either of course. That EA token might be better spent on another school…
I understand completely you loving the school. It is just so difficult and subjective to get into, though, so I would urge you to find some more schools that you would love the same way, albeit perhaps not as much as Stanford.
The other thing to consider before applying EA anywhere are you scores and grades. Do you already have the SAT or ACT score you want? Do you have all your SAT II’s done (if stanford requires them)? Do you need first semester senior year grades to bring up your GPA? If any of these questions apply to you, you might want to wait until RD to make sure you have the best possible application.
@sophie9999 Well I just got a 34 on my ACT (scores came out yesterday). I’m going to retake for a 35 hopefully cause I was 34.25 only one question off :(((
I have taken some my SAT II’s and have a 800 in Bio E, 780 in M2 (retaking in like 2 weeks), and a 800 in M1
Im taking Chem and UsH on the next date in may so by that time I should be basically done with testing.
I wouldn’t bother retaking a 34. One ACT point shouldn’t be the groundbreaking factor. Your time is better spent elsewhere.
How much can your parents afford to pay per year? Start off by finding a couple of affordable safeties that you’d be happy to attend if nothing else works out, then add a few match schools (colleges with double digit acceptance rates), then add a few reach schools. Find something to like about every school on your list.
OP, no offense intended at all, but you sound like an “average” excellent student. I didn’t see you say anything about why Stanford appeals, other than the weather and the CA lifestyle. I am guessing they want a deeper answer than that. Give it a shot, by all means, but assume it won’t happen. I actually think you should consider the very elite LACs, such as Amherst and Pomona. I see someone mentioned the Claremont consortium, and Asians are underrepresented at a lot of LACs, though I don’t know about those in particular. Good luck to you.
@Lindagaf How are you able to deduce that I am a average excellent student from one test score? If you want me to explain in further detail about why Stanford appeals to me I can, I just didn’t think that you would want to hear me rant about why Sanford is “my school” on the board… I can elaborate if you want.
Chicago EA acceptance rate was 2.5x RD if that sways you at all.
@austinmshauri Sure! I will start adding more match and safety schools to my list. I might have a skewed perception of things, I recently got advice that: You can only apply once to college as an undergrad. They said to apply to as many reaches as possible to maximize your possibility of acceptance into high quality schools. I thought this sounded fair at the time, but maybe I’m wrong…
That’s just the advice I got, maybe someone can weigh in on this?
@Coldsummer123 That is a good point. Idk this is so hard to pick…
@Lindagaf
Like it’s not just the lifestyle, or the weather. It’s everything- the people, the academics, the entrepreneurial atmosphere. The campus. Diversity. (I guess Prestige). It’s not just academics but combines a great sports program. Plus it’s a happier enviroment that is much more laid back and not cuthroat. (Though I wouldn’t mind a place like MIT or Uchicago that has this, I would prefer the former) There’s built upon tradiditons like the ludicrousy of the band, the full moon on the open quad. But theres also freedom to do what you want at the school and fit in a huge family full of smart people that want to make a change in the world. I guess thats a common thing of every school, but I hope this is all forming a clear picture. Maybe I’m obsessed with a stupid pipe dream (and it probably is) but I’m looking for everyones thoughts on the matter and whether it’s even worth it or if there is any prefrence
Thanks all for helping
if you think this hard wait until you have college acceptances to choose from…
Yeah, try and figure out what you like about Stanford and then maybe choose another place with better early acceptance rates that has many of the things you like?
The REA restriction is not something to take lightly. I suggest you evaluate a) what you like about Stanford b) find other schools that meet the criteria c) make a judgement as to whether you should risk it on Stanford, apply EA to a bunch of schools, or apply ED to a different school.
So make a list of what’s important to you (sports and weather can’t be that important if UChicago and MIT are high on your list as well). But in any case, Cal, Duke, UVa, UMich, and Northwestern also have P5 sports as well as academics and the first 2 have pretty good weather.
There will be smart entrepreneurial kids at many places, but many applicants who shotgun are disappointed. Many schools have stuff they are proud of and want kids who will bring something (other than good stats and academics, which so many applicants have).
So research schools. Consult a guidebook and try to figure out what you find attractive and make a list of schools all along the spectrum of selectivity.
For example, for those who want to be around quirky geeky tech types, Case and RPI have those but are less selective than Caltech or MIT.
For those who want an intense intellectual atmosphere, NCF has that but is easier to get in to than UChicago or Swarthmore (while Reed is in-between).
Try to figure out what your goals in life are and examine why you want to pursue those goals while remembering that life is about trade-offs, and wisdom is knowing what’s important and what isn’t.
And remember that a lot of it is marketing.
So are you the type that buys the hype?
Every school has traditions (that are near and dear to the heart of those school alums and students but are considered silly or even conceited/obnoxious by everyone else). UVa, Rice, most Ivies (and UToronto Engineering) also have crazy creative scatter bands who can’t play any number half-decently just like Stanford, etc.