Will Early action help me?

<p>Hey guys,
I wanna apply early action to Stanford, but I'm not sure if it's the right thing to do. I took the June SAT and got 2030 (760M, 630R, 640W) and May SAT Subjects (690 Maths 2, 760 Physics). </p>

<p>I already signed up for the SAT in October, and the SAT 2 in December. Should I switch the October date to SAT 2 and re-take my maths 2, then apply early to Stanford? How "bad" is a 690 in Maths 2 for Stanford? Is it worth the trouble?</p>

<p>Thanks.</p>

<p>PS: I'm an international. (if that changes anything)</p>

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<p>Stanford actually doesn’t require any subject tests, so you don’t have to submit it if you want. As for the title of your thread, the Early Action pool has a higher acceptance rate than the RD pool, but keep in mind that your competition is generally tougher than it would be if you were applying RD. Also, if you’re an international student requesting financial aid, your chances will be significantly lowered due to Stanford’s limited availability of FA for internationals. </p>

<p>For now, though, your main goal is to do well on the October SAT.</p>

<p>fledgling - how much do you think it hurts one’s chances if one applies EA, but doesn’t submit subject test scores? I know Stanford claims they don’t require subject tests, but given that most EA candidates submit them, will it hurt his chances? My son will retake the reasoning test in October (he’s scored 2040 already-CR 660, M 670, W 710). He does plan to take the subject tests in November, but that will be too late for EA consideration (the admissions office told us this when we asked). We are not international, he will apply for financial aid and he has a UGPA of 3.98 (one B+ in high school).</p>

<p>sami - you sound like you’re in the same boat as my son, except that you are international. I’m not sure your (or my son’s) reasoning test score is good enough for Stanford - I would suggest you take it again in October and see how you do. If you do well enough, there’s still time to apply EA (deadline is 01 Nov).</p>

<p>Since International FA is limited, would I have higher chances of getting FA if I apply early? Doesn’t that make sense? (I desperately need FA).</p>

<p>So I can either
-apply RD and do SAT on October and Maths 2 on November,
-apply EA and do Maths 2 on October and SAT on December (no more spots on November for SAT 1). The latter actually looks reasonable.</p>

<p>The main issue is that EA will definitely hurt my chances if I don’t retake the Maths 2 first on October.</p>

<p>sarsfield, I’m pretty much in the same boat as your son, just like you said. My SAT test itself could be better (Maths is good, but CR and W can use a push) and I can manage a higher score since I haven’t practiced much for that June SAT. So Both my SAT and SAT Maths 2 need to be higher…which is why I’m unsure if EA is a wise decision.</p>

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<p>I don’t see how his not having something that isn’t required will make the difference between an acceptance and a rejection. There have been people accepted to Stanford without having taken any subject tests (I saw a few examples from decisions threads from previous years). </p>

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<p>Actually, it works the opposite way. Since international FA is limited, there is a LOT of competition for it because there will be plenty of international students with stellar stats requesting it. </p>

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<p>Remember that if you apply SCEA, the only chance you have for your scores to be considered is in October. If I were you, I’d spend my time focusing on raising my SAT score first. A 690 on a subject test isn’t terrible, by the way – there have been plenty of people who got into Stanford with lower SAT II scores.</p>