Yale EA vs Penn ED?

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Here's my struggle: I love both of these schools.
If Penn wasn't binding, I would apply there early, but I don't like the idea of being bound somewhere before I know all my opportunities. Yale isn't binding, but is also a lot more selective than Penn is, even EA. My stats are below (very long, sorry! This might look familiar, because I posted a chance thread a while back and it's basically the same lol). If you could read them and answer the questions at the bottom, I'd be thrilled.</p>

<p>Weighted GPA from frosh and soph years: 4.395/4.43
Projected GPA after junior year: 4.25-36ish
Unweighted GPA: My school doesn't do unweighted, but probably like 3.8-3.85?
Rank: Top 5%, I think.
Highest Single Sitting SAT: 2270 (M:770 CR:740 W: 760
SAT superscored: 2300 (M:770 CR: 770 W: 760)
PSAT: 226 (M: 70 CR: 76 W:80) - National Merit Semi Finalist</p>

<p>In terms of classes, there's nothing terribly exciting. No APs, because my school doesn't have em. I am, however, taking the most rigorous schedule available to me. My grades through high school so far are mostly A's, a couple of A+'s, 2 B+'s, and one B. (My grades dipped a bit junior year :( The B's are all in math and physics, and I plan to apply as a political science major.)</p>

<p>Extra Curriculars:
Soccer (9,10)
Girl Scouts (9,10,11,12) - Going for the Gold Award, highest possible achievement
Community Service Club (9,10,11,12) - Chairperson
Mock Trial (9,10,11,12)
Spanish Club (9,10,11,12) - Vice President
Model UN (10,11,12) - We're not allowed to do it during 9th grade, smh. I've been to three conferences and won Outstanding Delegate at one and Best Delegate another. Hoping to win a couple more. Might be captain.
Model Congress (11,12)
Debate - (11,12) - Officer position
Yearbook - (10,11,12)</p>

<p>Work/Volunteering
I've done roughly 200 hours of community service.
Volunteered at a hospital
Volunteered as a summer camp counselor
Tutoring - through school
Volunteer with an organization that helps disadvantaged students overseas (basically a peer mentoring program for kids in a third world country)</p>

<p>Kind of Miscellaneous:
Did an online community college course (in Literature, if it matters), and got an A. Did another online cc course, in Astronomy, got an A+.
I also volunteered at a hospital.
Had an internship at a research institute, where I did independent research (and am now writing a paper that I hope to submit to Intel and Siemens).
Volunteered overseas as a part of my Gold Award project. Also, as a part of the project, I'm setting up a communication program between a school for poor children overseas and my own school. Kind of a big brother/sister program.</p>

<p>Awards 2011-2012:
• Mock Trial County Runner-ups
• National Language Arts League Team - National Second Place Winner
• Wordmasters Challenge – Second Place in School
• National Physical Fitness Award
• High Honor Roll – First Semester
• Honor Roll – Second Semester
Awards 2012-2013:
• Mock Trial - County Champions
• Mock Trial – Regional Champions
• Mock Trial – Third Place in State
• Wordwright Challenge – School Champion
• Wordwright Challenge – 17th in the Nation
• National Language Arts League – First Place in School
• National Physical Fitness Award
• High Honor Roll – First Semester
• High Honor Roll – Second Semester
Awards 2013-2014:
• MUN – Outstanding Delegate
• MUN – Best Delegate
• MUN – Outstanding Medium Delegation
• Mock Trial – County Champions Third in State
• Honor Roll - both Semesters</p>

<p>So far, for 2014-2015 all I really have is NMSF lol.</p>

<p>1) Am I qualified for Yale EA?
2) Do you think my chances of getting into Yale EA are so slim that I might as well just apply to Penn ED?
3) Am I qualified for Penn ED?
4) In general, do you think I have a shot of getting into Ivies? (A large enough shot that binding myself to Penn would be closing doors)</p>

<p>Thank you!</p>

2

<p>1) What do you mean by “qualified”? No one is a definite no matter what their stats. Your stats are impressive.</p>

<p>2) Everybody’s chances of getting into Yale EA are slim. If you can spare the money, and want to write the essays, go for it!</p>

<p>3) Yes, I agree that Penn is slightly less selective than Yale. But the difference is marginal.</p>

<p>4) Definitely. If you can spare the dough, and pick a few more Ivies, I don’t see a reason not to apply to at least four Ivies, more if you want to include Harvard and Princeton just because of lower acceptance rates.</p>

<p>I think someone with your SAT scores should be able to calculate your own unweighted GPA.</p>

<p>You have the stats, but both early programs are very difficult - for non-legacies non-athletes anyway. They get the real advantage.</p>

<p>I don’t think you should apply binding ED when you aren’t sure if you want to go there. I do not believe there is a significant advantage to applying ED; just apply Penn RD if you aren’t sure.</p>

<p>(as an alumna of Penn, I do NOT want someone to feel like they were roped into going there! Is it possible to visit before the ED app would be due, to see if you like the campus? If you don’t mind me asking, “Why Penn?” instead of looking at other similar Ivies?)</p>

3

<p>Don’t fool yourself. I learned my lesson the hard way - I thought I was good enough for even the very best of the ivies instead of the one I truly loved, yet to see my failure. Focus your attention to the school you really love. It seems to me that your mindset == “I love Penn but what if Yale accepts me?”</p>

4

<p>@rhandco‌ haha I know no one is guaranteed admission anywhere. When I said qualified, I just meant whether I was in the kind of “range” my competition would be in.
Penn has the rather uncommon major I want, (and I can create my own major there!), it’s in Philadelphia, which I adore, and I’ve done my research - Penn is a good fit for me. I’ve taken a tour there too, and liked it even more.
@viphan‌ My mindset isn’t that exactly. I like Penn only marginally more than Yale. They’re my top two choices. The issue is that Penn has ED, and everyone (including my school counselors and a family friend who happens to be a dean at a college) has told me not to apply ED because you can’t negotiate financial packages, and because I’ll be bound there even if something in my situation changes and I no longer want to attend.
I’m honestly 120% aware that I’ll most likely be rejected from both anyway. The problem is that I wanted to give myself a better shot somewhere by applying early, and I’m not sure where to do it.</p>