<p>So, I'm aware the higher acceptance rate of Yale SCEA is due to a more competitive pool and all.
My question is: Then is it safer to apply for RD because you might be straight rejected in EA?</p>
<p>The standard for EA and RD are the same, as said by Yale.</p>
<p>If you’re rejected SCEA, you would have been rejected RD anyway.</p>
<p>^^ nne718 sums it up the best</p>
<p>Y defers about 50% of SCEA applicants to RD, so in general these are the qualified, but not tippy top candidates. This differs from S, which defers relatively few SCEA applicants, making it much more risky for competitive but perhaps not cream of the crop candidates, as they may indeed be denied early and not get a second chance in the RD round.</p>
<p>I think the huge difference in the proportion of applicants that Yale and Stanford defer does not necessarily make Yale ‘safer’ nor Stanford ‘riskier’ beacuse ultimately the vast majority of those deferred from Yale will be rejected come RD round. For most applicants, getting deferred from Yale is like soft rejection, rather than getting a second chance in RD round. I think Stanford’s policy could be better in some way because those who are rejected can move on and focus on other applications while those deferred from Yale have to wait for additional agonizing months to hear their final results while clinging onto false and almost non-existent hopes of getting accepted in RD round. </p>
<p>And those who get accepted from the deferred pool are truly truly exceptional applicants, those that make you question why they were deferred and not accepted in the first place. </p>
<p>To answer OP’s question, I totally agree with nne718, but there’s also the time factor. Applying for RD gives you a lot more time to work on your application (particularly the essays). So if you are pressed for time or if your essays aren’t as brilliant as you want them to be, then I guess applying for RD could be a ‘safer’ option.</p>
<p>For most applicants, getting deferred from Yale is like soft rejection, rather than getting a second chance in RD round</p>
<p>I do not think this is correct. Many deferred students are accepted at RD time and the likelihood of acceptance after SCEA deferral likely approximates the general RD acceptance rate. No question that the majority of those deferred get rejected but that is the case with the RD applicants as well.</p>
<p>Does anyone know roughly the percentage of the incoming class that is typically admitted through SCEA?</p>
<p>[Early</a> admit rate rises slightly | Yale Daily News](<a href=“http://www.yaledailynews.com/news/2009/dec/15/early-admit-rate-rises-slightly/]Early”>http://www.yaledailynews.com/news/2009/dec/15/early-admit-rate-rises-slightly/)</p>
<p>I’m a little confused. Dreamhigh91 said, “And those who get accepted from the deferred pool are truly truly exceptional applicants, those that make you question why they were deferred and not accepted in the first place,” but someone earlier commented that Yale accepts these truly outstanding applicants in the early round. Which is it?</p>
<p>Also, what is a truly outstanding applicant in this context? If most of the students have extremely high scores/grades, would the accepted SCEA applicants be those who have amazing extracurricular activities or some other hook?</p>
<p>i want to know why i didnot receive any reply</p>
<p>^^A reply to what? I don’t see that you’ve asked a question on this thread.</p>
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<p>The reason you’re confused is because different people here on CC have different opinions on this and none of us are adcoms. However, if you go to the link I provided above about SCEA rates, you will see a quote from Jeff Brenzel, who IS an adcom, where he says of SCEA:</p>
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