<p>AT2018 - I understand your pain. I took a look at Princeton’s site for clarification. You CAN NOT apply to ANY private university early action or early decision (even if it is nonbinding) so mine would be out. BUT you CAN apply to a state (i.e. public) university as long as it is not binding.</p>
<p>The SCEA procedure is targeted at those students for whom Princeton is the first/favorite choice. I now understand why some colleges are doing that - the number of students mass applying to top flight universities simultaneously is insane and they need to limit their time to those most serious about attending.</p>
<p>Still, a lot of colleges do understand that top candidates are in a bind with universities that are binding because such a small percentage are accepted from that pool (at Princeton less than 20%). So I don’t penalize students who are late asking for interviews or filing applications because they had to wait for the decision from the other schools first. Hence, Princeton says it will inform students of a decision mid-December and that decision will include financial aid information. Similarly competitive colleges have regular deadlines of January (between the 1st and the 15th for some) to allow those students not selected EA at binding colleges to have time to apply to alternative schools. </p>
<p>To answer your question about Emory Scholars, the situation is the same as USC - applying to be a Scholar is NOT considered Early Action and like USC, it’s still Regular Decision. So you’ll be notified of your status in January. If accepted at Princeton, simply withdraw your Regular decision applications (USC, Emory and others)…</p>
<p>From the Emory site: <a href=“http://www.emory.edu/admission/counselors/financial_aid_scholarships/scholars_faqs.html[/url]”>http://www.emory.edu/admission/counselors/financial_aid_scholarships/scholars_faqs.html</a></p>
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<p>So apply, don’t worry, hope for the best fit! Good luck.</p>