My comment was only related to you saying Penn has a fairly high ED acceptance rate. Wanted OP to understand that is not the case for M&T. (Anecdote: My friend’s kid who was a legacy was rejected ED to Penn M&T – and later got into Yale (no legacy) RD.)
Agree that the OP needs good match/safety options.
delete - I see you removed the 35%.
Thanks
I assumed that ED would be a boost at M&T if it is a boost at Wharton. M&T doesn’t release any admissions stats though so I guess we can’t know for sure.
My top choices are Stanford and M&T because I want to do tech/business and build a company. There are other schools that can offer me these programs and I am applying to them, but what I care most about is whether or not the school gets me intros to VCs. Prestige matters alot for pre-seed funding, and for that reason I’m definitely looking at these big names. I know curriculum matters (my target list has quite a few schools that have business/tech programs), but for the career path I’m interested in prestige honestly matters more.
Really appreciate the schools you mentioned like Lehigh and Purdue - I haven’t really looked into those and I’ll be sure to.
I don’t think I ever really got feedback from her, so I’ll ask that first thing on Monday.
Yeah, ED definitely will impact EA decisions so I’ll see how it goes. ED at Ross is by far the safest, and perhaps the tuition and quality of education there make it worth it. However, I highly doubt I’d be happy if I got in there ED and had to constantly think about whether or not I could’ve gotten into my dream school.
I can’t make any edits to the post now - wish I could - but I’m not posting to decide on my match/target/safety list. I’m really just asking for advice on my early college especially as that deadline is coming up really soon.
It does seem that Stanford REA is the better choice if it’s my #1.
Applying REA at Stanford gets you no advantage. Plus your GPA is low for Stanford, so I think your chances of getting in are pretty low. It may also hurt you that you only have two years of a language. Some colleges require 3 and even recommend 4. If you got into UPenn ED would you always wonder about Stanford? If so, then don’t apply anywhere ED and just apply to Michigan EA (maybe some other state schools?) and apply to the rest RD. If you want to be super strategic then your most strategic move would be ED to Michigan. Otherwise, if you are pretty set on doing either Penn or Stanford early and would not regret Penn, then I would advise Penn since they have ED and it looks like you also have an award from them?
If Stanford is your #1 choice, you don’t want to apply ED anywhere else. However, Stanford REA does shut you out of applying EA at other private universities, and I agree with your counselor that REA isn’t believed to improve admissions chance for unhooked applicants. (I’ve been told that it is believed to help for legacy applicants.)
It’s possible you have some target schools on your list where EA gives more of a boost, in terms of either admissions, merit scholarships, or special programs. So you may be better off with RD Stanford if this allows you to apply EA to some other schools. But it’s difficult to give advice without seeing the rest of your list.
and given your desire for entreprenurialship - the #1 school is babson - and they have a tech entrepreneurship concentration.
Also, not a safety for you.
We don’t know the M&T acceptance rate for sure – but the program’s website FAQ section says thousands apply and 50-55 are accepted. ED could be a plus in an application, but it is still a reach and it isn’t your top choice. FWIW Penn recommends 4 years of foreign language.
Are you describing ED to U Mich….or Penn?? 
It applies to both although I would argue, dream schools don’t exist. They all have issues…all…and while yes, more companies start from certain schools, there are companies that start from most every school.
Sometimes the issue with these lists are they are not per Capita so some might be better than they show. But even schools like ASU, UMN, UMD have students founding companies - so I get what you’re saying - but it’s not death if you end up elsewhere.
Good luck.
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The good thing about REA is an acceptance is NOT binding. Do your parents know that. There are restrictions about where else you can apply early, but if you get accepted, you don’t have to go to Stanford, if one of your regular decision schools feels better come May 1.
Like others, I also do not recommend applying ED anywhere other than Stanford if Stanford is your dream. You do not need to apply ED anywhere at all.
Top universities are looking for students who are a good fit. At least in my experience they get it right quite often. I might be tempted to apply EA for schools that have it, RD otherwise, and see what happens. They will most likely get it right one way or another (assuming that you apply to some solid safeties).
With 5 B’s and only two years of foreign language I agree with others that Stanford and Penn are both unlikely. Actually they are unlikely for pretty much everyone. Keep in mind that Stanford has excellent master’s degree programs, including some in MS & E. I got my master’s there, loved it, and the other students in the same program had come from a huge range of undergraduate universities (including Michigan). Stanford is on the quarter system so the end of each quarter comes up quickly. If you do get to attend make sure that you don’t fall behind (yes this does require a strong effort throughout the school year).
If you apply REA to Stanford, there are very specific restrictions on where else you can apply early. Please make sure you read the rules.
OP- why only two years language:
Stanford - World Language: three or more years of the same world language.
They note that’s who they find work there - but it’s a recommendation, not a requirement.
Penn - herefore, we encourage you to consistently take classes in core academic areas—English, social studies, math, science, and foreign language—throughout your four years of high school.
Is there a valid reason you only took two years of language such as the school stopped offering a 3rd (happened to my student) or you just chose to? That will be difficult to overcome. Michigan does only require two so you are ok there.
Adamant as in strongly discouraging you, or adamant as in will refuse to help you pay for college if you do?
I don’t mean to pit you against your parents, ideally this should be a cooperative process where everyone ends up happy with your approach.
But I also agree that this is ultimately your life, and so you need to try to do what is actually best for you. Even if you need to face some parental disapproval.
But if they would literally cut you off, then that is an (unfortunately) different situation. Hopefully not, though.
Agreed. ED doesn’t make sense in your case since you clearly prefer Stanford. REA to Stanford and EA to Michigan would be the way to go.
Kid, I don’t know why people are missing the point that this isn’t your only list of schools, but there is a bigger issue folks have called out that you should pay attention to.
It sounds like you’re going through the EA/ED decision because you think it will help your chances. It won’t. If you’re thinking of doing it because you hope to get in somewhere early and avoid having to do 20 applications, ok; but that seems somewhat inevitable in my opinion.
Disraeli said there’s lies, damn lies and statistics. Others have explained that removing the hooked students (which you’re not) essentially erases the probabilistic advantage of E(X). And even if we grant improved odds, remember that this is against a pool of the strongest of the strong applicants.
I’m with your parents. Apply RD everywhere you want and see what happens. You’re probably going to have to do it anyway. The reality is that if your thinking you could get into Stanford EA, which is what you want, you’d probably get in RD (statistical probabilities notwithstanding). Who knows? You may have added experiences or perspectives that you’ve gained tot talk about in those extra couple of months.
Good luck in any case.
There’s really no downside to applying REA to Stanford. And he definitely should apply EA to Michigan and any other public school he’s interested in.
Unless the student has a reason to apply EA to other private universities.