In realuty, there’s no upside to REA at Stanford short of an early decision. But if someone applied RD, they still shouldn’t ED anywhere so as to keep Stanford open.
As it is, with only two years foreign language, I imagine short of a great excuse, Stanford and Penn will auto reject the student.
There’s an answer in December. Best case, acceptance or deferral. Worst case, rejection. But a rejection allows OP to recalibrate expectations and hone in on safer schools before it is too late to apply to them. So really, unless there is a private EA school he likes better(and it appears there isn’t), I see no downside. Only upside, even with a rejection.
Yes, unfortunately we don’t know the private list, if there are even any since OP didn’t share. I suggested Lehigh, which OP seemed interested in, and Babson. Lehigh doesn’t have EA but Babson does. Given the maker space, I wonder if CWRU is on their list - they have EA. RPI is another that would fit OP with their dual major program and has EA.
So yes, if no privates of interest have EA, then REA is fine. But if they do, RD with EA at schools like Case and Babson, would give more bang for the buck.
OP has to put thought into targets and safeties - because it’s very possible that’s where they’ll end up. So I hope they do a thorough deep dive vs these are big names.
Hopefully the OP will apply EA to UM – if there is a positive outcome to a great in-state public that may be preferable to the private college options mentioned. We just don’t know what the OP wants.
OP said this in post 23. And has acknowledged an error with Foreign Language which he purposely stopped taking for other classes. If Stanford and Penn take that seriously, then he’s likely a no go although one never knows why a rejection:
“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.”
Yes I read that.
Decision in December. Applications due to other places in January. Not a lot of time for recalibration. Plus they get the upside of an additional semester of grades and activities to potentially bolster their Application. They need all the help they can get for the schools they like. How does it hurt to wait?
IMO there are two valuable benefits to an early action/rolling acceptance:
–-Both of my kids felt that an early acceptance provided a real sense of relief as they knew the application was well recieved and that they would be attending college. It took a great deal of pressure off the rest of the process.
– An EA acceptance could save the OP the time and expense of applying to other, less preferred, options.
Anyway, we’re straying off the OPs question.
I don’t disagree with any of that (including straying off topic), but OP’s chances aren’t great, and even less great given the Early pool. If they were in love with Michigan, where they have more going for them, I’d be more supportive. The two they’re in love with are improbable and thus the E(X) does nothing for them. The non-hooked kids who get in through that channel are…different.
UM has non-binding EA. If the OP gets into UM EA (not assured) that would be a positive IMO even with the later notification date. I am not suggesting ED to Penn as it isn’t the top choice. I don’t have an issue with REA to Stanford which is a real reach.
We can agree to disagree.
We’re more in agreement than you may think. Applying to Penn seems a bad idea to me as well, and I don’t think the kid is feeling UMich even if they get in. Might be wrong on that gut-feeling. My point is that EA Stanford will likely result in them applying to the rest (deferral is a best case IMHO) anyways and so they may as well have another semester under their belt to shore things up. If they get into UMich EA, I’m guessing they’ll still take a swing at the others. EA Mich + REA Stanford ain’t buying them much in a Common app world is all I’m saying, and I like the opportunity to add to their already impressive profile.
I love this kid’s profile and wish them the best.
Besides some more fundraising for my org where I’ve already raised $50k+ or increasing the impact at the startup I’m working at, I don’t think the extra month will make that big of a difference (I can only raise so much money and sell to so many police departments in a month). Besides, any accomplishments can be sent in an update. So, I think that I definitely want to try to get into somewhere in the early round and save on application fees too.
So, now I’m once again stuck between applying REA to Stanford which is pretty much the same as RD in terms of chances and doing ED to M&T with a slight boost but it is binding. I will say that just doing RD for all my choices was actually something I was considering, but I think my parents would shoot me (joking, maybe).
I’d be very happy with UMich, especially for financial reasons, just not as happy as I would be with a school like Stanford.
I know that foreign language is obviously recommended and strongly encouraged, but given that the admissions process, most especially at top colleges, is very holistic, I think it could be overlooked. Technical colleges like MIT and Caltech don’t pay any mind to FL and while I’m purely guessing here, I think that I would be alright applying to technical programs like M&T and majors like MS&E at Stanford (though less so than M&T). Red flag for sure, but I don’t think it’s anywhere near an auto-rejection. I am also studying to test out of a higher level later in the year, and my counselor can vouch for that - although this isn’t very concrete.
The only other university I’m looking to apply EA to is UMich, which is public, so that’s all good.
So I think some people mentioned that legacy and athletes inflate the ED acceptance rate at Penn alot. And, they are absolutely be correct, but even when removing those, there is still a decent boost to applying ED to Penn.
Penn M&T is my second choice and I’d be very happy there, so there is a significant opportunity cost to applying to Stanford REA - a boost at UPenn.
Bottom line is that even with your strong profile, Stanford and Penn M&T are both reaches for any unhooked applicant. All you can do is apply, give it your all, and see how things turn out. Good luck.
Let’s step back from this - what are your targets and more importantly safeties ? You have no private EAs ?
Most are telling you - right or wrong - Stanford and Penn aren’t happening (my opinion) or are reaches (other people’s opinions). GPA wise, lack of language etc.
You need to develop a real list of targets/safeties - I don’t feel like you’ve given this a true review but it’s more important than your current list.
If you end up with a private with EA - ie Case or RPI which could both fit your needs and there’s no doubt more - then it would behoove you to apply EA to them and RD to Stanford to enhance your chances to them.
I think people are saying Stanford and Penn are reaches.
I believe the OP stated they have match/safety schools which they don’t wish to share here (certainly their prerogative.) Agree that it is important for the OP to identify match/safety schools that they would be excited to attend.
Ok, so the whole point of this post was to decide on my early college, but I guess if we are to keep getting off of that, I can list a few of the schools on my target list:
NYU Stern (definitely on the higher end)
Vanderbilt
BU Questrom
Emory Goizueta
Babson
CWRU
IU Kelley
The full list of targets is being refined right now, but I’m not trying to discuss these schools here.
I’ll keep discussing this with my parents and counselor and try my best. Thank you very much!