Chance me/help me decide which to pick for ED Wharton M&T or REA Stanford MS&E

Chance Me / Match Me
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61

I’m trying not to get off track - but simply noting if you have private schools that offer EA on your target list (and you do), then REA to Stanford makes no sense because it will significantly hurt your odds at those private schools. Penn already makes no sense to ED because it’s not your top choice.

If you said, you only had public colleges like UIUC, I’d say OK.

So that’s why it’s getting off - there’s, in essence, no advantage for you applying early. I don’t think the benefit of Penn is as great as people think - they have athletes and more. But your targets aren’t targets and applying RD will minimize your chances at them.

Glad to see you added Kelley.

So this list -

NYU is a reach

Vandy is a reach - especially if not ED - and not sure how it hits your interests. They have a “business” program but not major.

BU - a reach but less than Vandy.

Emory - reach

Babson - has EA - it has a 17% acceptance rate so it’s a reach, but better odds EA

CWRU - kids that get into Harvard get turned down and those you wouldn’t think get in. Has early action - target but not assured.

IU Kelley - now has holistic admissions so it can’t totally be predicted anymore but I’m guessing you’d be in.

You might look at Lehigh (mentioned before - only RD), RPI (early action - ask your school counselor about the RPI medal for great merit) - both these fit you - as would Purdue, UIUC and UMN (but public schools). UNL Raikes is worth a look too although is more CS based.

PS - I don’t think you have enough targets. Your targets, other than maybe IU, aren’t targets. Perhaps I’m conservative but I think you’re a bit aggressive with your chancing. You are a fine student but at many, the SAT won’t make up for what’s missing.

On the flipside, you just noted you raised $50K in funding and that tells me you have the skills that a college can’t teach you - and that you’ll be fine wherever you end up.

Good luck.

PS - I’ll also add that you say in message 51 you are looking to save on application fees - but you have no cost constraints so you are willing to pay $400K. In that case, app fees have zero relevance - because they are a drop in the bucket. If you were to say, time in having to complete apps - it’d be different - but if you’re going to be concerned with $1500-$2000 in app fees and other fees - like sending transcripts - then you shouldn’t be applying to $100K schools. Just pointing that out.

I hope and believe things will work out for you - but these are all top schools with horror stories (like the kid in at BU but not MIT) - and I like to play it safe, etc.

Good luck.

62

Ok, this is getting ridiculous.

A 4.2 weighted and 1590 is not a reach at some of the places you’re listing. It does a disservice to kids reading this to think that they’re only options after a stellar high school career are like, Community Colleges. This is why this site is deemed toxic on other platforms on the internet.

I am not one of the USN&W Top 20 or bust crowd, but it’s not helpful to have a stellar candidate undershoot.

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63

The OP said like a 100 times they have targets and safeties covered, and don’t want our help on that. Yet, post after post is trying to talk about targets and safeties and fretting about a list the OP explicitly has not fully shared (even the added list they made clear is only partial). Why can’t people respect OP’s wishes and focus on the reason this high school student started this thread? - They want advice on talk early apps to the reaches listed? That’s it.

My two cents on the actual question are similar to most others, if Stanford is OPs first choice, they should not ED anywhere else that will mean they have to give up a shot at applying to Stanford. So, my recommendation would be do not ED anywhere. EA at other places is fine. Stanford REA or RD whichever is best for OP considering the rest of the list.

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The OP is asking for advice on which of 2 fine universities to apply to early. They did not ask for matches (and clearly and repeatedly said they don’t want at this juncture), so let’s respect that.

I think we can all agree that Stanford and Wharton are high reaches for OP — as they would be for almost everyone. This isn’t the thread to define terminology like reaches.

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I am not reading “undershoot”. I am reading “Understand that while you are a stellar candidate, a 5% or whatever acceptance rate means a 95% rejection rate- and a VERY large number of those rejections are of kids with stellar stats and everything else”. Just a reality check. A kid that’s the best thing their HS has seen in a decade usually doesn’t understand the depth of the applicant pool at Wharton M&T or Stanford. And if the kid is genuinely excited about the “back up plan”- then hey, shoot your shot. But if the kid has reluctance about the backups– the solution to that is finding more suitable backups, not drilling down on how MIT doesn’t care about foreign language (which is both untrue and irrelevant).

OP- you sound terrific. I would not suggest ED’ing to a school that is not your absolute top pick. It just opens the door to regret– either way. You get in- hey, you’ll never know if you could have gotten in to your favorite. You don’t get in- hey, maybe if you’d played it differently, you’d be at your top choice right now. So figure out your top choice, apply early, then work on those back ups with all your heart. Good luck!

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66

Perfectly said! OP came here asking for advice on early application at Stanford vs. Penn. Ultimately, it’s his decision to pick a favorite and roll with it. Hopefully, some info was gleaned here to make a decision.

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ED/REA is extremely personal OP. Fundamentally some people are very “what if” oriented and for those who would always wonder it makes zero sense to apply anywhere but their “dream” school. Otherwise really aren’t quite so fixated on one specific school, and value highly an early decision. My daughter was very much in that camp. She was enamored early with Stanford, but watched every single year as the tippy top academic students (including a good friend who’s application we knew well: valedictorian, 4.0 unweighted, 36 ACT, full IB diploma and fabulous ECs) get turned down and Stanford would take 1-2 of our excellent athletes with good academics. You see it often enough and you get a bit jaded and she ended up not even applying to Stanford as she saw it as a wasted application.

ED rates are certainly overstated with legacy and athletes BUT I will say two things. Two adcoms of top 10 schools bluntly stated it gave a bump to students and if you look at how private schools advise their students, I think ED is beneficial outside of the top handful of schools - most actually have REA and I DON’T think it helps with those.

Wharton M&T was never on my kids’ radar so no clue if it will be a meaningful bump or not. Best of luck to you - it’s a tough process - make sure you’re continuing look and find schools that excite you whatever decision you make for EA/ED.

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Moderator notes are not suggestions. Please stay on topic to the OP’s question. Thank you for your understanding and compliance.

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Stanford recommends 3 years of language and Penn recommends 4, but neither require that many and both practice “holistic review,” so there is no “auto rejection.”

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That is correct. But when looking at schools/programs with a sub-5% acceptance rates that are flooded with way more outstanding candidates than they can accept, the lack of foreign language to the recommended level is a notable negative.

But certainly the OP should apply to their top choices. As noted above, it is also important to have match and safety schools that the OP would be excited to attend.

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When I see auto reject, I’m not saying instantly thrown out but likely an easy reason for them to reject the student. As they’re rejecting 95% plus, they don’t need extra ammunition but OP has given this.

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Two years of foreign language would be a negative.

But I just learned a colleague’s child was accepted into Yale, Columbia, and others in last cycle with two years foreign language . They did provide some context in the additional information section about this although the high school does provide four years of a couple of foreign languages.

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I never said an admit was impossible. In fact I encouraged the OP to apply.

That said, I think the OP choosing preferred classes over meeting foreign language recommendations (when higher level foreign language coursework was offered at the HS) may well be a negative. Only admissions knows how the OP’s application will be viewed – and important aspects of their application (ex. essays, LORs) cannot/should not be seen by people on a blog such as this.

As with every applicant, finding great match/safety schools should be an important part of the process.

(If the individual you noted took their chosen foreign language to the highest level offered in their HS, had scheduling issues with other core classes, etc. I don’t expect it would be a negative – either way, good for them.)

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I think I was agreeing with you. The example would be for the OP, if he can provide some explanation for the two years of foreign language, he can still apply to any super reach school.

If you do not apply, your chance will be zero. Personally I think the best strategy for OP is to REA Standford, EA UM, RD any other schools.

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76

But given he has privates with EA on the list, that’s where I struggle with REA - because a private with EA that you don’t do is the kiss of death.